Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s follow up to 28 Days Later is similar in a lot of ways: a genre piece which features elements of lots of other films, but is put comfortably over the line by the fact that those elements work and Boyle’s dynamic team (terrific design, music, “look”, etc). It’s great to see a big screen science fiction film actually set in outer space and the concept is intriguing – the sun is dying and a ship takes a bomb to re-ignite it. The critic for Variety was spot on in picking up that the structure of the screenplay was similar to 2010, right down to finding a spooky ship that was a prior visit and a mysterious presence on said ship. Not many other critics seemed to pick up on this.
For the first two thirds of this film its pretty gripping – sure, the elements are familiar, with the captain dying early, some crew conflict, a talking super computer, spunky female pilot (Rose Byrne). The last bit got confusing in places when it didn’t need to be – also Garland loses points by having a killer chase a woman around dark corridors. I mean, come on, Garland! Also, with the whole world to pick crew from, it’s a bit worrying that only one (Chris Evans 'character) seems really focused on the mission – the other all stuff up, have nervous break downs, get sentimental, etc. Are the people of the future all destined to be neurotic wrecks?
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