Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Expectations: High. Everyone loved this, right?
On the technical side of things, Gravity is an absolutely amazing motion picture. It made me want to love the movie, but unfortunately movies do not succeed on their technical prowess alone. The emotional side of Gravity is a weak link, trading on stereotypical clichés and crafting moments too obviously designed to get a “deep” emotional reaction. This is not just Gravity‘s fault, though, as it’s more of a systemic disease afflicting a good majority of Hollywood mainstream films. But because of the technical mastery on display (especially the film’s 13-minute opening tracking shot), it felt right to hold Gravity to a different standard. Clearly, that didn’t entirely work out.
Sandra Bullock and George Clooney play American astronauts performing system upgrades on the Hubble telescope. For some reason, the Russians blast a satellite with a rocket, starting a chain reaction of space debris that not only jeopardizes the American mission, but their lives. Sounds like the plot of an ’80s movie looking to reinforce Cold War ideals, but I assure you it just came out last year!
I also had a hard time buying the fact that they’d let Sandra Bullock’s character into space. Even when the film is just beginning and everything is going according to plan, she’s already high-strung and nervous. When the shit hits the fan, it only gets worse. This I don’t mind too much; if I was in that situation I’d be losing my shit too. But NASA isn’t supposed to send just anyone up into space and out on a spacewalk are they? Bullock is the everywoman in space, and it seems really farfetched. These people are supposed to be astronaut quality — scientists and professionals who have trained many years for this moment. This is the same argument that many hurled at Prometheus; the difference here being that Gravity is trying its best to be realistic, while Prometheus was always going for pure and total fantasy (with a philosophical bent). There’s also the element that my girlfriend noticed where Clooney, the cocky, red-blooded, American male, is cool and calm compared to Bullock’s frenetic, emotional female. Would it kill Hollywood to reverse some roles once in a while?