Gravity Review

Gravity starts of in a rather condescending manner reminding viewers of how life in space is impossible and an incredibly harsh environment to try and survive in (would a film about trying to survive a damaged submarine fell the need to remind you that when surrounded by water and nothing else you will drown?). Thankfully my concerns resulting from this almost immediately vanished among seeing the very first shoot of earth which was shoot in such a way that could be only described as being spectacularly beautiful. The film then doesn't cut for what I have been told is around seventeen minutes and the shoot moves around three Astronauts as they work on what I believe was an optical system of a satellite. As they work they are told about a possible debris risk which is initially not on trajectory with their position but this soon changes as it crashes into other satellites making new debris which of course is on trajectory for their current position. As one would expect this does catastrophic damage to their ship and sends one of the astronauts spinning out of control away from their ship and thus begins the journey for survival for those left alive.

Performances by both Sandra Bullock as Ryan Stone and George Clooney as Matt Kowalski are superb. However whilst the characters are undeniably interesting and one in particular has a strong character arc, Gravity is less about the characters and more about the horrors and beauty of space. This isn't to say that the characters are unimportant, rather that the setting more then anything is the star of the film, whilst the characters provide an emotional core for you to invest yourself in. Simply put Gravity provides for an interesting experience in that it is successfully able to convey both the beauty of space along with how inhospitable and horrifying it simultaneously can be. From a visual standpoint Gravity is breathtaking and unlike the sadly large number of tacked on 3d releases of late (such as Iron Man 3, Wolverine, Star Trek Into Darkness, Man of Steel etc) Gravity is a film whose inclusion of 3d comes from the film makers who have been successfully able to utilize it in such a way that adds tremendously to the film.

Likewise the sound design throughout is superb and background space stations and satellites being destroyed in silence provide for some eerie moments that help emphasize the environment the Astronauts find themselves in. Likewise the muted sound design of the astronauts moving around as they come into contact with various objects likewise helps amp up the tension resulting in both the visuals and audio working in harmony along with the superb performances by both Sandra Bullock and George Clooney to create for a tense and satisfying experience that few films can hope to measure up to.

Gravity for good reason has been riding an unprecedented amount of hype for an October release and has also deservedly received critical acclaim which I can only concur with and Gravity comes with my highest recommendation.

Note: Gravity is also a film that I urge those interested in seeing it to do so in 3d as unlike far to many 3d releases this is a film that utilizes 3d in such a way that I can't imagine the 2d release being able to compare favorably to. In other words this is how 3d should be done.