A very beautiful bad film

Rating: 6/10 (7 January 2014)

I am simply amazed how nowadays people can't tell the difference between a good film and a visually compelling bad film. But, in an era of CGI being valued over talent on screen, I guess it's not that surprising at all.
In my book, 'Gravity' definitely falls into the latter category. Visually, it is breathtaking, an astonishing accomplishment, but what I value the most about a moving picture - the story - is so unbelievably thin and there is no CGI that can mask that.
The premise itself is not bad, and I take it that the environment is represented fairly accurately, but when a story depends on so much national stereotypes as plot devices, it leaves me simply scratching my head in wonder was it really the only way to get the story going. Or maybe I'm simply wrong and Russians really do destroy satellites for fun and keep vodka in emergency modules, American astronauts really do crack stupid jokes and dance the 'Macarena' in outer space and Chinese radio amateurs really can reach outer space when neither Houston nor any other ground control can... I was almost expecting a Mao Tse Tung portrait hanging at the Chinese station, for that matter. The Buddha figurine and the ping pong paddles were already there.
All in all, 'Gravity' is a film that can keep a viewer on the edge of their seat, but most of the time only in disbelief. It is by all means stunning from a photographic point of view, but falls flat short below the surface. Luckily it barely exceeds 80 minutes, unlike most pretentious wanna-be spectacles today, and that adds greatly to my rating, which is otherwise rather generous given my overall impression.
6/10