Review #11: Gravity
If Sandra Bullock got yeeted on by some space junk.
“I hate space” -Dr. Ryan Stone
Synopsis
On a mission to update the Hubble, Dr. Ryan Bullock and astronaut Matt Clooney have their mission abruptly cancelled when some Commies accidentally explode one of their own satellites, creating a deadly cloud of space garbage in orbit around the Earth. The debris field strikes their orbit, killing their crew, decimating the Hubble, and severely damaging the Explorer space shuttle. Determined to find a way back to Earth before the debris cloud returns, Matt suggests the two use the Soyuz spacecraft docked at the ISS, a short spacewalk away for some reason. Using Matt’s jet suit, the two hop over to the ISS only to discover that the Soyuz has had its parachute ejected making it impossible to use as a reentry vehicle. A poor trajectory and high fuel constraints cause Matt to crash the two of them into the ISS at high speeds. Ryan fortunately gets tangled up in the Soyuz parachute, but when she grabs Matt’s tether, the parachute stretches to its limits, and is not enough to hold them both. Matt is forced to unclip himself from Ryan’s tether to save her. Bye-ya Clooney.
Before he floats away, Matt tells Ryan that she can use the Soyuz to get to the Chinese station, which should have a reentry vehicle to return to Earth. Ryan boards the ISS, but then the ISS starts on fire, so she leaves. Aboard the Soyuz, she tries to fly away, but is prevented by the parachute still tangled with the ISS. She performs a spacewalk to detach the parachute and is assaulted by “Space Junk 2: The Space Junk Strikes Back”. She successfully detaches the parachute and survives the second wave of debris, but learns that the Soyuz is out of fuel. After trying to contact Earth, she begins to lose hope and decides to shut off the ship’s oxygen supply. Unconscious, she is visited by a G-G-G-GHOST of Matt who reminds her of the Soyuz landing jets. She wakes up, turns back on the O2, and fires the landing jets towards the Chinese station. Upon approach, she sees that the station is just beginning to scrape the atmosphere, and will soon deorbit. She uses a fire extinguisher to launch herself out of the Soyuz to reach the Chinese station, and hastily boards it as “Space Junk 3: Return of the Space Junk” begins. In an epic finale, the Chinese station burns through the atmosphere with Ryan safely in the reentry vehicle. She lands in a lake, escapes the sinking capsule, and swims to shore amidst a shower of meteors across the blue sky.
Mood/Setting
Isn’t Sandra Bullock’s jawline just phenomenal? You know what, before I dive into the mood and setting of Gravity, let’s all just take a moment to admire Sandra Bullock’s jawline…
The film opens with a dire worded description of space, concluding with the statement, “Life in space is impossible”. Following this dark and ominous message, Gravity then abruptly cuts to a breathtaking view of Earth, peacefully rotating against a backdrop of the rising sun. This change really defines the mood for the remainder of the film; an oscillating mixture of both terror and wonder. Everything that takes place during the movie makes the viewer mortified, yet somehow, still oddly mystified and intrigued, like watching a cat split its legs and lick its own crotch. Akin to The Martian, Gravity is driven by the determination of one person trying to get home, despite a seemingly insurmountable number of obstacles.
Gravity takes place during the present day, something a lot of science fiction movies which are set in space cannot do successfully. It’s not easy to write a sci-fi story line which is restricted to today’s space technology, because today’s space technology sucks. It’s much more fun to imagine a bright, shiny future (or aliens) with insanely fast ships and crazy glowing energy weapons, than it is to watch a clunky astronaut updating the nearly 30 year old Hubble telescope. And yet, Gravity proves this dead wrong. The incredibly detailed and accurate sets and spacecraft designs combined with the unsettlingly realistic conflict make for a stunning modern day sci-fi masterpiece.
Plot Review
Like Sandra Bullock’s jawline, there’s a lot to admire about Gravity. From a cinematic standpoint, the film is second to none in its genera. Gravity introduces itself with an astonishing, unabridged 17 minute scene where the audience learns the characters, is exposed to the plot background, and sees the conflict unfold before their eyes. The floating camera filming style used here and throughout the rest of the film makes the viewer feel as though they are another member of the crew, dodging deadly space debris or maneuvering through the tight corridors of the ISS. All of this accompanied by the best CGI I have seen to date in any science fiction movie makes Gravity more satisfying to watch than one tortoise help another tortoise flip upright from its back. That scene of the Hubble being ripped to shreds by space junk brings a tear to my eye every time I watch it.
Science fiction as a genera is often riddled with complex plots and backstories in tandem with unpredictable twists and turns. Something that makes Gravity so wonderful, however, is its comparative simplicity. There are only two characters in the whole film, and neither is an antagonist. Their goal is simply to survive, and get back to Earth. There’s no crazy plot devices or insane character reveals. Contrary to Pinocchio in a Fox News interview, everything you see and hear during the film is the truth. This plot transparency makes the characters and their back stories all the more relatable. We see Sandra panic when the Hubble is hit. We see her throw a tantrum when she learns the Soyuz out of fuel. We see her break down when she communicates with the man from Earth. We even see her give up. Simple emotions. Real reactions. Fantastic results.
Something that is occasionally spoken poorly of the film is the character dialogue. Though I’ll admit that several of the film’s jokes are about as funny as a 2019 SNL skit, and that many of George Clooney’s lines are more awkward than saying “you too!” when someone thanks you for holding open a door, I’d like to think that this feeds into the realism of their situation. No one is going to be able to make a 5-star joke or participate in a fluid conversation when they’re stranded 600 kilometers above the Earth with a wave of killer space junk hurling towards them. Trained astronauts are often the most intelligent conversationalists because they have to be able to relay ideas and describe situations in a calm, clear manner for everyone involved to understand. Though this may make for some strange dialogue on-screen, George’s character does manage to calm Sandra’s down and keep her properly informed in multiple instances, both to conserve oxygen and to get her to think rationally.
Gravity is also debatably the most scientifically accurate space movie to date. Despite some notable discrepancies (such as impossible orbital maneuvers, strange unidentified forces, and space suits that take 3 seconds to put on), the film is still an astounding landmark in accurate space science and physics. Gravity is one of the first movies to accurately show how fires would burn in zero-g, how explosions would look in space, and how lack of friction and gravity would really make different objects move with respect to one another. Finally, the dialogue between Houston and the crew of the Explorer falls largely within the real communication protocols of NASA mission control, and the spacecraft sets and operations are all mostly true to real life.
One final tidbit that makes me giddy about Gravity is the potential for an unspoken alternate ending in which Sandra Bullock’s character remains unconscious in the Soyuz after she shuts off the oxygen. The theory envisions the remainder of the film from that point as the symptoms of hypoxia manifesting themselves as hallucinations while her brain grows closer to shutting down. What’s interesting is that events in the film seem to follow these symptoms quite well: hallucinations — when Matt visits her in the Soyuz, euphoria — when she’s laughing in the Chinese station, hot flashes — as she’s burning through the atmosphere, and seizures — as the reentry vehicle is shaking in the turbulence. This theory makes this film even more wonderful and powerful to me… like Sandra Bullock’s jawline…
Conclusion
Gravity is a simply jaw dropping science-fiction work of art. Incredible cinematography and special effects combined with an engaging and eerily realistic story make the film soar 600 kilometers above others in the genera. Even if Sandra comes crashing back to Earth at the end of the film, viewers will be left with their wonders and imaginations far outside of this world.
Final Score: 99/100
*Happy 1 year anniversary of the revival of Sci-Fi Movie Reviews! Thanks so much to all my followers for their love and support. I couldn’t have made these horrible jokes without you.*
