Film Club Review – Sunshine: Revisited

A while back I was recommended Sunshine in the film club I am a part of.  My review, which I also posted on this blog, was one of the weirdest I’ve written since it was one of the oddest movie experiences I’ve had. I didn’t even give it a rating at all. My original review can be found here.

Because my review was so divided, I decided to watch the movie again and review it based on this second viewing, knowing what I know about the ending. The brilliance I saw in the first three quarters of the movie are still there. The amazing moments like the passing of Mercury and the panel-fixing scene still pop. The visuals and the score are both incredible pieces of art, and they simply cannot be ignored.

One thing which I loved the first time I watched it were the moral dilemmas stemming from the fact that the entire existence of the human race depended on their mission. This results in a really deep emotional context and a great amount of social tension. The one thing I didn’t seem to notice the first time around, maybe because I was so drawn into the story and premise, it that the acting in most cases does leave something to be desired.

And now for the ending. The twist at the end here destroyed me when I watched it, since I felt like I was watching a masterpiece of film disintegrating before my eyes. This time I knew what was coming and was able to take a step back. And really, the twist doesn’t come out of no where. There is some foreshadowing that I could pick up on this time. It also isn’t completely destructive as it does add chaos and complications which put the mission in dire jeopardy, which I suppose is needed for the ending to have more suspense.

Everything I loved about the movie the first time around is still present and is so brilliant that it just can’t be shrugged off because of the less than stellar ending. I’m not giving the ending a complete pass either mind you. It certainly does wreck what would otherwise be a top tier science fiction film. I’m going to be giving this film a 9/10 because of its many, many strengths, but it does have to be dropped down a peg from the 10.10 it deserves because of its devastating finish.
9/10