Film Not As Revolutionary As It Seems (spoilers)
Gravity is a very subjective movie to many people. If you like Disaster Porn and Scenery Porn special effects in IMAX-3D and struggles to survive (IN SPACE!), then you will enjoy Gravity. If not, you will suffer from Hype Backlash.
I was in the former group, but I noticed something about Gravity that was unique, though disappointing when examined closely..
As a sci-fi fan, it's nice to see a female protagonist for once; science fiction is a man's world, both in terms of authorship and characters. However, this film is hardly as revolutionary as it might be. For one, our female protagonist is rescued by George Clooney's character, and he holds her hand and walks her through the first portion of the film. Even during the scene on the Russian craft where she figures out how to get to the Chinese space station, though she technically stills figures it out herself as the George Clooney Ex Machina was probably a hallucination, she nevertheless had to see a male figure telling her what to do to in order to come out.
Ellen Ripley would be ashamed...
But still, Gravity is a good film, but not worthy of much beyond a first viewing. The characters are unremarkable, I couldn't find any themes in the movie that were well explored, the plot was worthy of Dora the Explorer (Say it with me! ISS! Chinese space Station! Earth!), and the tragedy of the movie was boring, as no mainstream American movie studio has the balls to end their movie at 60 minutes by killing the only character. You know what's more tragic than three (one dies immediately, one dies later, one survives) astronauts in space! The chaos that unfolds on the ground as vital services are cut off.
"Half of America just lost their Facebook!" is no joke. You know what else satellites are used for? Communication and scientific study. Important stuff. Not to mention that the hail of debris orbiting the Earth would now make space travel too dangerous, effectively rendering human endeavor Earthbound for years, if not decades.
Film One Of My Personal Favorites
I'm not a hipster, but I always get a little frustrated when people will fall over themselves over something that I haven't seen yet. Not to presume that what they're doing is terrible, but I just get a little unhappy when I don't "get" why something is popular, even if the sole reason is because I haven't seen it.
I avoided the film for a few weeks, having dismissed it as an Oscar-bait film. However, at the insistence of a trusted colleague, I saw it.
And it was amazing. The film was visually spectacular; actual footage of real astronauts in outer space feels less real, immersive, and awe-inspiring. The Minimalist Cast of 5 characters (3 named astronauts we seen in the opening scene, and the other 2 are voice-only roles) works out well, and 2 characters play off each other really good.
Yes, I will admit that the film is kind of a special-effects Disaster Porn deal, but it's smartly done as well. People who cried during scenes such as when the main character was alone on a Russian spacecraft and when the main character was describing his/her (I'm avoiding spoiling the main character's gender) child's death should feel no shame; those scenes, while clearly a jump for the critics' hearts, also land on those of regular people as well.
The shallow characterization (at least compared to other films during Oscar season) is strange for such a great film, but it has a purpose: the fact that we know little about the main character makes their plight more universal; the main character is not a "Muslim" or a "Democrat", but aside from a name, gender, nationality, a child death, and some tidbits about occupation and education, they're just a human being.
The directing is just superb. The long takes are beautiful, and the action has a kind of flow that few movies come even close to matching. The acting is equally impressive. With such a small cast, acting can make or break a film, and the few actors carry their responsibility very well.
The only problems I had was that the ending was a little too open ended for me, and conjures up some Fridge Horror if examined too closely, as well as some egregious breaks from reality (the convenient closeness of space stations to each other), but all in all I just accepted those flaws.
I truly feel bad for all of you who didn't see it in the theatres. 11/10.