Gravity Review

Do you like scary movies?  Then here's a good one for you.

It may seem odd to label a Sandra Bullock/George Clooney-starring astronaut adventure as a 'scary movie', but few movies have made me tense up and soak my seat with sweat (at least I hope it's sweat) quite like this one.  Just replace the usual horror villains such as creepy ghosts and brutal killers with fast-as-a-bullet flying debris, suffocation, freezing, burning and utter isolation and, presto, you have "Gravity".

Filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron ("Children of Men", "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban") took four years to develop this movie, and it was clearly worth it.  It's a work of efficient simplicity, like a breath of fresh air amidst the bloated, overbaked sea of movies we usually endure.  Essentially a one-character narrative, the story follows Bullock's character Ryan Stone as a space disaster strands her (and cohort Clooney) in cold, unforgiving outer space, and they must work together to survive and return to Earth.  Simple.  Clean.

For most of the 90-minute running time, it's one breathless setpiece after another.  Dizzying camerawork, perfect special effects, masterful sound design, excellent score, great acting - it all blends into one perfect suspense machine.  It's not without its quiet, introspective character moments, however.  It can be quite beautiful and moving at times, even trancendental, but it's first and foremost meant to be a wild, nail-biting ride.  In that respect, it succeeds admirably.

If you choose to see this movie (recommended), you MUST see it in IMAX 3D.  It's the perfect format for "Gravity", and an experience all its own.  IMAX 3D and "Gravity" were made for each other.

It's one of my favorite movies of the year so far.  If you want an exciting, amazing ride, or if you just want to see Sandra Bullock bark like a dog(?), then "Gravity" is the one you can't miss.