Gravity: Review

Never have I seen a film quite as stunning as Gravity. What's so surprising about this is how the sheer beauty of space in the movie is juxtaposed so well against the numbing fear of isolation in an endless, dark void. Not giving too much away, Gravity tells the story of a medical engineer by the name of Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) who is working on a space station when a large amount of debris from another station collides with hers, and she is launched into space with a very limited supply of oxygen. As this is all the trailers for Gravity revealed, I won't divulge any more, but it quickly becomes a very tense movie. 

From the off-set, the sound-design in Gravity is nothing short of perfection. Periods of silence are used to consistently emphasize a sense of loneliness and terror, and work immensely well. When sound is featured, it is projected exactly how you would expect. For example, if two characters in the film are speaking to one another, their voices will be muffled like it would be if heard through a space-helmet; small details which add hugely to the film. 

Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock)

Now, although Gravity is a very tense film, I feel that the heart-stopping tension it apparently featured was slightly over-hyped. This may be because I recently watched Captain Phillips which I found genuinely exhausting due to it's constant barrage of emotions, but for me, Gravity was only mildly worrying. That being said, some of the people I went to see it with were clasping their hands to their faces all throughout the movie, so perhaps it comes down to personal experiences. 

There were only a few problems I held with Gravity. Firstly, certain sequences were clichéd to the point where you knew precisely how a scene was going to play out. For example, one scene specifically was over-played on to the point where it became difficult to even be shocked once the true nature of it was revealed. Also, it was difficult to empathize with Sandra Bullock's character at times due to her surprisingly idiotic behaviour, and even more difficult to believe that she would have ever made it through the no doubt strenuous testing that somebody in her position would receive. 

Verdict

Gravity is definitely a film that should be experienced for the awe of it's beauty alone. The stunning shots of the Earth accompanied by a faint musical score were so mesmerizing that I occasionally forgot the peril that the characters were in. The plot may not be the most engaging I have ever seen, but it is certainly worth watching, regardless of the few qualms I had. 

"Houston, I have a bad feeling about the mission."

As a little side-note, I will no longer be featuring a numerical value after each review because I find it difficult to apply a number to what has been said, and I hope that the verdict should speak for itself.