Gravity will leave you breathless

Humans have always looked up at the stars and wondered what was out there. When space travel was finally a reality, a select few brave souls took that giant leap into the cosmos and gave us some indelible images that only stoked the public consciousness. Through space shuttles and space stations to Hubble telescopes and Explorers and Voyagers, we’ve continued to romanticize what a trip to outer space would be like. (NBC has even just greenlit a TV competition show that will send the winner to space aboard a Virgin Galactic ship.)

Countless movies have shown us the thrills and perils of outer space — it really is an inhospitable place — and now director Alfonso Cuarón and stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney show us how truly dangerous being in outer space can be in Gravity. The story of Gravity is fairly simple: a team of astronauts are on a routine shuttle mission (it’s never clarified if this is taking place during the now defunct shuttle program or if this is some new shuttle program), and astronauts Matt Kowalski (Clooney) and Dr. Ryan Stone (Bullock) are attempting to fix a non-working piece of equipment that she created. They are notified by ground control that a Russian satellite has been hit with a missile (turns out the Russians blew up their own failed bird) but the debris should pose them no threat. Until it sets off a chain reaction that begins taking out other satellites and sends a huge debris cloud orbiting the earth and knocking out all communication with the people below. The shuttle is ordered to get out of the area, but Stone takes too long to get unharnessed and the shuttle is destroyed, leaving her and Kowalski the lone survivors floating hundreds of miles above earth. Their one hope is getting to the ISS before the debris field comes around again in about 90 minutes, and failure leaves one of two options: try to get to the Chinese space station or be lost in space forever.

Gravity is a truly breath-taking cinematic experience. The film is certainly anchored by Bullock’s bravura performance as a woman totally out of her element trying to survive in a real alien environment. Clooney is the seasoned professional who does what he can to keep her calm in a bad situation, but once he’s gone (not really a spoiler), she’s on her own and her only experience flying a ship was in a simulator … and she always crashed. As good as his stars are, the true star, the auteur of Gravity is director Cuarón who somehow manages to keep his stars weightless for the duration of the film while keeping the camera always in motion, sometimes for his signature long, uninterrupted takes. The special effects are spectacular as well, as these massive space vehicles are destroyed without a sound.

Yes, the explosions that occur in this film happen silently, despite what the trailers have promised. Cuarón wisely begins the film with some brief text explaining the how and why of there being no sound in space to spare those expecting Star Wars types of fiery, noisy explosions some disappointment. For space purists, this removal of sound is a welcome addition (subtraction?) to the space movie genre. In place of explosions, Cuarón uses an explosive score from composer Steven Price to accentuate the visuals. And what visuals they are, especially in 3D. Weightlessness and 3D were made for each other as Cuarón lets his actors and objects float right off the screen (a Marvin the Martian figure literally comes into the audience at one point), and you will find yourself blinking and ducking as pieces of the space station come flying at your face.

But for all that is good with the movie, you really have to suspend disbelief with the story. Bullock’s character just cannot catch a break as she has to navigate her way through what ends up being a kind of Rube Goldberg device that takes her from situation to situation. And any long-time sci-fi fan will spot many references to films of the past, from Barbarella to Alien to Contact (all not-so coincidentally featuring strong female leads). But even with all of the implausibilities (would any country intentionally shoot a missile at their own satellite with the knowledge that the debris could pose a threat to other satellites, not to mention the ISS?) and nods to the past, the film is a real knuckle-biter and should have been named “Breathe,” because that’s what you almost forget to do for the film’s lean 90 minute running time. Gravity is intense, and may alter that perception we have of space being a quiet and serene place.