Fabulous Visuals, Substandard Plot

Rating: 6/10 (12 October 2013)

Gravity is a film with fabulous visuals strung together over an appallingly substandard plot of clichés and director-indulgent moments. Yet again Hollywood has wasted millions on great CGI without bothering with decent writing. Part of Gravity's $100 million budget was surely spent on paying marketers to front-load sites like IMDb with 10-star reviews. It's a trick that works. But if you want to know what moviegoers really think of a film, wait until it's been out a couple of weeks, THEN check the user reviews – you'll get a more accurate picture of how good or bad the film is. I give Gravity a 6.
Sandra Bullock seems like a great person, the kind of cool, smart chick you'd like to hang out with, whose pleasing combination of poise and humility makes her fun to watch in feel-good movies like Miss Congeniality. Unfortunately, Sandra Bullock is not a great actor. In Gravity she plays protagonist Ryan Stone, the focal point of the movie, practically the only character. Given Gravity's extremely weak story, the film REALLY needed an amazing actress to play the part of Ryan Stone. A stronger actor like Charlize Theron or Jessica Chastain might have been able to bring much more to this role to help fill out the weak plot with a nuanced and powerful performance. But even a great actress couldn't turn Gravity into a movie that was more than just great CGI.