The movie stars Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans and Rose Byrne and five other actors, but those were the ones that I recognized in previews before viewing the film. I also happen to be a Chris Evans fan, and, admittedly, he was the main reason for checking out the movie. This movie has a very small cast... There are only eight characters in most of the film, and it takes place on board one space ship. These two factors make for a pretty contained film and contribute to a slightly claustrophobic feeling throughout the film. I mean, would you want to be confined with the same eight people for about four or five years on one ship travelling to the sun and, hopefully, back to earth again? I don't think I would. Okay, maybe if the fate of the earth and all mankind depended upon it, then maybe I would. But I would have to think long and hard about this.
The sun is dying and once our closest star dies, so will we, mankind, and all life on earth. In a risky move, the earth (I'm assuming that this is an international effort here, though this is never really discussed in the film) sends a crew of eight in a self-sustaining space ship strapped to the back of a huge bomb on a mission to use this bomb to re-ignite the sun and save mankind. Seven years previously a similar mission was sent to the star and was never heard from again. The fate of this preceding mission, its crew and its ship is a source of anxiety throughout the film because no one knows why they failed and therefore, they cannot take precautions to correct whatever errors did or didn't lead to that failure. Unexpected circumstances precipitate a change in course and a series of cascading incidents results that endangers the success of the mission. I really hope these people succeed because, dude, if that star dies so do we, and I'm not ready to die yet!
Ultimately this movie is intense right up through the ending climax of the film. This is where it gets confusing when the jumpy camera work makes it hard to follow exactly what's happening where on the ship. By the every end of the film you know enough to get what happens. Do these astronauts succeed in re-igniting the sun and saving mankind? You'll have to watch the movie to see, but we're still here. So far.
This movie is available upon request from Annville Free Library. I recommend you check it out, especially if you are a hardcore sci-fi fan.
--Reviewed by Ms. Angie
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