An visual marvel and an intense thriller

Rating: 10/10 (8 October 2013)

Alfonso Cuarón's gravity is a gripping thriller that manages to pull you in (the tagline of the movie is Don't Let go). Gravity is a film that also takes advantage of its 3D. A film that for its short running time (90 minutes without credits) manages to scare me more than most recent horror movies I've seen. The film is real, and it's not afraid to show that.
The plot follows Dr. Ryan Stone a bio-medical engineer who is on her first shuttle mission with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (who is on his last mission before his retirement). While on a spacewalk out, disaster strikes after a space debris from Russia causes a chain reaction of destruction, and they have to abort the mission. Things get worse when they lose contact with mission control. Left alone with just each other Stone and Kowalsky have to make it back to earth before they get sucked into the endless void of space.
The first fifteen minutes or so of gravity, is quiet, its just Bullock and Clooney talking to each other. The action kicks once their attacked by the space debris from Russia, and things get interesting. The plot of Gravity is very intense. I haven't seen a movie in a while that's gripped me as much as Gravity did. This is a serious story Although it's not the best female performance I've seen all year, Bullock is quite good. She manages to convince me that she really is lost in space, and I also felt for her character. I imagine if I was drifting in space alone, I'd probably go berserk, but Bullock as Ryan Stone manages to keep her cool, and her character progresses throughout. She starts out in the film panicking and screaming, but by the end she manages to keep her cool and I honestly believe she's stuck in space and trying to find her way home. George Clooney is basically playing himself, and he doesn't have a whole lot of screen time (this is essentially a one woman show, might have spoiled it for anyone who hasn't seen the film), but he's still fairly witty and manages to give some pretty decent one-liners.
The visuals are in Gravity are amazing. The opening shot of Earth is beautiful (or as the film likes to put it "breathtaking"). The cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki is spectacular. We really get to see space, and the planet. I don't think I've ever seen a movie that showed space and earth quite as good as gravity did.
The 3D in Gravity is excellent as well. While Gravity is post-converted 3D, it's not the usual post-converted 3D crap we're used to seeing. This is a film that uses 3D to its fullest. For example when the ISS (International Space Station) explodes several parts of it come flying. I ducked my head more than ten times, despite the fact that I was aware that it wasn't real. But that's how real the 3D in Gravity is. I highly recommended you see it in that format.
Gravity is an intense thriller. It's not a blockbuster, but it doesn't need to be. It's a film that doesn't have much of a soundtrack (and the soundtrack, however short it may be by Steven Price is beautiful), but it doesn't need one. Its runtime is short (90 minutes including credits), and it moves at a brisk pace. This is a movie I highly recommended you see.