Sunshine
Eric and I recently saw "Sunshine", which was one of the greatest disappointments for the Society since its primitive beginnings years ago. Disappointing because of what it could have been versus what it turned out to be.
The first hour and 20 minutes or so had me rivited, tremendously excited at what I had wandered into; I have to preface this by stating that Eric and I selected this as a Society candidate based on the trailer, which contained explosions and no dialogue, leading us to wonder, "What are they hiding?" That said, I was immediately engaged from the opening scene, wherein the tension is built right away.
Suspense and heroic self-sacrifice are displayed throughout as the crew of Icarus II proceed with their massive payload, which they are to deliver to the sun in an effort to restart it. The suspense had built to a glorious crescendo when the crew reached the previous, unsuccessful mission's ship Icarus I, only to be suddenly ruined by an incongruous turn of events in the story: suddenly, and with little to no explanation, the delusional and homicidal captain of the lost Icarus I turns up on Icarus II, turning a brilliant sci-fi story suddenly into a horror/slasher film. What happened here?
Literally within ten seconds of my saying to myself, "I'm going to have to buy this on DVD," the story lost its wheels because of a sharp and unexplained turn of events. It was as if the screenwriter suddenly saw no way to end an up-to-then excellent story other than by introducing an element to expedite the ending; suddenly the questions of moral dilemmas and self-sacrifice give way to a dizzying race to the finish line, to run out the clock and save the world.
Although I was terribly disappointed in the ending, I would still recommend watching it; the first hour and 20 minutes or so are brilliant, and the visuals are stunning. There simply could have been better, more plausible ways to end the story and not leave the viewer feeling jarred and confused by what happened.
The first hour and 20 minutes or so had me rivited, tremendously excited at what I had wandered into; I have to preface this by stating that Eric and I selected this as a Society candidate based on the trailer, which contained explosions and no dialogue, leading us to wonder, "What are they hiding?" That said, I was immediately engaged from the opening scene, wherein the tension is built right away.
Suspense and heroic self-sacrifice are displayed throughout as the crew of Icarus II proceed with their massive payload, which they are to deliver to the sun in an effort to restart it. The suspense had built to a glorious crescendo when the crew reached the previous, unsuccessful mission's ship Icarus I, only to be suddenly ruined by an incongruous turn of events in the story: suddenly, and with little to no explanation, the delusional and homicidal captain of the lost Icarus I turns up on Icarus II, turning a brilliant sci-fi story suddenly into a horror/slasher film. What happened here?
Literally within ten seconds of my saying to myself, "I'm going to have to buy this on DVD," the story lost its wheels because of a sharp and unexplained turn of events. It was as if the screenwriter suddenly saw no way to end an up-to-then excellent story other than by introducing an element to expedite the ending; suddenly the questions of moral dilemmas and self-sacrifice give way to a dizzying race to the finish line, to run out the clock and save the world.
Although I was terribly disappointed in the ending, I would still recommend watching it; the first hour and 20 minutes or so are brilliant, and the visuals are stunning. There simply could have been better, more plausible ways to end the story and not leave the viewer feeling jarred and confused by what happened.
Labels: artistic pretense, sci-fi
posted by Unknown at 3:05 AM
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