Random Review: Gravity

I finally decided to watch the movie that everyone loved from last year. When I was watching the trailers, I thought this movie was just one of those generic space horror movies and that everyone would disdain it like they did for "Apollo 18" or the recent Alien movies. Imagine my surprise when I found that critics and audiences alike were raving over this movie and that the Academy even gave the movie a huge number of Oscars. This movie seemed to be phenomenal and I wanted to watch it since I was interested in the concept. So I finally did it.

I'll say right off the bat that Sandra Bullock was amazing in her role. I loved her character as Bullock portrayed the broken feeling the protagonist had. Our entire journey revolved (no pun intended) around her as we felt every single emotion she was going through. Most of the time all we needed to hear was her panicking to draw breath or screaming at the faulty machinery to feel what she was feeling. It also helps that Bullock's character does have a small bit of depth to her that gets explored the more we get into the movie. A lot of her personality is seen in the rare moments where she talks to herself or interacts with other people. Overall, Bullock really allows us to gravitate (pun intended) to her character and feel the loneliness and the hopelessness of space. The other characters also worked as well in their respective roles like Shareef and the random Chinese guy since we learned about their character and they only stayed long enough for us to realize how empty space is. George Clooney was kind of weird though since he only played himself from start to finish.

The atmosphere is also extremely engrossing. I felt like I was in space for the duration of the movie and I felt how beautiful, hopeless, lonely, sensational, and empty everything was. Space truly is a dangerous place that we have no right tampering with and this is evidenced when the movie clearly portrays how we as humans tend to make a mess of things when politics and economy is involved. The whole matter of the 90 minute wait before another debris wave emphasized how dangerous the place is and how we tend to ignore the loss of human life over things so trivial like politics. The fallout of that debris wave further depicted space as an isolated place and Bullock's journey through space gave an awe-inspiring view of space in general. Every single crisis felt pressing and realistic and I held my breath for Bullock's character through each problem she faced. In the end, we want Bullock's character to reach the surface and survive even though we know the odds are too immense. After hearing that the entire crew of the space vessel died and that many billions of dollars were being destroyed by the debris, there's a sense that none of it matters so long as Bullock's character makes it safely. It's this fragmented hope that drives the entire story and the purpose of the film. In this respect, Bullock's character and the atmosphere are the central focus of the movie since the idea of space being both beautiful and dangerous, perhaps one causing another, is incredibly influential.

I've noticed a lot of people seem to disdain the movie for being too slow or having moments where the physics wouldn't make sense. While I admit there are those moments where it is necessary to suspend one's disbelief, I think these people don't exactly get the purpose of the movie. This isn't supposed to be a fast-moving thriller but a slow movie with brief catastrophic events to illustrate the environment of space. It is easy to attack the moments where things don't make sense but the movie doesn't have to be entirely accurate for it to get across its overarching message. What's more, these people tend to be incredibly critical of the movie and give the movie one star on imdb. This movie is definitely not that bad that it warrants one star; one star is reserved for movies like "The Room," the animated Titanic, or "Son of Mask" where it is clear that these movies are travesties on the art of making movies. One star is for true pieces of feces that are just...awful. This movie may have its problems and people may have different opinions on the movie but anything below 5 stars is too radical. I think a lot of the hate comes from "hipsters" in a sense that these people listen to the rave reviews but then get disappointed when they watch the movie. Movie hate that blatantly goes against the popular consensus seems unfounded in this respect which makes these reviews all the more tragic.

Overall, this was an outstanding experience. While the ending was a little far-fetched and George Clooney did ruin the immersion a little, this movie excelled at creating an amazing rendition of space. I hope future space movies follow Gravity's example and have more immersion instead of pumping out B-movies that try to capture the success of Gravity. Gravity is a one-of-a-kind movie that is truly artistic and breath-taking.

Final Rating: 9.5/10