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 The lastest offering from the brilliant Alfonso Cuarón takes place high above the Earth. In what maybe the most visually stunning film I've ever seen, Gravity stars George Clooney and Sandra Bullock as two astronauts on a Space Shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. Partway thru the mission, debris from a destroyed satellite impacts the space shuttle, imperiling the two astronauts. Things happen, and they are beautiful to see on the big screen. Cuarón's film is also accompanied by a very solid, very believable story. Suspension of disbelief was hardly neccessary. Did I say that this film was gorgeous to look at? Because, it loving is. We got a taste of the director's ability for novel and imaginative camera-work in his previous film, Children of Men (which was the best film of 2006 - gently caress what the Oscars said.) However, in Gravity, Cuarón takes the camera work to another level. The camera is constantly in motion, as is everything around it. It circles our characters from literally all angles without breaking away from them. While its true that a great deal of this is CGI, its still impressive because of how seemlessly it fits in with the film. The acting is also well done. Clooney plays the same cocksure character he's played since he was an extra on Roseanne. Sandra Bullock, however, may have starred in her best performance ever. Her character never acted inappropriately and she managed to avoid the temptation to overact. Her emotions were authentic and believable. The film moved at just the right pace, and I never felt like it was dragging. The only thing I disliked in this film was George Clooney reappearing the middle of it, in the form of an oxygen-deprived hallucination, to give Sandra Bullock the way out of her predicament because its a trope that's been used enough. 5/5
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Oct 4, 2013 21:53
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Pros
Cons
In my opinion it doesn't quite live up to the hype overall. I recommend to watch this in theaters because if you wait for the home release it will lose a lot of what makes it so appealing. 4/5 Rad ROM Max fucked around with this message at 03:44 on Oct 5, 2013 |
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Oct 5, 2013 03:42
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Gravity is an event, it’s amazing, it’s a force of nature and it’s very much one of those things that you experience that you don’t need to turn around and experience again, it’s not a Subway white choc macadamia cookie that you realize you can purchase bulk, $4 for 6 instead of 3 for $2.50 and, like, your arteries end up looking like those ant hills they fill with concrete and then painstakingly remove the dirt around until it’s this incredibly maze of conduits hanging all vertical and impossible. It’s more like one of those experiences you know you’ll look back on and really feel like you grew from it, like it said something and made you a different person, maybe better, maybe worse, but altogether really just impressed like a hot iron, and more, that you’re never entirely sure you can handle again, like you’re firmly Not That Brave. In what feels like one long twisting take Sandra roves the length and breadth of our earthly orbit plucking this tensioned twine manufactured from your emotive soul over and over and over again until it frays & strands & wears & thins and all you want is like a loving comma in this run on sentence but I’m not even going to give you a period I don’t even want to tell you anything specific. Except you may need an antiemetic. Dramamine is my choice, but I hear there’s others, sadly all need prescriptions in Oz so think of any other ailments you have before you hit up your GP so you can two birds, one stone it. Watch Gravity. 5/5
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Oct 6, 2013 08:59
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Simply a fantastic film. There was one shot in particular which blew me away (aside from everything else). In one scene, the camera starts far out from Bullock's character, and in one long, continuous shot, gradually zooms in on her. It starts to approach her in her spacesuit, then seamlessly transitions inside her helmet to show her perspective before zooming back out again. I was blown away at how they managed to capture the scene without (from what I remember) a single edit. The CGI was interwoven with the actors seamlessly throughout the movie. The cinematography was phenomenal. There was obviously some realism sacrificed in the name of entertainment, but overall the movie was of the most gripping and visually engaging that I've ever seen. 5/5
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Oct 18, 2013 16:55
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I ended up getting off work early on Friday and went to check this one out. Overall, I enjoyed it quite a bit. I felt a tingle of disappointment over it being pretty much just a straightforward thriller. Children of Men is one of my favourite sci-fi movies of all time, particularly due to a lot of social and political context being presented amidst the set pieces. Was hoping for more from his follow-up (and first film in 7 years) than just a popcorn flick. That said, as far as big-budget popcorn flicks go it certainly had much more interesting substance within it than is typical. (I won't say much other than the film is obviously filled with a metaphor for something.) I thought her character development was pretty good within that short span of time, and by the last third I was kind of rooting for her. It was also pretty interesting to basically have a space movie set using somewhat current technology instead of some far-flung future. And I thought it was pretty cool to have a film that kind of passed in real time, although not quite. It certainly looked pretty, although you can say that about most sci-fi movies these days, can't you? Even the bad ones tend to have great production values. Regardless, it was beautiful and this is one of those films that does actually benefit from seeing on a big theatre screen in 3D. 5/5
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Oct 25, 2013 20:08
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Saw this a few days ago after hearing a lot of hype. I left the movie feeling a bit put out. I don't understand how there can be such incredible, fantastic scenes that transition to what seem like really basic mistakes that pull you out of the moment and kind of bang on you the head saying "HEY, DON'T FORGET YOU'RE WATCHING A MOVIE LOL." The special effects are gorgeous. Not sure what else to say about them. The shots of Earth and various space objects is breathtaking. The zero G effect, having never been to space myself, seems incredibly realistic. From a technical standpoint, the movie is just great. What let me down was the script. The movie is about the grief, loss, the human struggle to survive, loneliness - all really great topics to explore the human condition. Then someone took the script and ran through it adding bizarre one-liners and forcing Sandra Bullock to talk to herself(the audience) through what she is currently doing and why. Come the gently caress on. Just do it. Trust the audience to figure it out. It's not a complicated loving movie. The parts where Bullock is just narrating poo poo as it is happening under the guise of pep-talking herself kills tension and breaks the fourth wall. It's really a shame because some of the dialogue is pretty great (George Clooney has a few lines that are just too cute but he makes it work because good lord Clooney is a charming dude) so obviously the writer(s?) knew what they were doing but they just blew it at times. I wish scriptwriter had a little more confidence in the special effects to sell the tension because if the movie had half the amount of dialogue it would be a marked improvement. 3/5 The womb scene was dumb as hell
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Nov 13, 2013 02:49
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I would like to start by saying I enjoyed the hell out of this movie. With that said, I guess I should mention what I didn't like so much first. Anyone who brought up the weak script was dead on, I suppose the dialogue was successful in humanizing the characters (which is certainly necessary in a movie that wants to create this sort of illusion of realism) but ultimately there really was no substance there. The scene where Bullock answers Clooney's question about who she knows back on Earth comes to mind. On the surface it is a very emotionally powerful scene, namely because of the cinematography and Bullock's delivery, but the magic is ruined if you spend even an instant thinking about it (Trying to make a touching image out of someone just driving around all the time is silly, even in the context of her dead daughter). However, dialogue is not in any way the focus of this movie. Where Gravity lacked in script, it beyond made up for in building incredible amounts of tension and generally appealing to aesthetics. When boiled down to its core, the movie is essentially a series of intense, nail-biting situations that no person should be able to survive. It's in no way a new idea, but every moment is done so convincingly that you cannot help but get drawn in. And dear lord, if nothing else the movie is worth seeing alone for its visual beauty. Its a testament to how much a little bit of style and a lot (A LOT) of post-production can do for a film. Do not go into this film expecting anything deep, go into it for the breathtaking special effects and the hour-and-a-half of pure adrenaline that you are sure to experience. 4/5
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Nov 16, 2013 09:29
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a shameful boehner posted:There was one shot in particular which blew me away (aside from everything else). In one scene, the camera starts far out from Bullock's character, and in one long, continuous shot, gradually zooms in on her. It starts to approach her in her spacesuit, then seamlessly transitions inside her helmet to show her perspective before zooming back out again. I was blown away at how they managed to capture the scene without (from what I remember) a single edit. The CGI was interwoven with the actors seamlessly throughout the movie. Overall, very fun flick and surprisingly short, I was surprised that it wasn't 20 minutes longer. Or at least it felt like it could have easily been longer. At the end of the day it's not deep or meaningful, it's just an amazing spectacle and a shining example of what summer blockbusters could and should be. 4.5/5
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Nov 27, 2013 20:32
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I don't need to reiterate what has already been written. 5/5
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Jan 13, 2014 01:45
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This film was truly about survival and how we as humans act in times of adversity. I like the way they portrayed this as a routine mission before things get out of hand in an explainable manner. Sandra Bullock was very believable in this film and her acting was top notch, with all the anxiousness and adrenaline running through her. George Clooney plays a very pleasant part of the film and his appearances ensures everything gelled together with both his humour and charisma. Certainly a good film and one to watch to which the ending is sad and yet shows us what one can do when they put their mind to it.. Literally 4/5
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Jan 16, 2014 22:02
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Seeing this in the theater, in 3D was a pretty incredible experience. I don't think it would have the same impact on a home viewing so I'd really suggest people get out to the show while it's still around. Bullock and Clooney turn in great performances, Bullock especially was very relatable and it was definitely a high point of her acting career. There were some minor elements that will tug at you afterward but for the most part it is a pretty thrilling action/drama. 5/5
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Jan 20, 2014 17:35
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I don't think a movie has ever made me more anxious about their characters. Easily a 5/5 from me.
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Feb 4, 2014 17:29
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I hate to be the token naysayer but I did not find the concepts this film explores to be all that affecting or original. It's philosophical/emotional content I found to be about on par with one of those self-esteem posters that were on the walls in your junior high. I did however find it to be a very successful and suspenseful popcorn flick, with some truly brand-new special effects and filming techniques, for which I would happily pay my ticket price again. A good movie, but I wish people would stop trying to ascribe high-brow ideas to its staid meditation on encouraging platitudes. 3/5
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Mar 5, 2014 00:29
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