4/5 stars

Sci-fi films have been on the downturn as of late, with hardly any to show for each passing year. And I’m not talking about Transformers, for as enjoyable as it may be, it doesn’t push the genre forward, it just feeds it money.

Alien pushed the genre forward, it gave us the thriller and gave sci-fi films a penchant for action and a sense of uncertainty, enclosure.

2001 pushed the genre forward, it made man’s foray into space a matter of the mind, a psychological exploration that can only happen when man turns his face into an unforgiving vacuum.

The Abyss pushed the genre forward by enhancing the idea of a crew working toward a common goal to save a planet, and this team aspect was also an homage to the aforementioned films.

By and large, Sunshine encompasses all of these films. The film is the journey of the crew of the Icarus II, a spaceship designed to deliver a thermonuclear payload into the Sun, with the hopes of re-igniting it before Earth succumbs to an eternal Winter.

Making a smart play to avoid isolating the audience, Sunshine stays away from the overly technical. There aren’t any terms to memorize, there’s no tech-geek or blatantly noble self-sacrificing leader to cheapen the experience. Everything appears to be going right, and then, suddenly, it isn’t.

It’s as simple as that — the dark walls that form the crew’s home away from home go from ambiguous to foreboding.

And it’s the crew that makes this ride worth paying for. While one isn’t likely to recognize any of the actors aside from Scarecrow from “Batman Begins,” Cillian Murphy, or Michelle Yeoh from “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” this is no cause for alarm.

Every character has a particular fold to their personality that brings them to life, and before the rollercoaster crests its first hill you get to see just how human they are.

Also, those with previous sci-fi film experience who expect to see danger no more threatening than computer failure or repairing damaged electro-whatsits, think twice. The film has a villain, and though saying anymore would constitute spoiling a rather impressive surprise, it can be said the villain is at least as threatening as the Alien, and to remove any camp factor, always appears in a haze and flurry of images on screen.

This is the way to lead people back to sci-fi, the thriller part attracts those looking for excitement, and the metaphoric imagery and depth of character show love to those yearning for a quality science fiction experience.

Sunshine isn’t perfect, but many of its imperfections can easily be seen as perfections in another light. Some may want to know why the sun is dying out at a rapid pace when scientists have assured us in our generation that it’ll last well into the billions of years for humanity. And what is the bomb itself? Does it simulate our sun’s own nuclear fusion, or does it rapidly accelerate some unknown force of energy until it collapses in unto itself? Some will find these questions frustrating, others would find their explanations tiresome and the fantasy involved in not knowing a way to enhance the experience.

But if there is a complaint for this reviewer to register, it is the ending. After five minutes of running around in a confusing chase sequence that quickly blurs the line between reality and surreality, it is hard to say whether the confusing mesh of images every actually took place, or if it was a play at an allegorical 2001 ending.

It’s pretty at the end and has a lot of action and shiny things, but what, if anything, was said?

For any of its fault, the film is a heart-stopper — a sci-fi action romp in the truest sense, easily accessible to any audience, and yet even now only seen tucked away in the fewest of arthouse theatres.

A true shame, for this is a big screen movie in too many ways for it to be brushed under the rug. For those who can find it playing anywhere, at whatever time, just go.

At the very least it’ll get the blood moving from vein to vein a little faster than you’re used to.