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Movie Review: Gravity

There are many different ways to meet your untimely demise. Drowning, burned alive or freezing to death are all terrible ways to go. Most people fear these misfortunes happening to them so we blow out the candles at night, take swimming lessons and dress warmly. Death by floating away never comes to mind when your thinking of knocking on death's door, but it's a real fear to the men and women who work in the space programs around the globe. Get detached and your floating into the great beyond. After watching Gravity, I was a fool to ever think I wanted to go into space after watching the cult classic Space Camp when I was a kid.

Gravity is an intense and perilous journey of two astronauts that are left adrift in the blackness of space without a ride home. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney play the marooned NASA members, but I will forewarn you if you are seeing Gravity solely for Clooney. His veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski has a minimum role no matter what the trailers might want you to think. Gravity is Sandra Bullock's film as she shines as the desperate and terrified rookie astronaut scientist Ryan Stone. You can hear the fear in Bullock's voice and even the way she breathed made me gasp for air at times. Bullock doesn't play Ryan as some space superheroine, but rather a heartbroken and in over her head individual just trying to survive. Gravity is Bullock's best role since The Blindside.

The intensity of Gravity is turned up to 11 in about 10 minutes into the film. Each situation the stranded astronauts find themselves in keeps you on the edge of your seat even though you know the movie isn't going to end after twenty minutes. The special effects are amazing and so is the 3D. I'm not a 3D fan, but this is one you should pay the extra dollars for to enhance the experience. You will think Sandra Bullock is actually floating in space as she tumbles in the cannonball position. You can thank a swimming pool lined with green screen for those amazing effects.

My only issue with Gravity was I felt as if it couldn't decide what kind of movie it wanted to be. A thought-provoking film about the struggle of life and death or a popcorn action flick in the vein of Speed. Don't get me wrong. I love Speed, but it has some ridiculous scenes in the film. Gravity gives Speed a run for its money with unbelievable scenes involving space suits that don't run out of air apparently, astronaut gorilla grip and a fire extinguisher sequence straight out of Wall-E. The scenes may stretch reality but your knuckles will be white and you will be out of breath by the end of Gravity's 94 minute running time. Even if things seem very convenient for Gravity's astronaut heroine at times. Overall I give Gravity 3 out of 4 potatoes.

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