I was first intrigued by the early trailers of Alfonso Cuarón's
"Gravity", which depicted a breathtaking view of earth from a space
shuttle followed by 30 seconds of cataclysm and destruction resulting in Sandra
Bullock spiraling out of control into the dark void of outer space. It caught
me off guard with the realism of what I was seeing but my first big question
was, can they stretch that idea into a full movie? I quite pleased to say that
they not only did just that, but without a moment's boredom.
The story starts out
in orbit above Earth during an EVA on the Hubble telescope. Medical engineer
Dr.Ryan Stone (Bullock) and seasoned space-man Matt Kowalsky (Clooney) are
involved in a routine operation when a volley of satellite debris renders the
space shuttle "Explorer" in shambles and the two astronauts stranded in
space. Without communication with Houston, and Oxygen running low the real
thrill starts here.
George Clooney brings
his classic bravado and does justice to the stereotype of the all-American
astronaut, whereas Sandra Bullock's role is that of the meek scientist who is
entirely out of her element. The biggest driving factor in "Gravity"
in my opinion was the intensity of Bullock's performance. The credibility of
the movie was highly staked on the believability of Bullock's character, and
the justice of her performance left me (at some points literally) on the edge
of my seat.
Modern cinematic technology has finally provided the most believable zero gravity scenes I have ever seen. Due to recent developments involving James Cameron's "Avatar", the physical realism of the way the characters interacted with each other and their environment left the suspension of disbelief unbroken for the entirety of the film. Although the movement was excellent, the most stunning part was the view. Watching the Sun rise on the horizon of Earth from outer space is enough to make you believe that you're out on the "Explorer".
I was pleasantly surprised by "Gravity", and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a solid suspense movie, or anyone who wants to visit space from the comfort of their own planet. So go see "Gravity" in theaters, and see the attraction for yourself.
By: Logan Thomas Dillon