Go See: Gravity (3D)

Last week I finally got the opportunity to see the highly talked about movie Gravity. Gravity stars Sandra Bullock as a medical engineer who struggles to make it back to Earth after a space mission goes awry. George Clooney co-stars as an astronaut working with Bullock's character and Ed Harris plays the voice of Mission Control. And that's it. The only other actors involved are in the movie mere seconds and are just providing voice-overs. So did a (relatively short) 90 minute movie featuring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney floating through space blow me away?

Sandra Bullock's Ryan Stone senses 90 minutes of bad news is about to happen.

In short, yes, it actually did. Gravity is an amazing visual experience unlike anything I've ever seen before. I wouldn't even really call Gravity a "traditional" movie. What director Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men, Y Tu Mama Tambien) managed to do is create some sort of hybrid entertainment. A good portion of the movie is shown through Bullock's character's point of view. Through her eyes, we see her tumbling through space and attempting to grab onto parts of the space shuttle. These sequences reminded me of a videogame and it almost felt like you were in control of what you were seeing. That feeling ramped up the intensity to what are already very intense scenes. Other sequences where Bullock floats through space and you're observing what she's seeing reminded me of a ride you'd find at Universal Studios. These elements, combined with a strong narrative and emotional back story to Bullock's character, provided a very entertaining 90 minutes.

Wait ... they weren't really in space?

But I can't conclude a review about Gravity without mentioning it's incredible tracking shots. Fans of Cuaron's last feature, 2006's Children of Men, were especially blown away by that film's long single-shot sequences. There's an entire scene in that movie that includes sevral actors in a car and on motorcycles, fire, and gunshots that's done in a single shot. While the single-shot sequences were impressive in Children of Men, they're even more amazing in Gravity. We follow Sandra Bullock's character in a single shot as she wiggles through the confined spaces in an entire space shuttle to fight a fire that has broken out. We tumble with her in a single shot as she desperately tries to grab hold of a space shuttle as it plummets to Earth. These sequences were obviously well rehearsed and shot with Bullock rigged in front of a green screen. But Cuaron manages to make them feel real and improvised in a way I haven't seen before.

"I should have considered a different career path."

I would highly recommend watching Gravity in 3D. And that's coming from someone who hates the current 3D craze. In fact, although I wasn't able to see it in IMAX, I would recommend seeing it on an IMAX screen as well. It will only add to the visually stunning experience. Gravity is one of those rare  "I feel like I'm actually in the movie" experiences that needs to be seen to be believed.

-Jared