Movie Review: Gravity

GRAVITY

(2013) USA/UK, 90 Mins

Dir: Alfonso Cuarón

Gravity is a sci-fi/drama/thriller set in outer space, starring A list names Sandra Bullock, & George Clooney. And for 95% of the film, starring ONLY this duo!  Bullock plays Dr Ryan Stone, who is on her first space shuttle mission. While Clooney plays Matt Kowalski, who is a veteran astronaut on his final space expedition. They are the only surviving crew of the space shuttle Explorer, after a freak space debris matter from a Russian satellite take out the ship & the rest of the crew. Stranded in deep outer space, having lost contact with mission control back on earth, Stone & Kowalski are left to their own wits, experience & knowledge to somehow survive & formulate a plan to get back home to earth. Battling great odds, will they be able to possibly survive?

I’m deliberately not going into any more detail about Gravity, lest I spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. Especially seeing Gravity’s biggest charm is the drama & suspense it quickly builds – we really get behind the two survivors & are on the edge of seats to witness if they can make it back home.

Credit must go to both Bullock & Clooney, as I mentioned above they literally carry 95% of the film with just the two of them featuring. Both are in arguably career-best form here, & it shows with the rave reviews Gravity has secured. Speaking of,  I rarely read many reviews before seeing a film, but the hype surrounding Gravity was hard to pass up reading a few. Also with a 97% rating on rotten tomatoes – rarefied air indeed – my expectations were very high going in, especially as I’m a big Sandy Bullock fan. I guess I was really expecting to be blown away with a really awesome, top shelf film.

So did it live up to that hype for me? Short answer, not quite. L I wanted to be totally amazed by it, & don’t get me wrong, it’s a great film – just not 97% great. Perhaps it’s the theme of the film – I’m not the biggest outer space movie fan, & this film probably isn’t for everyone. It can be a little slow moving at times, & younger fans may find it harder to identify with. But I’m being super critical here, Gravity has a LOT going for it!  The film graphics are spectacular – everything is visually amazing in the outer space setting. As I mentioned above, Clooney & Bullock are great, & you can’t help but be entranced by their predicament & gripped by the unfolding drama.

I only saw this in 2D, but Gravity is definitely one film worth plonking down the extra bucks to see in 3D – the space scenes with the lack of gravity (no pun intended) of objects & the space shuttles themselves would look amazing in 3D. Definitely keep this film in mind come early next year when the big movie picture award season rolls round – I’m pretty sure Gravity will be featuring highly in several categories!

Gravity is still screening in plenty of good cinemas & no doubt some bad ones too (though none quite as bad as that pun!). While not the awesome, blow-away movie of the decade that some have called it, it’s still an excellent film, especially if you can catch it in 3D. I have no qualms giving this ****