Every now and then there comes a movie that raises the bar in the visual sense, but since technology is going forward in a very rapid pace, meaning that those genuine "wow" moments aren't quite as common nowadays. Whenever I see a movie with impressive CGI I can't help but think that it really isn't that different from the competition. It's good, great even, but nothing new. It does the job, but with no apparent backthought into it.
At the same time, nothing is more frowned upon than the notion that a movie can get away with just having good visuals. You'll be scorned all around the board for claiming that Avatar is your favorite movie, since it's just "Pocahontas in space". A movie isn't worth a dime if it doesn't last more than 2 hours, includes a memorable villain, a strong independent woman who's there for the sake of being a strong independant woman, and at least a handful of unexpected plot twists.
In walks Gravity, shoulders high, and, seemingly, out of the blue. This movie sort of seeped out of the vast spaces of the Internet into my own little realm of self-indulgent movie cynism. It didn't take me long before I understood that this sci-fi flick deserved my attention. Being somewhat of a space-nut, I appreciated the level of detail I could pick out from the trailers, and it seemed to be a genuinely exciting space odyssey in the making.
Three screenings later I can safely say, with little doubt, that Gravity will be the new Avatar in the circles of arrogant cinema snobs. It's short (91 minutes), it is made almost entirely with CGI, the story is considered simple and unimaginative and the script is wooden at best.
The only thing that is true about what I've just listed is the script, which is indeed of the more half-hearted sort of B-movie style. Absolutely everything else is however in the movies' favour. Alfonso Cuarón clearly had a vision for his movie, and unlike certain other directors of his time, he decided that roughly one and a half hour is just what the movie needs to convey its message and hats of to that sensible conclusion! When a movie like 2001: A Space Odyssey goes from the origin of the human race to the development of a new hyper intelligent life form, it is excused for using up 164 minutes. When a movie like Transformers: Dark of the Moon takes 154 minutes to show big robots punching eachother, it is less forgiving for the more cynical moviegoer. Gravity does none of that; it is neither the most profoundly intelligent movie on the market, but it is far from headbashingly stupid, and it manages to walk that line in less than 2 hours, meaning that you won't waste much time in either case.
I'm not one who's afraid of spoilers but I do feel that knowing as little as possible before you go see this movie will give you an advantage. With that said, it'd be stupid not to have a general idea of the things to come so here it is: Sandra Bullock and George Clooney (the first making her best performance to date, the latter being his usual Clooney-esque charming handsome man-guy) play two astronauts making some calibrations to the Hubble Space Telescope. It doesn't take long before things go haywire, and they find themselves stranded in the outskirts of our atmosphere. Contact with Houston is gone, and breathable air is running low. That's all dealt with in the first 15 minutes, which, incidentially, is among the best opening I've ever witnessed to a movie. I mentioned Avatar earlier: Gravity blows away all competition on the visual aspects. Last time I felt as numbstuck while watching a scene that I knew was all make-belief was when I was 8 years old, watching Star Wars: A New Hope on VHS for the first time. Gravity kicks away all competition on the CGI market with a seemingly lazy air to itself: the visuals aren't just "impressive", "great" or "realistic", they're downright beautiful, a very refreshing aspect of moviemaking that seem to have been lost amongst goblins, explosions, aliens and superheroes. Watching the slow rotation of our own planet as the backdrop for the events in Gravity is in itself worth a screening. The intense and immersive soundtrack was worth a second, and the overall experience, being a breathtakingly beautiful, exciting, horrifying and wellplayed piece of art, was worthy of three full sittings in a cinema, 3D-glasses strapped on, goosebumps crawling all over my arms as the absolute silence of space is cut off by the panicked screams of Sandra Bullock's character, as she tumbles away to her seemingly unavoidable doom. I can't give this movie anything but my unreserved praise, and I look forward to see it again, which I'm sure I will very soon!