By Josh Bull
Alfonso Cuaron’s new science fiction film “Gravity” is a suspenseful and unique survival story that, outside of a few liberties taken for narrative convenience, sticks very strongly to realistic science.
During a routine service mission for the Hubble Space Telescope, a Russian missile destroys a defunct satellite, unintentionally causing a chain reaction and sending debris destroying several other satellites and the space shuttle Explorer, leaving only two of the Explorer’s crew members, mission specialist Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and veteran astronaut on his final mission Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), alive, but stranded in space. Cut off from mission control with the shuttle all but destroyed, the two astronauts must work together to find a way to survive.
Although the film’s trailers suggest a grim atmosphere with a focus on the terror of being hopelessly isolated in space, the film itself only touches on that aspect lightly, instead being more akin to a shipwreck survival story. It is, however, still a very suspenseful film that makes you question if the characters will be able to make it back to Earth.
There are very few characters in the film. Beyond Stone and Kowalski, the only notable character is an unnamed mission control operator played by Ed Harris, which may be an allusion to his role as Gene Kranz in “Apollo 13.”
Stone and Kowalski lose contact with mission control very quickly, which works in the film’s favor. Without the radio silence, the conversations between the characters would have most likely distracted from the story.
There are only a few flaws with the film to point at. There are a few homages to other films about space, including “Apollo 13” and “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The homages to “2001” are out of place and only waste time. Stone’s character development is weak and her motivation is little more than instinctual survival. Cuaron’s signature long takes are used generously and are well shot, as per his usual, but a few shots linger for a little too long.
There are also quite a number of liberties taken with scientific accuracy, despite being otherwise very realistic. These inaccuracies are, however, unavoidable as the story could not be told without them.
Gravity is a solid way to satisfy a craving for a film that takes a realistic look at the dangers of outer space. It is a suspenseful and atmospheric film that, despite being a simple survival story, is a solid film and worth checking out.
Contact Josh Bull, reporting correspondent, at jbull3@jccc.edu.