I'm usually drawn to science fiction films set in space and this one has a decent amount of entertainment value, but it didn't really work for me. The premise of sending a crew of astronauts towards the dying sun to detonate a bomb to jump start it didn't come with answers for some obvious questions, starting with how that could possibly work. I'm usually ok with taking a leap of faith (or in this case, a leap of physics) for a work of fiction, but here it was a chasm, so wide that no explanation was even attempted. Also, why would a crew be necessary at all? Why couldn't the stellar bomb simply be sent directly into the sun?
There are some of the usual tropes here - the crew sitting around socializing early on, ala Alien, and them finding what remains of a previous spacecraft sent on this mission, which allowed for some dramatic moments, but gave the film a bit of a generic feeling. That was made worse in the second half by what they discover, which aside from feeling incredibly implausible, led to thriller type moments that detracted from what had started out as science fiction. Danny Boyle fell in love with the dizzying special effects but I just found them confusing, and would have preferred something quieter, more restrained. It's not a terrible way to spend your time, and the casting, including Michelle Yeoh, Cillian Murphy, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Rose Byrne, was definitely a positive.
There are some of the usual tropes here - the crew sitting around socializing early on, ala Alien, and them finding what remains of a previous spacecraft sent on this mission, which allowed for some dramatic moments, but gave the film a bit of a generic feeling. That was made worse in the second half by what they discover, which aside from feeling incredibly implausible, led to thriller type moments that detracted from what had started out as science fiction. Danny Boyle fell in love with the dizzying special effects but I just found them confusing, and would have preferred something quieter, more restrained. It's not a terrible way to spend your time, and the casting, including Michelle Yeoh, Cillian Murphy, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Rose Byrne, was definitely a positive.