Synopsis

Fifty years from now, the sun is dying, and mankind is dying with it. Our last hope: a spaceship and a crew of eight men and women. They carry a device which will breathe new life into the star. But deep into their voyage, out of radio contact with Earth, their mission is starting to unravel. There is an accident, a fatal mistake, and a distress beacon from a spaceship that disappeared seven years earlier. Soon the crew is fighting not only for their lives, but their sanity.

Official Review

First off, this is not ‘Event Horizon’ or ‘2001’ and it doesn’t strive to be. Which is a good thing in many ways. Here the focus isn’t so much the computer effects or the aesthetics of the ships but the intense pressure this crew must shoulder. They are all imperfect in ways but carry the fate of billions on their conscience. I’m glad that unlike the dragged out ‘Mission to Mars’ this film doesn’t try to emulate the scope of Kubrick. Instead the space and ships that inhabit it are both foreboding and alive with their machinery. The sets are of things you have seen before in various creations but what stands out here are the emotions and the quality of the actors in this film. Let’s just say there is no Affleck’s professing their love to Bruce Willis here. The film itself starts immediately into the mission of the Icarus II as it nears our dying Sun. The Captain played by Hiroyuki Sanada is hesitant and cautious due to the fact that the previous mission ended in failure with no answers to their fates. Icarus II’s crew comes from a frozen and dying earth. Any and all chances to show that they are relishing their closeness to our dying sun are shown. In particular there is a glass viewing room, which they can access to view and feels its warmth. Cillian Murphy plays Robert Kappa; one of the creators of the payload onboard that he hopes will create a new sun out of the dying one. The specifics of this device are never fully explained but it is not the main focus. All hopes and resources are in this second attempt because Kappa states that the entire world has been mined to create the raw materials to make the device. There is nothing left and no other chance. The actual living quarters of the ship are realistic in the aspects of artificial environment and food. However the payload itself is what stands out. Covered by what seems like miles of gold or copper heat resistant shielding it is a sight to behold. …Read More