I recently purchased and watched Sunshine. I had seen the previews a year or so ago when it came out, but it was a limited release film that never came to the little backwards border-town that I live in (yes, I said it, Tucson is not one of the hotbeds of media culture… but we get wrestling, monster trucks and washed up 80s acts). I digress.

Sunshine is a nice change in science fiction movies that had more of the “good book” feel to it. It was visually stunning and conceptually interesting. The story line, really is nothing new, but it is done well. Our sun is dying and the people of Earth, having already sent one failed mission to relight it, have one last hope in the second mission, “Icarus II” which is where the story picks up. As the film progresses, we are shown the thin and fragile boundaries of civil humanity in what I would say brings to mind an odd merging of 2001 and Event Horizon.

The story moves along a little slow in parts, but never to the point of boredom. The acting is good, nothing spectacular, but adequate for the content. I would recommend this movie to true science fiction fans, not to those looking for a high energy action flick. We need more movies like this.