JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

1. I used to roll my eyeballs and snigger every time I saw the trailer. “They’re going to restart the sun with a bomb?!” Having seen Sunshine, I’m still not sure the science is solid (Can you really restart a dying star with a Big Bang-type chain reaction?) and if it is, whether the math is right (Can a nuclear payload the size of Manhattan island do the trick?). But Sunshine evokes a sense of wonder at the unknowable vastness of the universe, so you agree to ride over potential holes in the fabric.
2. Director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland don’t waste time with explanations (which might remind us of aforementioned holes). Sunshine takes us straight into the middle of the story: It’s the last 35 million miles of their trip to the sun. No tearful goodbyes or scenes of earthly devastation. That ship is the only world we moviegoers will know, so every procedure becomes a matter of life and death. It’s very intense.
3. “Why would they name the ship Icarus? Isn’t that tempting fate?” Because Nostromo was already taken? I would’ve named the ship the Kubrick. Or the Carl Sagan.
4. What I really like about Sunshine: Despite the emotionally-charged atmosphere, the characters make decisions based on dispassionate logic. Many sacrifices are made, but no one makes a big deal out of it, and no one regards her/himself as a hero. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. No Ben Assfleck yelling, “I love you, man!” as Bruce Willis goes to his death.
6. The cast: one Irish, two American, one Japanese, one Australian, one Kiwi, and two Chinese. And the mainframe, a descendant of HAL.
7. So Danny Boyle has two distinct periods: the Ewan MacGregor-dark comedy period of Shallow Grave and Trainspotting, and the Cillian Murphy-science fiction period of 28 Days Later and Sunshine. In between, The Beach, which began his collaboration with Alex Garland, and Millions.
8. Marry Cillian Murphy, and fool around with Chris Evans. What is it with Chris Evans and flame? He’s also the Human Torch.
9. And there are jokes! Hommages to 2001, Alien, Aliens, Solaris, and many other movies set in deep space. But not Armageddon, Deep Impact, or The Core (which was set inside the earth, but belongs in this group; they are united by their sheer stupidity).
10. Murphy’s character is named Robert Capa, which was the name of the late Dick Baldovino’s favorite photographer, so I kept remembering Mang Dick, who was one of my Carl Sagans.
I’ve wasted my life! I should’ve gone into physics, then someday I can save the world!