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The latest flick from Trainspotting
director, Danny Boyle, is something of a mixed bag. A film which sets
it self up to be one thing, then decides to be another, then ending up
being something else all together.
The set up, it simple - yet spectacular. With all the drama and action promised from the likes of Armageddon, only
with a tad more substance. The basic pitch here is that in the not too
distant future, the Icarus 2 is on a mission to re-ignite the Sun (yep,
seems Global warming was a crock!).
This is the second mission
to attempt such, with the Icarus 1 mysteriously having disappeared some
years before. As the ship begins to pass pass Mercury (a fine roadside
tourist attraction if I've ever seen one), Icarus 1 is found in orbit -
and as a result the crew decide to alter course to investigate in hope
of adding an extra bomb to their "Sun Payload". However, things seem
wrong when several crew members board the Icarus 1 only to find
everyone on board missing or dead (or so they believe) leaving the
Icarus 2 in a situation which may mean there is barely enough fuel to
reach the Sun, let alone return to Earth.
Boyle has done a
pretty good job here. It's by no means perfect, it seems he's made a
film by combining three really good concepts - but all of which are in
a completely different style - ultimately leaving you with a sense of
dissatisfaction.
None the less, the cast and writing is pretty
much as good as it should be. Aussie Rose Byrne doesn't get much to
work with (but makes herself known), while Boyle's latest muse Cillian
Murphy (28 Days Later) does his best to give as much of a performance as he can while doing as little as he can.
The tension of the first half of the film is fantastic, with you not quite sure whether to expect Armageddon style "Rocket Problems" action or Aliens-esque
paranormal activity once the crew reach the deserted Icarus 1. However,
from there, it's all a bit convoluted and disappointing from a
commercial sci-fi movie perspective.
The religious themes are prevalent, and one can't help but feel Boyle going for an Event Horizon meets 2001 feel - which he achieves. The look of the flick is great, with the editing influences of 28 Days Later very much present - and the CGI Sun shield is impressive to say the least.
Surprisingly,
the film failed at both the Aussie and US Box Office (not receiving
wide releases for some unknown reason) but is already tipped to become
one of the biggest DVD Sci-Fi cults of the last few years. And while,
for mine, the ending is somewhat absurd and unexplained - as is the
twists involving the Icarus 1 - there is more than enough on offer here
to make a viewing worthwhile.
It seems there is a bright side to the dark side of the moon...or sun. EXTRAS
Boyle
has held nothing back with the DVD release of the flick - obviously
very keen to have as many people to pick the flick up in the DVD market
as possible.
Along with the obvious (commentaries, deleted
scenes, trailers), there are also one or two interesting additions -
the most obvious being a selection of completely unreleased short films.
In
Boyle's introduction, he notes that short films (no matter how good)
often go unseen and rarely get any form of distribution, and feels that
DVD's are the way to go. It's actually a really good idea, with the
shorts on offer pretty impressive (especially the animated short).
There are a few other goodies on there (featurettes, etc) making this pretty much jam packed.
Well worth the effort.
Conclusion:
Movie 70% Extras: 68%
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