"Sunshine" is mostly cloudy, with a low chance of originality

Cluttered storytelling undermines "Sunshine," a moderately suspenseful space opera that borrows liberally from several science-fiction classics.

The opening sequence, which introduces a group of astronauts on the way to revive our dying sun, is photographed and written like the atmospheric early scenes in the original "Alien." What's missing is a sense that the actors are connecting with their roles or with the crude class system that's vaguely enforced on the ship.

Later on, "2001: A Space Odyssey" is evoked in a series of episodes in which the astronauts don space suits, then take their chances exposing themselves to chilly, oxygen-poor environments. When they make contact with an apparently abandoned ship, it's hard not to think of "Star Trek" (as well as "Alien").

Original moments are hard to come by, though there are a few provocative touches, including a debate about the value of democracy vs. technical expertise. The astronauts agree on their mission — to deliver a nuclear payload to the sun before it cools down — but they're divided about whether they should recruit the abandoned ship's payload to deliver a double whammy.

Unfortunately, by the time they've made up their minds, it's almost impossible to tell what the consequences are. The final half-hour is made up of a series of barely comprehensible developments in the crew's attempt to create "a star within a star." The plot twists simply encourage the filmmakers to resort to familiar psychedelic imagery.

The movie marks a reunion for Cillian Murphy, director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland, who had a 2002 hit with their zombie thriller, "28 Days Later." Murphy plays a philosophical physicist and the closest thing to a hero here.

Boyle relies heavily on Murphy's intensity to carry the final scenes and give them emotional weight. Without the fatalistic message Murphy's character prepares for his relatives, who are stranded on a cooling Earth, the movie would have no center.

The other roles are mostly one-note. Michelle Yeoh plays a proud biologist, Troy Garity is a cranky communications expert, Benedict Wong is a guilt-ridden navigator, while Chris Evans works a few laughs into his part as an engineer accused of "an excess of manliness." All have done better work elsewhere. So has Boyle, whose 1996 breakthrough, "Trainspotting," seems a long way away.

John Hartl: johnhartl@yahoo.com