Many times in the past when I have reviewed films they have either had a small amount of plot development (see Man of Steel), a medium amount of plot development and character interactions (see Iron Man 3) or a sense of interaction between the main characters and their relevance to the plot that shapes the film as a whole (see Philomena). What is refreshingly pleasing sometimes however is when a film comes along that proves that a film does not always have to possess s huge amount of inner context in order to be gripping and proves in turn to be not only gripping but also as enjoyable as a hot shepherds pie with a glass of mulled wine served to you on a starlit winter evening by Jennifer Connelly. As you might have guessed from my slightly pretentious opening there, Gravity is a good film, a really good film.
Now as you might have gleaned, this jewel in an increasingly formulaic film industry has a simple, almost non-existent plot. Weird right? It surely isn't that often that we get films such as this where it grips us with virtually no context. To give a synopsis (although you could recount the whole expanse of the plot broadly and it would still seem like a synopsis), Sandra Bullock plays the hard-working, strangely relateable and space-sick doctor Ryan Stone working on a NASA space shuttle as the chief medical officer of a mission led by the enigmatic and veteran astronaut commander Matt Kowalski (played in a humorous but compelling manner by George Cloony). However, despite their routine schedule, the NASA team soon falls foul of a cloud of debris caused by a Russian satellite crashing into a series of other satellites that then causes a chain reaction which in turn produces a huge cloud of debris to crash into the NASA shuttle utterly destroying it and leaving only Kowalski and Stone alive. The rest of the film then sees the two astronauts, with much of the action centred on Stone, cross from station to station through the use of improvised propulsion systems in the increasingly desperate, higher-stakes and nail-biting race to find a working space pod before the shrapnel storm turns them into space-frozen hamburger mince.
While the simplicity of the plot in a film can usually spell the death-knell of a film from the start as the title first appears on the screen, this film doesn't have that problem. For starters, the action is as amazing as the idea of M Night Shyamalan ever making another good film after The Sixth Sense (1999) and Unbreakable (2000). As the name would suggest, the driving force behind the action of the film's plot revolves around the tremendous force of gravity or a zero-gravity situation in space thereof and the dangers that can be found working in the great black sea above. Therefore, when we see Bullock's character hurtling through the deep of space, we can see that it is merely timing and a little bit of ingenuity that is either going to get here to the next space station or turn her into a human comet. Therefore, the action really makes you grip your seat and realise that there's a rim of seat on your seat when you stand up, as you and the main characters can clearly see that the smallest of errors in judgement of mathematics and timing could mean the difference between heroes being made, or the film ending early. This is all propelled along, literally and figuratively, by the ever present threat of the shrapnel storm created by the destroyed satellites and other stations as Dr Stone desperately tries to make her way along the desperate path to safety. The action might have some holes in it in terms of realism but regardless, the tension that it exhumes is very palpable and will compel you to have a whole bottle of spirits let alone a small glass in order to steady your nerves after the credits roll.
One other factor that drives the tensions to bone-chilling and back-sweating heights is the acting skills put on show by Sandra Bullock herself...wait...really? How is this possible? I thought Sandra Bullock's last several films were terrible and here acting skills in them were dreadful! (for examples see Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997), The Proposal (2009) or The Blind Side (2009, man that was just not her year)). Yet despite all the examples of Sandra Bullock putting on a lacklustre acting performance devoid of any real drive and believable emotion in many of her previous films (excluding the first Speed (1994)), her performance in this film is just about one of the most compelling, realistic and relateable showcases of human emotion and the limits thereof and of human psychological durability. It's really surprising that Bullock's acting therefore, is one of the centrepiece factors that made this film so gripping and made it so much so that I really felt like I was in the space suit of the main character, living out their experience with my own eyes.
On top of this there are other people that must be congratulated on their work besides Bullock on her own astronomically brilliant performance (pun-abso-fucking-leoutley intended). Firstly, Clooney himself makes the part of astronaut commander Kowalski really come to life and leap out of the screen by giving him a more enigmatic yet still believable performance as the film's joker and main centrepiece of can-do attitude when the aforementioned shrapnel storm strikes our main characters. On top of this, I feel it is only necessary to heap well-deserved praise onto director Alfonso Cuaron as his direction of the plot and action, actors and special effects is truly an exemplary performance in of itself and as an example of directing a film with little plot and still managing to make it still gripping and compelling and emotionally riveting as your first viewing of The Lion King (1994). Subsequently, an equal amount of praise must also be heaped upon the special effects department in this production as they too have absolutely done a beyond-brilliant job of making the deepness of space and the movement of the characters through the black void thereof seem more realistic than much CGI which has appeared in other such films over the last 20 years.
In conclusion, Gravity is one hell of a ride both visually, audibly and even psychologically. Not only is the acting, action and directing great, but the special effects really put you in the film and let you feel immersed in the experience. On top of this, Gravity is one of the few films that I will remember in time where it was necessary to be seen in cinemas in 3D. No really! It really works well when viewed in 3D and allows you an even more increased experience of feeling like you too are living out the events of the film alongside Bullock's intense bouts of panic as her character tries to survive, Clooney's odd search for vodka in space all culminating in what has to be the best thriller of the entire year. Let's hope then that Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues can also step up to the mark as one of this young decade's greatest films.
Plot: 8.5/10
Action/set pieces: 9/10
Directing/special effects/camera work: 8/10
Acting/characters: 9/10
Overall: 34.5/40
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