Romping B-Movie with a Budget Ahoy!

Rating: 8/10 (24 March 2014)

Space. It's a bit mental innit? This should be the strap-line for Alfonso Cuarón's multi-award winning SFX- sci-fi extravaganza. Sandra Bullock plays Ryan Stone a medical engineer who's lucked out and landed a plum job as an astronaut inserting her non-specific machine into the Hubble Telescope. Gorgeous George meanwhile plays Matt Kowalski, the grizzled George Clooneyesque veteran astronaut who is looking after her and overseeing her work. However, all's not well in space - things go wrong. Very, very wrong. Indeed. A lot. There. That's the whole 12 minute plot set-up for you.
But what a twelve minutes. One continuous rolling jaw-dropping shot of space, Shuttle, Hubble and insignificant specks of humanity orbiting the Earth. Gravity sets its stall out early. Stunning visuals, combined with superb sound-design and a stripped down b-movie running time make it a thoroughly entertaining experience. Indeed, regarding the much touted visuals you'll spend much of the time saying, "How the f**k did they do that?" Unfortunately, if you think too hard about it you'll also spend much of the time saying, "why the f**k did they do that?" Let's just say the plot is thin to thread-bare. Yes, there are underlying themes of isolation/ loneliness/ rebirth/ survival/ redemption. Yes, there are some nods to other sci-fi epics such as 2001 but ultimately you'll be too busy going, "Wooaaah! to actually care. But, that doesn't matter.
You see, here's the point. Cuarón may try and dress this 90 minutes SFX orgasm up as a metaphysical journey of self-discovery but don't be fooled. If you take Gravity for what it is - an elongated Twilight Zone episode on a cutting-edge technology budget - it's an absolute blast. Be wowed as our heroes repeatedly bounce off satellite debris. Swoon at Gorgeous George's Buzz Light-year impersonation. Marvel as Bullock puffs, gasp, wheezes and "No, no, no, noes" her way from cosmic catastrophe after cosmic calamity. It's all good. Expect more and you'll be disappointed. Top pop-corn actioner of the year.