Gravity

Well, as awards season rolls round for another year, it is really no surprise that the number of 'genre-defining' film releases is certainly hotting up. Gravity is just one of those to be scheduled in the all-important Academy Award lead up, and just one viewing is all that's needed to demonstrate why. Quite simply, Gravity is an absolutely astonishing visual feat. Cinemagoers have long been used to the growing complexity and refinement of computer graphics and special effects in their favourite movies. What is so startling about Gravity is just how much of it falls into that category; as much as 95% of any given shot is probably computer generated (pretty much everything except the faces in the visors). And each and every pixel of it is absolutely photo real.

Adding even more depth to what is already a hyper-realistic vision of space is the breathtaking 3D, which is probably at it's finest since Avatar. Words like 'immersive' and 'engaging' are often used as the selling point for the revival of the third dimension in cinema, but Gravity adeptly shows exactly what that actually means when done well. Another element worthy of particular note is the use of reflection; normally the bane of a filmmaker's life and liable of betraying the illusion, Alfonso Cuarón and his more than 400 strong VFX team use it to stunning effect, which only serves to heighten the realism even further.

Look into my eyes. This is an incredibly serious spanner.

Aside from the visual effects, Gravity has plenty else to be praised for, not least for it's cast of two (and even that is more like one and a half) which focusses the audience's attention and massively exaggerates the loneliness of the characters. Such sustained focus (and Cuarron's trademark elongated shots) leave little margin for error, and Clooney and Bullock appear more than up to the challenge. Sadly, a slightly farcical final five minutes does slightly dilute the raw power of the other 90, but nothing that provides a disastrous enough reason to turn off. The result of all the rest of the painstaking attention to detail is a pretty sure fire visual effects Oscar, and probably a worthy shout for the Best Female.

Vital Statistics
Director	Alfonso Cuarón
Cast	Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
Length	90 mins
Post Credits Scene	No
TFC Mash-Up	Precisely and exactly what would result if you mashed Apollo 13 and Titanic.
Star Rating