Doc Havoc

... and was absolutely mesmerized by it. A new cinematic classic, I daresay.

The most outstanding strong point of this Alfonso Cuaron directed space thriller is its visual. Never before seeing the outer space in theater felt so real and thrilling. All those details, incredible long-takes, and the stunning camera works must be seen in 3D. This is the kind of movie where the implementation of 3D effects is completely justified for intensifying the impacts.

The plot is simple and with minimalist cast too. American astronaut Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) was fixing Hubble Telescope when suddenly a rain of satellite debris caused by misfired Russian missiles hit her spaceship. She lost all of her crew but one Matthew Kowalski (George Clooney), with whom she got stranded in space, with limited oxygen and little chance of survival.

From there on, the story becomes the kind survival thriller where the characters must get from point A to point B, getting item 1 and item 2, and use them to reach safezone. Here the points being space stations, the items spaceships, and the safezone the Earth, where gravity is waiting.

Done wrong, such a story can be downright boring. About 95% of what we see on screen are Sandra Bullock floating around, mundane things flying around, outer space scenery, and Sandra Bullock floating around. However, with her great and realistic acting, helped by breath-taking visuals and haunting sound works, every moment was incredibly intense.

I yelped when Ryan Stone missed her grips, I bit my lip when she lost the necessary item to escape from peril, I held my breath when her oxygen supplies reached critical level. I was completely immersed with our heroine's journey and I rooted for her.

Of course, there would be bugs in every garden and there are some moments that not bad, but also not great, in Gravity. A few missed opportunities. George Clooney was playing himself, a suave and charming guy and nothing else. Some breath-catching scenes and symbolisms can be too melodramatic for some, and the characters' backstories could be explored more deeply.

To conclude, Gravity was a great thriller with visuals that break the zenith of modern-day filmmaking. Maybe, experiencing this movie in our time is the equal of when 2001: Space Odyssey hit the masses back then. Simple story, brutally effective delivery.

Yes, I'm doing review blog here in BL. Be afraid.