'Gravity' goes galactic with effects
There has rarely been a more entrancingly eerie opening scene than the one that graces 鈥淕ravity,鈥� the new space epic starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock as NASA astronauts who suddenly find themselves unmoored 370 miles above Earth.
The first image is a long shot of Earth as a space shuttle eventually makes its way into the frame, ending up in a close shot. Alfonso Cuar贸n, filming in 3-D, captures in a single, unbroken take the immensity and deafening soundlessness of space, the slow sweep of orbital motion, the power of blackness. It鈥檚 a tour de force sequence to rank alongside anything in 鈥�2001,鈥� a film this one clearly references.
But 鈥�2001鈥� was ultimately a messianic movie about intergalactic imponderables. 鈥�Gravity鈥� is far less pretentious, which is both good and bad. It鈥檚 nice for a change to see a space movie that isn鈥檛 all hyped up about God and Man and What鈥檚 Out There.
The accident that sets 鈥淕ravity鈥� in motion is much more mundane. Shards of metal debris from an exploding Russian satellite collide with the Explorer shuttle, whose astronauts have been sent up to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. The only survivors are Bullock鈥檚 Ryan Stone, the medical engineer, and Clooney鈥檚 Matt Kowalsky, a veteran shuttle commander on the final run of his career.
Cuar贸n and his cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki, keep the audience in weightless suspension right along with the astronauts. For most of us, 鈥淕ravity鈥� is the closest we will ever get to the real deal. Cuar贸n is more than a technologist; he has a genuinely poetic feeling for the ways in which motion carries through space.
I only wish the film鈥檚 screenplay, co-written by Alfonso Cuar贸n and Jonas Cuar贸n, were not so weightless. Granted, it鈥檚 tough to come up with anything for these characters to say that, given the immensity of the universe, won鈥檛 sound clunky. Still, Matt, who looks like Buzz Lightyear and never met a wisecrack he didn鈥檛 like, is a bit much. Perhaps the point is that even the vastness of space is a yawn for people who spend their lives floating through it. If so, that鈥檚 pretty depressing.
Ryan is given a back story about the loss of her daughter that feels soap-opera-ish in the extreme. Isn鈥檛 it enough that she is running out of oxygen and desperately trying to make her way to the International Space Station in time? Cuar贸n underestimates our empathy for her predicament. This disconnect between the grandeur of the visuals and the ordinariness of the dialogue is a common problem with science-fiction films. Actually, very little in 鈥淕ravity鈥� can technically be called 鈥渇iction,鈥� notwithstanding the fact that, as several scientists have already pointed out, the Hubble and the space station operate in entirely different orbits.
I almost wish Cuar贸n had cast nonactors, or unknown actors, in the lead roles. It鈥檚 jarring having movie stars work up their Hollywood histrionics against such a glorious backdrop. None of these arguments should dissuade you from seeing 鈥淕ravity,鈥� if only because what鈥檚 good about it is so much better than what鈥檚 bad. Visually, if not imaginatively, it sends you soaring. Grade: B+ (Rated PG-13 for intense perilous sequences, some disturbing images, and brief strong language.)
