Monday, December 9, 2013

Movie Review - Gravity - By Daniel Kilgallon



                                
Gravity (PG-13)
Run Time: 91 mins

If someone asked me which movies contain visual effects that have managed to literally drop my jaw, I would respond with a very select group of titles. Inception, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, James Cameron’s Avatar and Graivty, for sure. This movie looked absolutely phenomenal and is without a doubt one of the most visually impressive movies that I have ever seen. I’ll be in abosolute shock if this movie doesn’t win an Oscar for best visual effects, in fact it will most likely be a contender in several other categories.

Gravity is science fiction drama/thriller directed by Alfonso Cuarón (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). The movie stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, who are actually the only two people in the movie for a significant amount of time. Bullock delivered a great, career performance as the lead role in this movie and Clooney played a great part as well. Because of all the hype surrounding this film, I had huge expectations heading into the theater; Gravity completely surpassed my hopes.  

In the beginning of the movie, bio-medical engineer Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is shown working as a mission specialist with a small group of astronauts on her first space shuttle mission. The leader of the team is a veteran astronaut named Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) who is commanding his final mission. In the middle of their last spacewalk to service the Hubble Space Telescope, the team receives a warning call from Mission Control in Houston. A Russian missile struck a defunct satellite and the debris from the explosion caused a destructive chain reaction. The mission must be aborted. The shuttle is destroyed by the debris and the rest of the crew is killed, leaving Stone and Kowalski as the lone survivors. The two are left tethered to each other while floating in the dark, silence of space. They are hoping to find some way to survive and return to Earth. 

Gravity’s cinematography is absolutely breathtaking. I give all the credit in the world to Alfonso Cuarón and his incredible crew. As a member of the audience, I felt as if I was personally in space with the two main characters fighting for my own life. It was an absolutely sensational experience. Do not allow yourself to miss out on this spectacular work of art. It is worth every penny of admission.

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