This is one of those films that I had mixed feelings about going into. On the one hand, it looked impressive and boasted a fairly interesting concept. On the other hand, it was one of those films where I thought, “There’s no way this film could possibly end well.”
Review Score: 5/5
Coming out of the movie, not only was I pleasantly surprised by how it turned out, but I was blown away by the cinematography and effects work that went into it.
“Gravity” stars Sandra Bullock as medical engineer Ryan Stone, who’s on her first space shuttle mission under the guidance of a veteran astronaut who’s on his last mission, played by George Clooney. Things go awry when, while repairing the Hubble telescope, the shuttle team is hit by massive amounts of debris from a demolished satellite, leaving the shuttle completely destroyed and the two main characters stranded out in the middle of space.
This is definitely a film where the visuals were the entire focus of the project.
While we do get some well-written dialogue here and there, much of the film is spent focused on both the awe-inspiring majesty of space and the edge-of-your-seat thrills as our characters attempt to make their way to the ISS and commandeer the escape pods. On that same note, the story also boasts a strong pace that, while slower than most films that have come out in recent years, keeps you hooked until the end credits.
Unlike other films of this nature, Alfonso Cuarón manages to keep the artistic aspects of the visuals subdued, letting them complement the story as opposed to dominating it.
If I were to have a complaint, it’s that there are a few moments where the science may seem kind of sketchy. However, most of the sketchiness comes from some of the minor details that most people wouldn’t think about, such as how tears and liquids behave in space.
As such I’m willing to dismiss this as a minor detail that doesn’t break the internal logic of the story.
If there are any major science goof-ups in the film, I wouldn’t know enough to really spot them, as I am an art major.
Overall, I enjoyed “Gravity” as it exceeded my expectations in terms of story and visuals. I was expecting a film that was drawn out and led to a predictable conclusion and instead got an intense drama that, while artistic, wasn’t full of itself in its presentation.
This is one of the few films I highly recommend seeing in theaters, as viewing it on a small screen would be a huge disservice to the large scale visuals that comprise the 90 minute runtime. On a final note, major kudos to Cuarón for having things be silent in space, a detail many sci-fi films tend to forget.
All that said, I give “Gravity” a 5/5.
