The sun needs a jumpstart to save life on Earth in this Outer-space Techno-thriller directed by Danny Boyle, script Alex Garland. Two guys you’d think would know better than to make a 2001 Deep-Think/Deep-Space Sci-Fi statement pic from such folderol. Boyle, overworking his self-regarding Mission Quest plot like a comic grabbing his one chance to play Hamlet, piles on space station paraphernalia & graphics to prop up a standard who’ll-die-next storyline (EIGHT LITTLE INDIANS?) as a motley crew of solar astronauts try to reach the drop spot for their atomic payload where a previous gang (of seven) failed to deliver and presumably died. Cillian Murphy gets the big star push as the noblest techie on board, but had to wait on the big time when the film stalled commercially. Perhaps because the one big surprise proves just too ridiculous; perhaps because the sun glare backing the major events is so unpleasant on the eyes.* We don’t usually recommend sunglasses at the movies, but . . . or maybe one of those solar eclipse safety-view boxes. Better yet, skip the film along with the shades.
WATCH THIS, NOT THAT: Avoided here, but isn’t this just a sober-sided ARMAGEDDON/’98? Without the gags; without Michael Bay; without Bruce Willis and the usual blowhards. Wait, SUNSHINE is sounding better by the minute.
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: *The film might have come with a Migraine Alert. And the big blunder that sets off a doomsday chain of events, is the equivalent of a man sent to investigate rainstorms, but forgetting to bring his umbrella.
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