28 Weeks Later

The verdict: An admirable attempt at building on Danny Boyle's acclaimed not-a-zombie-movie-but-may-as-well-be: '28 Days Later', this is entertaining stuff, but falls well short of the original.

The rating: 5/10

Sometimes, sequels are easy. In the early nineties, James Cameron certainly seemed to think so. Despite Ridley Scott's 'Alien' and his own 'The Terminator' both being recognised by audiences and critics alike as excellent movies, he arguably followed both with better films (in my book anyway). More recently, Paul Greengrass proved it was possible, with each Bourne movie he makes seemingly better than the one that came before, and you might remember the first one wasn't all that bad either.

With '28 Days Later' though, I always felt that it was going to be a tough gig for whoever it was that picked up the reins left slack by the polyvalent Danny Boyle. Boyle seemingly never revisits a genre once he hits his marks, and wasn't interested in making the sequel to '28 Days Later'. That movie was a breath of fresh air for a genre dominated by dull, formulaic remakes ('Land of the Dead', anyone?). It featured the now iconic scenes of Cillian Murphy wandering through a deserted London city centre, and a chilling virus known only as 'the rage'. Nice. It was also a very uncomfortable movie to watch, with the army barracks scenes in particular harbouring genuinely nasty undertones, to the point where you're rooting for the monsters over those creepy soldiers..

The director of 28 Weeks Later is no slouch though, and bizarrely, his movie 'Intacto' provided me with the orignal inspiration for this blog. Apparently I went to see it, but I have absolutely no memory of it, except, ahem, that it was pretty good... (What a review! - Ed). Hence the decision to record each individual reaction, lest I forget another! Anyway, the director also received executive producer Danny Boyle's stamp of approval, and he even borrowed 'Sunshine's Rose Byrne for one of the lead roles.

So, to the question, where do you go from '28 Days Later?', the answer, apparently, is back to London. The virus has apparently disappeared (yeah, right) and the U.S. Military are in to restore order (Fuck Yeah! - Ed) They're doing their best to rebuild, but we know it'll all go horribly wrong, and it quickly does.

If you thought the hand-held cameras in 'The Bourne Ultimatum' were annoying, then I would recommend you stay away from this movie. The jerky hand held makes the chases seem more visceral, and the rage-infected seem more frantic, but jaysis if it doesn't half get a bit tiresome after a while!

The tension is maintained for around an hour or so, but I felt it lost its way towards the end, particularly when a few bad decisions are made. I feel that if I found myself in a horror movie scenario, I wouldn't decide to hide out in a subway station where it was too dark to see anything. But hey, that's just me.

The end is teasingly left wide open for a third instalment, and stranger things have happened. However, with this movie I think we already have a good example of the law of diminishing returns in action, and the horse has been sufficiently flogged in my opinion. It's not by any means an offensive sequel, but the original was way better. Undemanding entertainment with a few good scares, but was possibly always going to be lacking the originality that made the first instalment so special.

Sunshine

The verdict: Looks great, sounds amazing, and loaded with adrenaline-fueled action. An excellent addition to the science fiction genre, fans will enjoy the knowing nods, and newbies will likely be blown away.

The rating: 7/10


So PCMR managed to attend my first ever premiere last night, at which there were even a few stars present, and paparazzi to boot! Well, there were a few shifty looking geezers with zoom lenses hanging around outside the IFI in Dublin, but their invasive lenses were more likely reserved for a glimpse of Cillian Murphy’s arrival than that of your favourite semi-anonymous internet movie critic. (Don't they know who you are!? – Ed). Danny Boyle was also there, along with the deceptively named science advisor for the movie, a certain Brian Cox.

Putting aside my initial disappointment at the lack of a red carpet, (Temple Bar not quite being Cannes after all - Ed) I gradually got excited about the prospect of this movie. Danny Boyle's second film since '28 Days Later', 'Sunshine' is a science-fiction epic three years in the making and written by the same geezer who wrote the aforementioned zombie-genre reboot - Alex Garland. As the hum of anticipation grew in the IFI lobby, I realised I was really looking forward to this one.

Danny Boyle has helmed two of my all-time favourite movies, namely 'Trainspotting' and '28 Days Later'. I was a student at the time Trainspotting was released, and so part of the film's target audience, but the finished film was undeniably a revelation, exhilarating, exciting and intelligent, while at the same time managing to have an appeal broad enough to drag bums into seats in cinemas. These traits seem to have become trademarks of Danny Boyle's recent career, and are really quite rare in mainstream big studio output. '28 Days Later' was a properly huge international success for Boyle however, and also launched Cillian Murphy’s now burgeoning movie career with a bang. Apart from these two, Boyle has delivered a few qualified successes ('Millions', 'The Beach') and also – cough – 'A Life Less Ordinary'.

Boyle's decision to delve into the science fiction genre with 'Sunshine' is not one he has taken lightly. In the Q&A session after the premiere (.. show-off - Ed), he referred to feeling like Stanley Kubrick was a real presence in his mind while making this movie, watching over Boyle’s shoulder as he agonised over the minutiae of production design. This influence should not be lost on the viewer as 'Sunshine' opens with a panoramic external view of a CGI spaceship, immediately evoking Kubrick’s monolithic star-fest.

As well as '2001', Boyle has also been heavily influenced by what he perceives as the two other biggest successes of the genre, namely Tarkovsky’s 'Solyaris' and 'Alien', with a dash of 'Das Boot' to, um, boot. This should give you a flavour of the kind of atmosphere to expect from Sunshine, dark, brooding, and claustrophobic, with an element of horror to add to the mix.

In fact, Sunshine resembles Alien more closely than 2001, in that it is an ensemble cast, with no obvious star to play the hero we all expect to be the last man standing. The template of the hopeless space mission to save the earth has been done to death before, of course, with many notable failures - or popcorn movies at best - ably demonstrating how not to do sci-fi. The two that spring most readily to my mind are the deplorable, life-threatening 'Sphere' – the only movie I have come close to walking out of in a cinema – and 'Event Horizon', which by contrast was really quite good, although it didn't entirely live up to its promise.

So Sunshine works from the boiler-plate of these movies, and attempts to salvage some originality from the confines of their collective legacy. I have to say, in PCMR's humble opinion, Boyle has managed to rise above the drek, and produce an original and entertaining science fiction movie with 'Sunshine.'

So to get the plot synopsis out of the way, it's 2057, and the crew of the aptly named 'Icarus' are travelling towards our now dying sun. Their mission is to reignite the fading star with their massive payload, namely a disc-shaped bomb the size of Manhattan. The earth is dying as a result of the sun's fatigue, so essentially the success of this mission will mean the crew are (drum roll please).... yep, they're saving the world.

The ensemble cast play well off each other, unsurprisingly since Boyle insisted they all live together for a fortnight before filming started. Chris Evans in particular is strong as Mace, the Alpha male of the crew. Also, Cliff Curtis, as the psych officer, gives a chillingly effective and ambiguous performance. Rose Byrne too is doe-eyed and innocent, and a perfect foil to Evans. Cillian Murphy is not playing to type here, as his character is quiet and something of an outsider to the main group, but as the chief physicist on board the Icarus, his expertise will ultimately determine whether the mission will succeed or fail.

The movie differs from, say, 'Armageddon' in that we are never given glimpses of anxious family members on Earth waiting for news of the crew. (Awww… let’s hope it’s at least a little like 'Lost in Space' though – Ed) The movie is set entirely inside and around the Icarus, and this claustrophobia adds to the realism of the proceedings on-screen. Like 'Alien', the pace is quietly relentless, starting quite slowly, but gradually building to a breathless, exhilarating climax.

The visual effects employed, a genuine technical headache for a sci-fi director to deal with, are distinctive and truly stunning in this movie. The sun has never looked like this on celluloid before, and the vivid yellows and oranges of our nearest star are contrasted with the blues and grays of Icarus' interior, the greens of the ship's Arboritum, and of course the darkness, both of space outside the ship, and also inside when the lights go out, but that’s another story…

The movie sounds fantastic, thanks to an atmospheric electronic soundtrack constructed by Underworld, bolstered by Orchestral contributions from John Murphy. The sound itself is remarkable too, and the crispness and power of the sound quality contributes to the more dramatic moments of the adrenaline-fueled third act.

There is an element of horror in the movie too, no doubt inspired by 'Alien', but although these parts are creepy and in parts a little gory, the horror never overtakes the action and ultimately adds to the mystical nature of the crew's mission, especially in the third act of the movie.

PCMR would recommend Sunshine as an action-packed visual treat of a cinematic experience, and although it won't be the best film you'll ever see, perhaps even the best film you see this year, it has enough quality, excitement and above all, unpatronising action and dialogue to keep even the most confirmed anti-sci-fi fan amused. If you're still unconvinced about the sci-fi element of Sunshine, perhaps cast your mind back to your impression of zombie movies before you saw '28 Days Later'…

Fans of science fiction will appreciate the homage paid to Stanley Kubrick, Tarkovsky and Ridley & Ripley, but Boyle manages to sprinkle enough originality into proceedings to make Sunshine a more than welcome addition to the genre. (Plus you get to do an impression of Noel Gallagher every time you say the title - Ed)

In short, it looks and sounds great, it's well scripted and well-acted and the plot builds towards a dramatic, if a little chaotic, climax. I'm reluctant to only recommend it to fans of science fiction, because it is a very good representation of some of the best elements of the genre. When a film has this much going for it, why deny yourself the experience? It won't be a waste of your time.