Gravity (2013)

Gravity (2013)

Icarus also flew too close to the sun

I went into this film with very high expectations.  IMDB has this movie at 8.7 stars, and Metascore had it at an even higher 96, that’s 96 out of 100.  With ratings like that I expect a pretty damn good movie.  I was a bit let down, but I admit that would be largely because of all of the massive hype surrounding this Sci-Fi thriller.  Interesting fact, Robert Downey Jr. and Angelina Jolie were originally cast to play Kowalski and Stone respectively.  It would be interesting to see how different that film would have been.

The Plot

The ambiguously named Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is on her first spacewalk.  Luckily for her she is accompanied by grizzled space veteran Lt. Matt Kowalski (George Clooney).  Also on the mission is a goofy East Indian astronaut (don’t get too attached to this character).  They are midway through doing some routine maintenance work on a satellite when the unthinkable happens.  Well not exactly, we all knew something horrible would happen.  Disaster strikes in the form of a satellite being blown to bits by a Russian Missile.

Fucking Russians

 This results in a shit storm or shrapnel speeding towards the crew at lethal speeds.  During the onslaught, Stone is knocked off the satellite and sent hurtling into the vast emptiness of space (but it is oh so beautiful). That covers approximately the first twenty minutes of the movie.  No more spoilers from this guy, let’s just get into the pros and cons of this film.

My Take

Obviously the CG is second to none.  This is a remarkably beautiful film.  If you are interested at all in seeing beautiful backgrounds, go see this film.  All the events in this film, though not based on a true story, is entirely scientifically possible. 

I guess you could say things are getting pretty serious

Bullock won a bunch of awards for her performance, and she needed to bring it because if we didn’t like her character there is literally nothing else in this film.

In this movies case, action isn’t everything.  It had long, quiet lulls between the three or four major action scenes, but they effectively portrayed the utter silence and hauntingly lonely nature of space.  I’ll be the first to admit, it’s not the most pleasurable use of screen time, but it succeeded in putting us in the character’s shoes.

I suppose I would have liked to learn more about the characters back stories to help fill in the lulls.  Stone and Kowalski banter briefly about their lives, but we don’t learn too much about either character.  So basically there is no subplot, there is just the main story about a surviving space disaster.  There is little to no comedic relief after the first twenty minutes, dramatically increasing the already uncomfortable tension in this film.

The Verdict

I never wanted to be an astronaut because I’m scared shitless of space; this movie definitely intensified my fear. 

This is one of my greatest nightmares

Upon first entering the theatre I was very uncomfortable as I didn’t know what to expect.  Just the utter sense of being alone out there and the overwhelming vastness and darkness of space is almost too much to handle.  There isn’t a lot of action, but this isn’t exactly an action movie.  The drama is there, the action (when appropriate) is there, and more than anything the tension is there.  The movie leaves you with an empty feeling throughout, matching the empty feeling of space.  It is, brilliantly shot, though the lulls in action will bore some.  A good movie, but not the masterpiece I was led to believe it would be.  Ultimately there is a huge list of movies I would rather watch again than this one.  It is a great experience in theatres, but it would be hard to enjoy it on DVD.  Basically, if you are going to see it, you might as well see it in theatres where it can be enjoyed properly.  Bring a snack for those lulls though.

7.8/10