"Gravity" takes the audience on a thrilling ride through space.[/caption]Occasionally a movie comes out that’s an instant classic. Critics love it. Audiences love it. It does extremely well in the box office, making $55.6 million in its opening weekend, and it has a 97% positive rating from Rotten Tomatoes. If you don’t know what movie I’m talking about yet, it’s Gravity, the space thriller starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Alfonso Cuarón, the director, obviously spent a lot of time constructing this beautiful film. The numerous positive reviews for this movie are all correct, and if you haven’t seen it yet then you definitely should.
Bullock stars in the film as Ryan Stone, a new astronaut who’s on her first mission. She and Matt Kowalski, an experienced astronaut, are doing a space walk to service the Hubble Space Telescope when an official in Houston who’s a member of the mission control team tells them to abort their mission. Debris from a Russian missile launch is headed their way, and it has already knocked out some communication satellites. Kowalski urges Stone to abandon the mission, but she attempts to finish servicing the telescope. She finally stops as he grows more and more insistent, but it’s too late.
Debris hits Explorer, the shuttle that Stone and Kowalski are living in, and Stone is thrown off of the Hubble Space Telescope, spinning into space. Bullock’s panicked cries and terrified facial expressions in this part of the movie are brilliant and incredibly realistic. I won’t spoil what happens to Stone, but I can tell you that my heart rate was probably increased for most of the film. Some parts of the movie were heartbreaking, some were just visually amazing to watch, and other parts were quite funny.
Should you see it in 3D? I’d say yes. I don’t see many movies in 3D so I can’t comment on 3D movies in general, but I think the 3D aspect added a lot to this movie. Drifting through space or seeing satellite debris fly at the screen just wouldn’t be as visually interesting in two dimensions.
Gravity only has a running time of 91 minutes, so it isn’t as long as many of the blockbuster movies that come out nowadays. I’d say that kids 10 years of age and older should be able to watch and enjoy this film, even though it is rated PG-13. There’s a noticeable amount of language and some violence, but it’s nothing excessive. More importantly, 10-year-old children should be old enough to pay attention and grasp the power and emotion of this film. The idea of someone being trapped in the void of space is a terrifying idea for some people, but children of this age and older can probably handle it.
The only people who shouldn’t see Gravity are people who get motion sickness. There is constant rotating and spinning and falling in this film. It’s part of what makes it so visually appealing, but it could also make some people nauseous.
If you aren't prone to motion sickness, then you have to go see this gorgeous movie. I'm giving it ten out of ten stars, but I'd gladly give it an even higher rating if I could.
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