Sandra Bullock. That name creates pleasant memories for some who look upon her career fondly and remember The Blind Side and the first Miss Congeniality. Others are more indifferent as they remember such movies as Speed 2: Cruise Control or All About Steve. The same thing goes for George Clooney, remember Batman and Robin? But then again he did O Brother, Where Art Thou!
So needless to say I was up in the air about this movie. An A+ for you if you caught the Clooney joke in the last sentence, but I digress, did this movie crash? Or was it practically magic? Are these Sandra Bullock jokes doing anything for anyone? No? Okay, I’ll move on.
I went into this movie not knowing what to expect. The previews only really showed Sandra Bullock being tossed around outer space like a zero g rag doll. I saw Clooney’s name credited but I never saw him in any of the previews. The only thing the trailers did was peak my interest. But let’s face it, isn’t that the trailers job?
What was the movie actually like? Gravity was just like camping, In tents. Sorry, I mean intense. The movie started out slow but that didn’t last for long as there was one catastrophe after another and I was on the edge of my seat wondering how Dr. Ryan Stone (Bullock) was going to make it out alive. Bullock and Clooney did a great job. Their acting was just like the baby bear’s porridge, that is to say, just right. Acting is always important but for this movie it was more important than usual as there were only two actors and not a lot of set pieces. The special effects were well done. There was nothing over the top, nothing unnecessary. The movie had no excess fat or loose ends. Everyone involved did a fantastic job and I left satisfied and glad I saw it.
Gravity doesn’t try to be more than it is. It’s quite simply the story of survival one of the most dangerous places imaginable. Gravity is to the fear of space as The Poseidon Adventure is to drowning. Even the calm parts of the movie have an underlying feeling of tension. A constant reminder that she, and you if you were in a similar situation, could die at any time. That’s why I don’t go into space… well… that and I’m not an astronaut.. You could say I’m naut and astronaut.
So here’s my wrap up, if my bad jokes haven’t scared you away yet. Gravity is a good movie that’s worth watching. If you plan on seeing this at all you should make a point to see it in theaters as it’s an amazing experience. I didn’t see it in 3D but I don’t feel like it would have added that much so you can see it in 2D and still enjoy yourself quite a bit.
If you’re not sure if you want to see it then watch Moon with Sam Rockwell. They’re different movie, but similar enough that if you don’t like Moon, you won’t like Gravity.
I’ll soon have a review of the games Bang! and Samurai Sword and I plan on seeing Machete Kills Saturday, so unless that plan falls though expect to see a review of that soon.