Sunshine

One man's derivative drag is another's thrill-filled homage.

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's Sunshine brushes its lips eagerly against the outstretched hands of 2001, Dark Star, Solaris, Alien and Silent Running, but is it really such a fitting new liegeman for Sci-Fi's celebrated aristocracy?

Garland has certainly imagined a range of extraordinary situations to keep the tension levels pumped up but as we get closer to the surface of our local star it would have been nice to get a bit more beneath the surface of his characters. And it's a pity because there is some fine international talent in this crew, such as Michelle Yeoh and Hiroyuki Sanada, plus the ever cute Rose Byrne and that Irish chap with the fascinating eyes.

My own distress signal went out about twenty minutes from the end, when a zombiefied Colonel Kurtz-lite turns up in the observation room.

From then on I was never entirely sure what was going on. Big spectacle, used superbly early on as percussive accentuation of the drama, suddenly develops into an overwhelming visual commotion.