Film Review: Alfonso Cuaron’s ‘Gravity’ Rekindles Wonder of Cinema

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CHICAGO – There used to be a stronger sense that films could take us someplace new. From the days of audience members screaming at the train coming at the camera because they didn’t understand that they wouldn’t be run over to Dorothy’s trip to Oz to young Skywalker’s family problems, movies captured a sense of wonder that’s been lost in an era when CGI is in KFC commercials and it feels like Hollywood has run out of new places to take us. This sense of spectacle returns in Alfonso Cuaron’s stunning “Gravity,” a movie that transcends form and becomes an “experience.” It is a technical marvel that moves beyond many of the recent visual effects stunners like “Life of Pi” and “Avatar” by giving you a heroine with whom to identify, cheer for, and sit beside. It’s a great film, one of the best of 2013.

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 5.0/5.0
Rating: 5.0/5.0

The first, unbroken shot of “Gravity,” before the action really kicks in, is arguably its most impressive because that’s where the awe first kicks in. Cuaron slowly opens his film with a shot of what will be the background of the majority of the movie – the planet Earth from space. It’s a long, slow shot, into which comes a little dot that we realize is a space shuttle. Even that massive machine that we’ve seen takeoff so many times is miniscule compared to space and the planet below it.

StarRead Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Gravity” in our reviews section.

We pan in on three astronauts repairing a satellite. Sarcastic veteran Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) jet packs around colleague Shariff (Paul Sharma) and newcomer Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), who has developed the technology that needs to be physically uploaded to space. For an amazing amount of time, Cuaron shoots without edits, circling the astronauts like a fourth participant in the project. The camera seems to move at a similar trajectory as Matt in his jet pack, making us feel like we’re right there in a place that we will certainly never be. Cuaron doesn’t show you something, he transports you there and makes you feel in the moment.

And then all Hell breaks loose. As Ryan and Matt learn from Mission Control (brilliantly voiced by Ed Harris in a nod to “Apollo 13”), a missile accidentally hit a satellite, creating debris that was then thrown into Earth’s orbit, hitting other satellites, and just getting worse as it speeds toward our heroes. Before they can get to safety (although there’s really no such thing in space), Ryan is loose, spinning around the planet. And you, the viewer, are mesmerized, terrified, and about to go on one of the most remarkable journeys in film history.

StarContinue reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Gravity” review.

“Gravity” stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. It was written by Jonas & Alfonso Cuaron and directed by Alfonso Cuaron. It opens tomorrow, October 4, 2013.

Gravity
Gravity
Photo credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

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