Review: Gravity

Image courtesy of Warner Bros.

Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity" is an exhilarating work of visual genius and a rare example of a film that makes a good case for the 3D experience.

The picture, which moves by at a brisk 91 minutes, is a thrilling tale of survival and quite unlike anything I've seen before. And while the film's storyline is fairly simple and, you could argue, routine, the way this story is told is anything but.

The setup is uncomplicated: A small crew of astronauts, led by pilot Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), are sent to fix a Hubble telescope. Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a first-time space traveler, but also the person best equipped to fix the telescope.

The film opens with a gorgeous view of the Earth and, just slightly, we begin to hear voices. A speck in the distance reveals itself to be a space ship around which the astronauts float weightlessly, working on the telescope. As we pull in closer, their voices become clearer.

Stone tells Kowalski that she likes the silence of outer space, but she's not too convincing. Both the seasoned astronaut and the doctor keep up constant banter during the movie's first 30 minutes, most likely to ward off their fear. Kowalski is jokey, rehashing old stories to ground control at Houston (voiced by Ed Harris) and talking about how he wants to break a space walking record set by a Russian astronaut. Stone, on the other hand, is all business.

Word comes from Houston that debris from a satellite that had been struck down by a rocket is heading in the astronauts' direction. From here on out, "Gravity" is a taut tale of survival that rarely lets up.

I won't give away too many details, but suffice it to say that Stone must fend for herself in one agonizingly tense sequence after another. During one particularly stunning sequence, she floats through the interior of a space craft, navigating her way head-first through its corridors, only to end up combatting a fire that breaks out.

In the film's coup de grace, Stone must flee her ship and untangle an escape pod's parachute as a second round of debris heads her way. The scene is a triumph of special effects, but also a great advertisement for 3D, of which I must admit I've become increasingly wary. There are only a few films that have truly utilized 3D to its full potential - I'm willing to include "Avatar," but am much more enthused by Martin Scorsese's "Hugo." Cuaron's film, however, uses the format brilliantly. Watching the picture through 3D glasses actually adds to the experience, which is more than I could say for a majority of 3D films.

And Bullock is her own force of nature. She may have won an Oscar for her performance in "The Blind Side," but her work as Stone is easily a career high for the actress. Bullock has been stuck, for years, in mostly lightweight - some enjoyable - comedies, but her performance in "Gravity" proves she has gravitas.

The film's final sequence gives new meaning to Neil Armstrong's famous quote, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

In recent years, it's become a rare thing that big budget special-effects heavy pictures have made it onto my list of the year's best films. As technology has become more advanced, storytelling has seemingly taken a back seat. "Gravity" is proof that blockbuster-style filmmaking does not have to be brain dead. This is a smart, extremely intense, well acted, emotionally satisfying and visually stunning film. For those thinking about seeing it, I'd urge you to see it on the big screen and with 3D glasses.