This ride is sickeningly intense.įor the most part, Gravity is a film all about the experience, kind of like the ultimate space simulator with a story or an IMAX space documentary gone wrong. The good news is, that’ll be a sign of success. It’s likely many audiences will feel ill from the experience. For the most part, the effect is intensely sensory and visceral, plunging audiences into the woozy weightlessness, deafening silence, and horrifying vastness of dead cold space. Cuaron’s camera is always perfectly positioned to express Bullock’s emotional state and the audience takes that ride with her to the end. The camera flies across the planet and into characters visors, yet never just for the show off sake of it. The CGI is astounding, but the way Cuaron uses his weightless, hovering camera is the real draw. Visually, there’s simply no benchmark to point to that accurately describes the experience (well, maybe 2001: A Space Odyssey). The long-take style as well as his desire to mix populist genres with art house techniques and themes are pushed to the limit here. It feels in many ways like a culmination of the work Cuaron has done to date. Thankfully, it eventually happened once two of the biggest stars on the planet signed on for the only onscreen roles. Cuaron did have the commercial clout of Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (aka the best one) and the Oscar-nominated prestige of Children Of Men and Y Tu Mama Tambien under his belt, but that still wasn’t quite enough to get a greenlight for such an ambitious project. Beyond the fact that new technology had to be developed simply to pull off what he had in mind, the way the film was to be produced would cost $100 million, but the studio wouldn’t get to see a frame of what it would actually look like until months and months into production. Somehow, the most impressive imagery and gut-wrenching set pieces are still to come.ĭirector Alfonso Cuaron spent years struggling to bring this movie to the screen. From there, the movie follows the two astronauts’ struggle to return to earth over the next 70 minutes in real time. It’s executed in what appears to be a single floating camera shot involving some of the most stunningly photo-real CGI ever created as well as a seamless mixture of actors and a digital environment. What I just described is the first 13-minutes of the movie. She finds a way to signal him and he finally floats towards her, tethers the two of them together, and begins madly trying to figure out what to do next. She spins alone and without human contact for a few terrifying moments before Clooney finally comes through on her intercom. Then the debris arrives ahead of schedule, demolishing their ship and sending Bullock hurtling ass-backwards into the empty void. The duo struggle to finish up their tasks and return to their ship. Then an unexpected message from NASA comes through claiming that a nearby satellite has exploded, sending debris hurtling through space towards them. Bullock is a bit nervous about the whole thing Clooney is a cocky veteran who seems unshakable. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney play a pair of astronauts floating around their ship while working on a routine science expedition. It’ll be a while before you see something this stunningly fresh again. People will be pointing to Alfonso Cuaron’s latest feature as a milestone for years, so it’s probably best to get in on the ground floor appreciation now. It’s the type of invigorating cinematic experience that can even make a cynical, salty-dog film lover like myself stop thinking or analyzing to simply get lost in gob smacked “oohs” and “aahs.” The film is a remarkable piece of work that demands to be seen on the biggest of screens (yes, even in 3D) because the experience of watching it for the first time feels somewhere between a movie and a ride. There’s simply never been a cinematic experience quite like Gravity before and its beauty, spectacle, and sheer visceral force will be mimicked, referenced, and built upon for years to come. This is the type of film that pull quote buzzwords like “groundbreaking,” “masterpiece,” or “game-changer” were created for. I’m not big on hyperbole, but every once in a while a movie comes along that deserves it.
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