Will Stonick

How have I never heard of this movie until 2025?! Likely my favorite Vamp movie. Done so well, great score, effects.....great movie!!

If you're looking for your run of the mill, 90 minute movie..this isn't it. I understand the folks who didn't like it, and that's fine because this movie isn't for everyone. There are maybe 2 pages of dialogue so if you're looking for monologues, this isn't it either. I really cannot put a finger on why I loved it so much (yes, Scar Jo naked doesn't hurt), but I'd say it's the score along with a full 90 minutes of uneasiness, questions that you only get a few answers to, and just the sheer fascination of what is happening. I'm trying not to spoil it, but if you like weird movies, this is great. I think people won't like it for a myriad of reasons including lack of dialog, many questions and virtually no answers (except for one doozy for sure), and whatever else. I like weird movies, sci-fi movies, creepy and eerie soundtracks, and the like...so I loved it. This probably wasn't helpful at all but I had to try and raise that horrible review score.

Just read the 5 & 4 star reviews and then try to read the 1 & 2 star reviews. There may be a few coherent lines strung together but there is an obvious line of demarcation separating the overall intelligence of those who call the movie boring, or anticlimactic, or any number of other trashings of a really good, underrated movie. I realize that there is a lot of subjectiveness when it comes to whether or not a movie is liked or not, but I think there are some innate fundamental traits that 4 & 5 star movies have in common and Sunshine checks all of the boxes. I won't spoil anything but if you are a sci-fi fan looking for great actors, an intriguing story, special effects, and a twist or two...look no further. I'd never heard of this movie until today, Jan 4, 2025, and I was on the edge of my seat for the 2nd half of the movie. I'm not sure what the naysayers were hoping for. The basis for the mission is one we've seen plenty of times but this movie succeeded where others have failed in making an exciting thriller out of it. It was certainly helped by the great actors, but that doesn't mean it would have been bad without them. Personally, I loved it and can see myself watching it numerous times. Give it a shot!

I'm not going to pull out my thesaurus and try to find as many adjectives to lie about this movie, less one. Yes, it was shot on a beautiful, small island. This movie is not a thriller. This movie is not a horror movie. It is as "eerie" as it is sunny. This is the kind of movie that will either put you to sleep after the first 25 minutes, or it will play in the background until the end, and you'll look up and say "whoa, what happened?!" You'll rewind it, and then rewind some more, and you'll keep reminding to the point where everyone else that you were watching it with fell asleep and realize that you missed absolutely nothing. I'm not so shallow as to have missed some deep, penetrating point or grand picture. It was interesting for 25 minutes...then it wasn't interesting for the next hour. Finally, there will be 13 minutes of "whoa, what?!"....and concluded with 2 minutes of "really?!?!...I read all of these reviews touting mystery, terrifying atmospheric tension, and other multi-syllabic exciting descriptors....for THAT?!" You'll then spend 20 minutes writing 1 of 2 possible reviews while you're girlfriend goes to bed and Amazon Prime rolls next to some crazy weird movie called Hagazussa, which is just as slow yet somehow 30 times more intriguing and exciting.

The sicophants are out in full display with these 4 and 5 star reviews. I love Nic Cage and I love wonderfully made/acted movies. Sometimes people let their love for an actor or storyline shroud the reality that these two things don't always come together as we hope. What began as a wonderful movie and hopeful story quickly devolved into nothingness. Deshoveled Nic staring off into the distance for seeming eternities while he appears to reminisce about why he chose his reclusiveness as he relives his moments of before were visited far too often. I love somber, thought-provoking movies....expressions that convey something, be it anger, anguish, happiness, etc...but I felt like they were trying far too hard to convey it to the audience. That did work perfectly well up until they headed into the city, sans one scene...the scene in the restaurant where he meets a former student...that was done very well. What followed were just random interactions that were meant to lend us a view into his life before that drove him away, but failed to do so. The underground fight club was unexpected and unnecessary. I get it, he'll do anything to find his pig...but the fact that he didn't even wipe the blood off of his face and beard or put on a clean shirt told us that already... we know you don't care for the hustle and bustle of your former life. Another reviewer noted that a book version of this is likely beautiful, and I wholeheartedly agree. The story just doesn't translate to the screen. I would've preferred this been a beautiful story about a man and his pig, like the beginning 20 min or so, thus the two stars. Everything that followed are the three empty and lonely stars. I'm happy for you if you love it and consider it a masterpiece, but in my opinion it really missed in what could have been.

I saw someone advise to ignore the 1 star reviews because people will give Gibson a single star for a variety of reasons, none of which have to do with the movie itself. Well, this is not one of those reviews. This movie is abysmal. William Mosely was the best actor while everyone else gave zero effort or is just bad. Incredibly bad writing and direction. It was as if it was filmed doing a read-through in one take. This movie is just a really cheap C movie ripoff of the great movie 'The Game.' This is just bad. Don't waste your time. Gibson himself couldn't carry it which leads me to believe that the Director is to blame. Bad cinematography, the score sometimes overpowers essential dialogue, and again...the writing is just bad. I wanted to like it because the plot had the potential to be a good movie.

This is just not a good movie. JLOs overacting and the incredibly lazy script make what began as a promising movie devolve into utter boredom and annoyance.