Dazzling visuals and tale of human will

Rating: 8/10 (23 October 2013)

The human will to survive catastrophe has been depicted in various elements. While 'Castaway' was about the desperate attempt to get off an island, 'Life of Pi' was about getting onto one. Mountaineers, sailors, disaster survivors and characters genuinely lost, have battled natural elements and phenomena to delineate the human will that defeats all odds. What director Alfonso Cuaron ('Harry Potter & Prisoner of Azkaban', 'Children of Men') does now is suspend a human in an environment of void against some spectacular backdrop, occasionally exposed to threatening objects with the challenge to survive and find a way back home. 'Gravity' soars on the technical genius of a visionary film-maker and his incredible team that creates the adventure in the great spatial void while masking the logic, science and pragmatism with which two astronauts struggle to survive flying debris and vacuum.
Sandra Bullock is Dr. Ryan Stone, who is awkwardly on a space outing to repair parts of the Hubble telescope, along with Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) and the funny Indian astronaut who met a quick fateful end. The Rom-Com specialist doesn't have to deal with much Speed this time around but rather prolonged silence, desperation and inexperience of maneuvering in space. The funny conversations and meticulous processes of repair are abruptly halted by NASA's command to abort the mission due to some flying debris being closer to them than was originally conceived. Russia's missile launch onto their own satellite resulted in this havoc in space that led to severe and totalitarian destruction of human objects around Earth's orbit. With their shuttle suffering carnage by the flying debris, Ryan spins over and over desperate for balance, semblance and reserve until the cool-headed Matt attaches himself to her with a cord as he cruises along toward the I.S.S. with his thrusters. As the communication with mission control is broken and their oxygen levels run low, Matt maintains positivity with his corny conversations, punchlines and his endearing gallantry; a result of which leaves Ryan little time, hope and options. With the debris completing its rotation every 90 mins, Dr Stone must find a pod from one of the space stations that can take her back to Earth, gravity and home.
Much of the drama in space is accompanied by spells of silence, emptiness, and Ryan talking to herself. The thrills are provided by the struggles of moving in space and of course the oncoming debris that creates havoc. Thus, one would think that for the most part, Cuaron's focus would be on character building, plot progression, emotions in precarious situations and alluring powers of a strong cast that can enthrall audiences against the dark background of space. Instead, the director chooses to cast two of the foremost Rom-Com actors in lead roles. When Sandra Bullock isn't gasping for the scarce oxygen, she still sounds as panic stricken as she did when she had to make a sharp turn in a bus speeding at 80mph. George Clooney may have the voice that warrants attention but his charm seems a bit out of this world in the context. One has a difficult time relating to these actors whose backgrounds are solely in their own memory, their body language is only that of suspension in vacuum in a space suit and then there's one more element that doesn't quite help them. With its sheer lack of life, Space does not offer much in thrills, excitement or the unexpected. Ang Lee had a tiger, a hyena, whales, birds, rodents and storms that challenged Pi on his boat ride. Tom Hanks had weather, starvation, injuries, boat building, fire making and fishing as challenges. Ryan does have to find her way into a pod and release it from a station but the only threat really is that of the flying debris. The rest of us mortal beings who haven't been in space cannot relate to the challenges of maneuvering in space, getting in and out of a suit, breathing inside the helmet on depleted O2 or understanding Russian and Chinese equally well to control space stations. That's precisely where Cuaron uses the best of modern film technologies to captivate audiences and overcome such issues. The Cuarons have written a tight storyline that doesn't just wander in space. If the action isn't frequent, the sense of its coming surely is. There is no back-story of the actors nor is there a flashback of their memories. From the beginning, Gravity pulls you into space and impresses you with its visuals and excitement when the astronaut has barely any metal to grab onto for dear life. Many of those moments can make you clench your fist and that's exactly where the film leaves its mark. As unreal as it seems, the film makers have convinced us that we are really up there, suspended in space, faced with flying debris and barely a handle to hold on to.
The post production work on 3D is good, yet non overbearing. Its main contribution is the flying debris that comes onto you but other than that, the great void doesn't have any object jumping out of the screen to impress with 3D. Alfonso Cuaron has directed a well-paced storyline with an exemplary vision, realized by a very talented technical team that quite literally takes us beyond our realm. The story's linear nature and pace release the pressure from actors to portray more emotion and movement than required. It could very well be Sandra Bullock's best performance but that's not really setting any standards is it.....? In the end however, Gravity is about the triumph of human will to survive and endure through its adversities even though, it seems to fall short of being one of those 'epic' tales. Yet, it is genuinely, a triumph of technologies in cinema when you view our spectacular world from up there.

8.004 on a scale of 1-10.