Review #1,102: 'Sunshine' (2007)

Danny Boyle's under-performing attempt to rekindle audience interest in the philosophical sci-fi genre so successful in the 1970s plays out very much like an object hurtling towards the Sun - thrilling, dazzling and often overwhelming at first, before quickly burning out and being swallowed up by the enormity of the themes it attempts to explore. 2007's Sunshine ponders a future in which humanity is facing extinction as the Sun powering the planet is burning itself out. A last-gasp mission sees the crew of Icarus II travel for five years through space with a bomb the size of Manhattan in the hope of reigniting the Sun's flames.

Of course, there was also an Icarus I, captained by a man named Pinbacker (Mark Strong), which disappeared seven years earlier carrying out the same mission. When a distress signal is picked up from the lost ship, the crew of Icarus II, captained by the enigmatic Kaneda (Hiroyuki Sanada), are faced with the dilemma of either carrying on with their mission, or answering the call and picking up a second bomb in the process, and therefore doubling their chances of saving humanity. Physicist Capa (Cillian Murphy) makes the decision to set a new course, much to the frustration of level-headed engineer Mace (Chris Evans). However, navigator Trey (Benedict Wong) forgets to realign the ship's shield as it changes course, throwing the entire mission into jeopardy.

The film captures the claustrophobia and restlessness of the cramped surroundings and characters incredibly well. The crew often feel as if they are hunched over, as if being slowly swallowed up by the deadly beast that is their destination. Even the on-board garden, a self-sustaining eco-system which supplies the ship's oxygen, tended to by botanist Corazon (Michelle Yeoh), feels oddly suffocating. Boyle's trademark eye for visuals also helps give the film a sweaty, scolding vibe. An entire room on the Icarus II seems to be dedicated solely to appreciating the Sun's sheer power, as the crew, in particular psychiatrist Searle (Cliff Curtis), sit and stair in utter awe. Sunshine begins rather slow, but Boyle takes this time to sculpt an incredible sense of atmosphere.

Boyle's desire to contemplate the larger questions is ultimately the film's downfall. In the early scenes, the mere presence of the Sun looming just behind that massive shield and the way Boyle captures it is enough to start audience's comparing the star's influence to that of God, and the crew's mission to save humanity by conquering something of such unfathomable power has enough religious connotations on its own. The climax sees the arrival of a mysterious being on the ship that may or may not be supernatural, and it just doesn't work. A lot was written at the time about the Sunshine's descent into slasher territory, and although I can applaud the attempt to muddle genres and take the story in a completely different direction, I have to agree with the criticism. Instead of inviting discussion as the credits roll, it simply left me disappointed at the squandered potential.


Directed by: Danny Boyle
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Michelle Yeoh, Troy Garity, Hiroyuki Sanada, Cliff Curtis, Benedict Wong, Mark Strong
Country: UK/USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,038: 'X-Men: Apocalypse' (2016)

Following Matthew Vaughn's enjoyable franchise reboot X-Men: First Class (2011) and Bryan Singer's mind-bending follow-up Days of Future Past (2014), the latest entry into the ever-expanding world of the X-Men that began back in 2000 promised - according to writer Simon Kinberg - a scale and scope on such a level never before seen in a superhero movie. While the latest villain to face Professor X and his crew certainly ups the ante by offering the threat of global extinction, X-Men: Apocalypse suffers mainly because we have seen the likes of this before, after all Ultron threatened the same thing just last year in Marvel's Avengers sequel, and Roland Emmerich and Michael Bay have been doing this since the mid-1990's.

Apocalypse just doesn't offer the same sort of unique strangeness that assisted Days of Future Past in being the best entry since X2 in 2003, nor the impressive grip it kept on its large ensemble of super-beings and superstars in First Class. When it all boils down, Apocalypse is simply a tale of good vs. bad, introducing a hefty influx of new characters and old (with many of the latter re-cast with up-and-comers) in the process. The threat facing the wheelchair-bound telepath Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and his School for Gifted Youngsters this time is the first and most powerful mutant of them all, En Sabar Nuh aka Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac). When we first meet him, Nuh is in Ancient Egypt where he is worshipped as a god. Fearing his power, his worshippers betray him, leaving him entombed within a collapsed pyramid and killing his Four Horsemen.

In 1983, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), the shape-shifting mutant, is in East Berlin rescuing teleporter Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) from a human-run underground fight club and its winged champion Angel (Ben Hardy). Erik Lehnsherr aka Magneto (Michael Fassbender) is hiding out in Poland with his wife and child following his attempt to assassinate the President of the USA ten years previous. Charles is still running his school, which has added some interesting new recruits in fellow telepath Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) and Scott Summers aka Cyclops (Tye Sheridan). When Apocalypse re-awakens and decides that humanity has lost its way, he sets about recruiting his four new Horsemen, including Magneto, to help him destroy the world and rebuild it with him as its leader.

Anyone who loved Quicksilver's scene-stealing appearance in Days of Future Past will no doubt appreciate Evan Peters' extended role here, as he is again central to an impressive set-piece that is equally playful, inventive and exciting. For a movie with such a grim outlook at stake, it ironically works best when going about its business with a sense of humour. In the dramatic moments, its fails to offer any real impact, almost completely ignoring any religious undertones that would have made the film infinitely more interesting, and covering familiar ground in terms of Charles and Erik's somewhat rocky friendship. Although Isaac gives it his all, it is the young actors that are the standouts. Turner, Sheridan and Smit-McPhee manage to both channel the actors who came before them and making the characters their own. Hopefully then, the franchise is in safe hands moving forward (there are no signs of it stopping), but for now, Apocalypse is very much a case of same-old, same-old, and not much more than a relatively entertaining way to kill 2 and a half hours.


Directed by: Bryan Singer
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Oscar Isaac, Rose Byrne, Evan Peters, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #123: 'X-Men: First Class' (2011)

Things were looking good for the X-Men back in 2003. The first film was a box-office success and was a pretty solid blockbuster. Then X2 (2003) came and the bar was raised not only for X-Men films, but for superhero movies in general. Bryan Singer had made an exciting action film that had interesting, fully-developed and endearing characters. Then Singer dropped out in order to make Superman Returns (2006), and for some reason left the job to Hollywood shit-stain Brett Ratner. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) was an over-populated, lazily directed mess, and Ratner had thought it would be a good idea to cast Vinnie Jones. It seemed to be the closure of the X-Men series, until X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) came along and gave a backstory to fan-favourite Wolverine. Even though it was directed by the Oscar-winning Gavin Hood (who directed the excellent Tsotsi (2005)), it was the worst of the lot. Studio interference has made it a bumbling, boring mess of a movie. But still the X-train carries on, and still had the ability to attract rising director Matthew Vaughn.

Set in 1962, it follows a young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) who is graduating from University and living with his best friend Raven (Jennifer Lawrence). Xavier is seemingly fascinated with genetic mutation that has given him the gift of reading minds, and given Raven the ability to morph into anyone. Meanwhile, vengeful concentration camp survivor Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) is on a mission to find the fled Nazis that led to the death of his parents, and, ultimately, to find Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), who first discovered his gift for magnetism. Shaw is now on a quest to strike a deal with the U.S.S.R. that will lead to the destruction of America. Lensherr realises he must join forces with Xavier and recruit new mutants in order to fight this threat, and eventually being accepted into a discriminative world.

One of the underlying themes of the X-Men films is the idea of discrimination against the mutants. It is the key thing that eventually lead to Xavier and Lensherr (later to become Professor X and Magneto) ultimately becoming enemies. Xavier feels that the best way to show the human population that the mutants do not pose a threat is to rise above the 'racial' hatred. Magneto takes it as a way to feel superior, and therefore hell-bent on teaching the humans a lesson. Magneto feels deeply about this due to his childhood in Auschwitz, and the death of his parents. This deep-rooted hatred is explored early on in First Class as Lensherr scours Europe killing people on his Nazi list.

This is one of the problems with First Class, as the film is bound to the fate that we as the audience already know. Xavier must lose the use of his legs. Magneto and Raven (later to become Mystique) must become evil. Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) must turn into Beast. The Cerebro must be built. Often the film becomes so insistent in developing these ideas that it loses focus on its own storyline and characters. As a result, the plot can often feel muddled, and the new mutant additions are thinly-conveyed and uninteresting.

The one true masterstoke in the film is the casting of Michael Fassbender. I've long been an admirer after seeing him as Bobby Sands in Hunger (2008), and then go on to make Fish Tank (2009) and Inglourious Basterds (also 2009). He portrays Magneto torn both by anger and helplessness devised from his childhood, and plays it with utter conviction. His early scenes travelling across Europe are the best moments in the film, and makes me wish they had gone ahead with their earlier plans in giving Magneto his own origin movie. McAvoy, however, although possessing a lot of charm, suffers from having Patrick Stewart's shoes to fill. His friendship with Raven is just not convincing.

There's a definite feeling that the film has been rushed. Vaughn's earlier efforts in the fantasy field - Kick-Ass (2010) and Stardust (2007) - flowed, and never lacked in the special effects department. Here, the film seems to frantically pacing for the climax, with no real moments of character development, and some of the special effects don't come near to the standards of other films these days. It is, though, undoubtedly enjoyable. The action scenes don't exactly blow anything out of the water, and don't even surpass the original two, but they are at least fun. I hope if they do make another film, they concentrate on the story rather than looking at the future, and set the foundations for what could become a solid franchise in it's own right.


Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, Kevin Bacon, January Jones, Nicholas Hoult, Oliver Platt, Jason Flemyng
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #110: 'Get Him to the Greek' (2010)

The comedy films of writer/producer/director Judd Apatow have somewhat dominated the last eight years or so. As well as being commercial hits, they have been lauded by critics for their sweet approach to comedy, blended with gross-out aspects and genuinely good scriptwriting. Apart from his best works - The 40-Year Old Virgin (2005), Superbad (2007), Knocked Up (2007) - his films can often be lazy, relying on quirky randomness to get through. The overrated Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), which has somehow become a massive cult hit, was the biggest example of this, and although I could watch Will Ferrell all day, the film just felt like it was desperately trying to get through to the other side. Get Him To The Greek is another example of this.

Music producer Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) convinces his somewhat angry boss (Sean Combs) that an anniversary concert for failing rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) is the way forward. Convinced, Green is sent to London to collect Snow and take him on a few promotional spots before arriving back in America for his concert. Snow would rather have endless parties, take lots of drugs, and sleep with lots of women - which is okay with Green, only he has an angry boss on his ass and a girlfriend (played by Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss) who he's not sure has broken up with him or not.

This is really a film of two halves. The first being genuinely funny - with Brand breathing likeability into his somewhat loathsome character, and the exchanges between Hill and Diddy being a particular highlight. This is coming from a person that hates Russell Brand. I mean I really, really hate him. But the charm that everyone else seems to see only becomes apparent to me when on the screen. Here he reprises his role from Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), where I was surprised with his comic timing. When the second half comes around, I began hating him again.

The film simply runs out of ideas, throwing in a troubled father-son relationship between Brand and his Las Vegas-based father Jonathan Snow (Colm Meaney) that is of no interest. It also throws up one of the unfunniest scenes in the film, with Hill being smashed on a 'jeffrey' (a mix up of a variety of drugs smoked like a joint) and stroking a furry wall while Brand and Meaney fight. It resorts to scenes like this because it has no more jokes to tell, and combined with Aldous Snow's increasingly crap and unfunny array of songs, it all feels like it just wants to end.

Sadly, a more interesting sub-plot that reveals Snow's serious drug habit crops up then seemingly fades out without being properly explored. It could have added another dimension to Snow's character, and stopped him becoming a whiny and annoying protagonist. That said, the first half is funny enough to make it worth a watch, and Sean Combs near enough steals the entire film.


Directed by: Nicholas Stoller
Starring: Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, Rose Byrne, Sean Combs, Colm Meaney, Elisabeth Moss
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie