Gravity

In this day and age, when it comes to films about space, there are some very different kind of films. On one end, there are truly low budget horror films like Jason X , Critters 4 and Leprechaun 4: In Space. There are also some decent small, indie films about space like the popular 2009 Moon and Europa Report from 2013.

That said, Gravity breaks all traditions regarding space films. Gravity has a well known director in Alfonso Cuaron, two big name actors, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney in the leads and is trying very hard to appeal to a mainstream audience. When you put it all together, Gravity is one solid space movie but not perfect.

With the exception of the very last scene, space is the setting as we follow medical engineer Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney ). During a standard spacewalk to the Hubble Space Telescope, the crew learn from Mission Control in Houston that debris is drifting towards them from a dead satellite destroyed by the Russians. As the debris damages the Shuttle and eventually disengages them from the ship, Ryan and Matt find themselves stranded in space with no communication with earth and oxygen running low.

I do not know why big name actors were needed in this film. Some of the small space films I mentioned earlier were just fine without a big name cast and in some ways very popular actors can be a distraction to an original film with the interesting subject like space. None the less, these leads are accountable, and do some very fine acting with some well established characters. Ryan is kind of a loner with a rough past and has lost a young child and is still very much recovering from that and trying to find herself.  Ryan's lost daughter is her main source of motivation and support for her. The leads do have some chemistry and both are quite likable and this is good.

The plot is not complex and very simple and this lends itself to a short running time for this movie. One main focus of this movie is to simply show space. Through excellent design and cinematography, it makes space look spectacular and strangely claustrophobic and it really stands out. There are some highlights to the plot but it is still too thin. At times, I felt a little bored and it felt like there just was not enough to this movie. If there was just a little more to it, this film could have been something else.

 As credits roll, one question I had was, "What is the meaning of the film?". Frankly, there doesn't seem to be one. Without it, you could question why should I care about this. The film doesn't even touch this. Why not? It's a beautiful movie but so what?

Gravity is a good film and I guess I wouldn't call it overrated but you might say it's something of an unfinished movie. That said, this is a film that will be most important more on a second or third viewing.

4/5