At some point in the future, our star is dying. A mission to reboot the sun with a massive nuclear bomb vanished without a trace, and it takes seven years to launch Icarus II, the earth's last chance. Eight astronauts are aboard the ship, and as they progress tensions grow between them. Especially when they must decide whether to rendezvous with the drifting Icarus I. Physicist Capa (Murphy) thinks the additional payload might give their mission a better chance. But whatever happened to the first mission might jeopardise the second as well.

At the beginning, Boyle and Garland borrow heavily from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien, with an isolated crew facing increasingly bad odds. Then the story shifts into Event Horizon (malevolent audio-visual flashes) and then to Armageddon (infighting and selfless heroics). Boyle accomplishes this adeptly, with impeccable effects and eye-catching flourishes. But these things never disguise the fact that the script doesn't contain even the germ of an original idea.

Absolutely everything that happens is lifted from another movie. Jumpstarting the sun is a clever McGuffin that provides lots of fabulously cool imagery (like the glittering gold spacesuits), but the narrative itself is, like all of Garland's work, a series of contrived plot points leading to an insane conclusion. The characters' acts of desperation seem like outtakes from Galaxy Quest: space-walking around the sun-shield to repair damaged panels! Diving into icy water to fix a computer! Battling fire and dust and a blurred-blistered saboteur!

Fortunately the cast is up to the challenge, adding shadings that keep us engaged with the characters. Murphy is especially solid as a slightly unhinged young man with untapped inner resolve. And he's matched nicely by Evans' hothead alpha-male, Byrne's feisty pilot, Garity's survival-obsessed second-in-command and Wong's tormented techie. Meanwhile, Yeoh, Curtis and Sanada bring serious acting skills to bear on their rather underwritten characters. All of them, plus Boyle's visual wizardry, make the film decent popcorn fare. But only if you've never seen a truly inventive outer space flick.

themes, language, violence

1.Mar.07