Fix: Hot People in Space
Platforms: Disney+ (Canada)
Disney+ Summary:
Sunshine is a 2007 science fiction psychological thriller film.
FYA Summary:
Before I launch into my spiel, can we just marvel* at how the summary is completely phoned in? Unsurprisingly, it’s actually how the Wiki page begins. Also, Disney+ lists the year as 2006, which contradicts its own entry. What exactly are the Disney+ increased fees going towards, since it’s OBVIOUSLY not proofreading!?! (JK, we all know it’s because the C-suite needs fresh yachts.)
ANYWAY. In the near future, the sun is dying and humanity’s last hope of survival is to launch a bomb into the sun to restart it… except that spacecraft disappeared 7 years ago. So now, humanity’s second last hope of survival is en route to deliver the payload and getting close to their goal. But then, of course, there are the complications.
* Pun sort of intended.
Familiar Faces:
THIS. CAST. The casting directors were basically Nostradamuses for putting together all these superstars together.
Chris Evans as Mace: The engineer. I’m more Chris agnostic these days, but America’s Ass was my choice for Best Chris. This is a decidedly different character than his most famous role, and I couldn’t help wondering what Steve Rogers would do in this situation.
Hiroyuki Sanada as Kaneda: TORANAGA-SAMA! The captain.
Cliff Curtis as Searle: The psychologist.
Michelle Yeoh as Corazon: MICHELLE FREAKING YEOH. The biologist.
Benedict Wong as Trey: WONGERS! The navigator.
Rose Byrne as Cassie: The pilot.
Cillian Murphy as Capa: Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Cillian plays a physicist who built a bomb that will change the course of humanity forever.
Couch-Sharing Capability: High
Clocking in well under 2 hours, this movie is a refreshing throwback to efficient and captivating storytelling. I didn’t even look at my phone one time, which should not be an accomplishment but sadly is. It’s not exactly fun for the whole family (but then again, I most likely do not know your family), and the premise does have the potential to fill someone with existential dread, but I still maintain that you could have fun watching this with company.
Recommended Level of Inebriation: Medium
Older sci-fi that’s set in the future can sometimes challenge suspension of disbelief, but the future tech mostly holds up. Some of the graphics look a little dated, and there are definitely gadgets that were influenced by the original iPod click wheel, but there’s nothing glaringly off. The movie doesn’t overdo it with the techno-babble, so feel free to enjoy with your beverage of choice.
HOWEVER. Certain things might drive you to look for liquid comfort.
The most egregious sin of this film is that NOBODY HOOKS UP. A spaceship full of hotties but DEVOID OF SWOON. Like, yes, y’all on a very serious and important mission, but have you seen yourselves?!?!??! Granted, they’ve been on the ship for 16 months at this point, so maybe they’ve already exhausted every romantic combination and gotten all the space orgies out of their systems. (I did appreciate how recent FYA Book Club pick The Darkness Outside Us addressed how that space mission was designed to avoid unwanted pregnancies, which is apparently not a concern at all for Sunshine‘s devastatingly attractive crew.)
The most egregious sin of whomever put this mission together is naming the first missing spacecraft ICARUS. And then naming the SECOND spacecraft Icarus too?! (No, really, it’s called Icarus II; insert rim shot.) This is not the time to be tempting fate and being cheeky!
One last grievance lol: why assemble an international cast but not let most of them use their real accents?!
Use of Your Streaming Subscription: Good
Despite devoting more digital ink to complaints than compliments, I do still recommend checking this out. I haven’t watched this movie in decades, but I remember loving it back in the day. (I had a Cillian Murphy phase lol.) When I came across it during a Disney+ browse, I knew I’d want to rewatch and I might like it more now than I did back then.
Didn’t we all have a Cillian Murphy phase?! I know I watched this movie, but I literally remember nothing about it, like Chris Evans being in it at all! (also: Chris Pine was my Chris-pick since we’re sharing.) I have been on a long (but struggling) sci-fi kick, so it might be worth it to try this one again.