Gravity is a phenomenal, awe-inspiring movie-going experience. Not just a very good, highly-recommended one, mind you, but a truly great one. It delivers a relentlessly suspenseful tale of survival and the indestructibility of the human will, and it does so in a manner we've never before seen. In a way, dedicating a couple of paragraphs reviewing it is almost silly because with something like this, seeing is believing. Director Alfonso Cuaron, who hasn't directed a film since 2006's superb sci-fi tale Children of Men, has returned to cinema with the force of a lightning bolt. He has crafted a motion picture that can only work as a movie. With its amazing visual power and constant white-knuckle suspense, it's made to be projected on a large screen (and with the best use of 3D in years, to boot), enveloping viewers in another reality for 90 minutes (the perfect length, by the way) and letting them emerge blown away and a little disoriented.
If you've seen the trailers, you already know the setup, and the minimalist plot works entirely in the film's favor. Gravity begins in the vast reaches of space with a beautiful shot of Earth, where it will spend the rest of the film. A shuttle slowly enters from the right side of the screen and radio chatter perks up. That's when we're introduced to Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), a medical engineer on her first spacewalk, and astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), as the two are doing routine maintenance aboard a satellite. Houston (voice of Ed Harris) informs them that debris from a nearby explosion is headed their way and that they must abort immediately. But Stone is just a few seconds too late, and the resulting collision sends her hurtling into nothingness. Kowalski manages to save her thanks to his jet pack, but with no contact from Mission Control and oxygen running out, their options for survival are slim at best.
I have described, at most, the first 25 minutes. Suffice it to say the rest is better discovered through experiencing. For a movie with such a slim narrative, visual prowess and scene construction takes on a far greater responsibility than it would in a more traditional film. And does it ever impress and then some. Gravity is one memorable image after another, from the breathtaking opening shot (lasting more than 10 minutes as Cuaron's camera slowly swishes and pans around the action) to the accident, through Stone's fight for survival, to the final outcome. Sound also plays just as large a role; an opening caption helpfully and accurately reminds us that sound waves cannot travel through the vacuum of space. When disaster strikes, the only noise we hear is the musical score and radio dialogue. At no point does Gravity waver from this key principle.
Cuaron makes every correct decision in presenting the human side of this tale. There are no "meanwhile, at Mission Control" scenes or any scene at all diverting our attention from Stone and Kowalski. No human villains come within a thousand light-years of the proceedings. And in giving us backstory for Stone, the director/screenwriter presents us with just enough information to let us in on her fragile state of mind without overplaying his hand. The same goes for a key scene late in the film where she, and therefore we, learn something enlightening about inner will; it could have gone so horribly over-the-top, but Cuaron shows just enough restraint. He's walking a tightrope as thin as the ropes dangling from a damaged space station, and he pulls it off.
With so much time spent alone with one character, Sandra Bullock's performance is tantamount to the film's success. Sure, Clooney is as delightful as ever with his one-liners and ever-present charm, but his participation is limited. Bullock has spearheaded the Women in the Movies movement of 2013, appearing front-and-center in two traditionally male-dominated genres, comedy (The Heat) and now here with science fiction. In a strange way, her battle with mortality and the will to survive isn't all that different from that of Sigourney Weaver in the Alien movies, but one could argue that the emptiness and isolation of space is even scarier than that of a large creature with sharp teeth. We identify with her and root for her to pull off the impossible, and once again, I must comment that since Gravity is an original property by a director who's not afraid to be unconventional, we literally have no idea of her fate.
Ever since Avatar, I've waited four years for the next mind-blowing, game-changing use of 3D. After all, so many studios and movies, seeing nothing more than $$$, thrust it upon us with little regard to whether it actually enhances the movie-going experience. But Gravity reminds us of its power when utilized by a master craftsman. Cuaron developed this movie specifically to be used with 3D, and with it, the finished product is immersive, with stunning depth oozing from every scene. This isn't an amusement park ride designed to throw objects at a gasping audience, it's a world where viewers can lose all sense of ordinary life and become involved in a desperate struggle. From the very first moment, I was there, lost in space with the characters. In fact, Gravity might be the first movie I've seen where I recommend sitting in the first few rows, as I was forced to during an advance screening. Go ahead and let the towering images loom over you. Your neck will be fine.
Man vs nature (or in this case, woman vs nature with a little helping of woman vs self) is hardly a new conflict in literature or in cinema. We've seen it before, but never played out in this particular fashion. As I mentioned before, Gravity, as told here, can only reach its full power as a film. It would lose significant power in a TV-based, small-screen realm. Some will view this movie as "(insert survival movie here) in space." Some may see only a technical exercise, but I believe they're missing the point. Visual, viscerally powerful film-making isn't just limited to "blockbuster" films with shootouts and explosions; it works every bit as well here, where every image serves the story and its themes rather than overwhelms them.
Technology in the movies has progressed to the point where blurbs like "it will blow you away" seem superfluous. But Gravity is that rare film that embodies such a lofty claim and then some. This is a transcendent cinematic experience, unlike any we've ever seen. Do not let it pass you by.
Rating: **** (out of ****)
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