Gravity
Friday, November 15, 2013 8:58:20 PM | (Age Not Specified)
A beautiful, harrowing 90 minutes that can more accurately be described as something closer to an out-of-body (and out-of-atmosphere) experience than a simple narrative film, especially when it comes to how much of a risk it is compare to what major studios usually spend this kind of money on. Cuarón's visual and visceral sensibilities are the absolutely seamless backbone of everything here, with an emotional core that helps to delve a little deeper than the already dominant surface level thrills. As a director, he doesn't simply do a fine job accomplishing something new for himself or even what few films have before, he completely nails something arguably no film has ever attempted, all with his notable style entirely intact. It does have a handful of cloying and weakly scripted moments, but amongst the journey of seeing it all unfold, their only minor hiccups that don't ultimately damper the otherwise masterful craftsmanship at work. And in the end, those moments are ones that are necessary to the overall picture, even if they leave you wondering how they could've been done more interestingly. It functions nobly as an immersive allegory for grief and the cycle of life, and as a piece of cinema, it simultaneously ressurrects the viewer's potentially whittled faith and will to invest excitement and passion in mainstream, big budget filmmaking.