Technically impressive, but not much more

Rating: 6/10 (14 November 2014)

2001 it is not, but GRAVITY is a tense and, at times, thrilling movie about survival that coasts on its stunning visuals while paying little attention to story and character. The plot is simple: two astronauts who are making modifications to the Hubble Space Telescope have to fight for their lives after debris from a Russian satellite starts to make its way towards them. The cast is quite small, and only Sandra Bullock and George Clooney have any screen time. Everyone else is just a voice on the intercom. George Clooney does his usual ladies' man routine, which he does quite well, and Sandra Bullock does a good job of a woman who never should have been allowed in space in the first place. That aside, they do an admirable job with the script they were given. Where the movie really excels is in the visual department. Alfonso Cuaron spent many years developing this concept and technology to make this movie, not unlike James Cameron did with Avatar, and it shows on screen. These are some of the most impressive space effects that I've seen in a long time, although calling them ground-breaking might be giving it a little too much credit. The score is also worth mentioning, and helps to maintain the tension throughout the film. Still, I felt like the story was lacking enough, and the middle 45-50 minutes of the movie lags quite a bit. I have a feeling that I'd be looking at this movie differently had I saw it in theaters, but I didn't, so this is how I feel about it. The first half-hour, and the last 20 minutes were superb, but the middle dragged a little too much. Overall, it is a movie worth seeing, although to get the full effect of the visuals, it would probably be best to see this on the largest screen possible and with a decent sound system. Best movie of 2013? No, but it's still pretty good for what it is.