As someone who has a deep fascination of space, Gravity was a must-see from the moment I heard about it. Starring Sandra Bullock as Dr. Ryan Stone, George Clooney as Lt. Matt Kowalski, and Ed Harris as mission control, the film used the small number of characters to amplify the emptiness and loneliness of space. Non-stop tension, stunning visuals, top quality animation, and incredible acting made Gravity into one of the best movies this year.

On her first mission in space, Dr. Stone joins Lt. Kowalski on a space shuttle trip to the Hubble Space Telescope. While on a space walk to install new tech in the telescope, the crew is given the information that Russia had destroyed one of their satellites. Unexpectedly, the debris crashes into other satellites causing a chain reaction that destroys most of the objects orbiting the earth. With communications inoperational, Stone and Kowalski are left to find their own way back to earth.

I thought it was interesting how only Bullock and Clooney were shown, with Clooney shifting out of the focus about halfway through the film. It very subtly gave this feeling of loneliness and emptiness that I imagine is quite prevalent in space. Stories with so few characters are often difficult to watch if the characters aren’t intricately created and totally dynamic.

According to some of the astronauts who have actually spent time at the International Space Station, the movie was quite accurate except for a few details that didn’t affect the story.

It seems like most people entered the theater thinking they were going to watch Sandra Bullock floating alone through space for two hours, but the never ending threats kept you on the edge of your seat. Every time Dr. Stone made some progress for safety something new would pop up and nearly kill her. Honestly, it was probably too much. I don’t think they needed so many short problems, almost like little filler problems, to make Stone’s position even worse between major problems.

The 3D aspect shared the same problem. Despite having no focus on entertaining children, every few minutes something would float out at you to emphasize the 3D. This tactic totally distracts me from what’s going on, and it just seems gimmicky and so silly.

Despite these little problems, It was still a great movie. Definitely worth seeing, and if you don’t mind the typical 3D tricks then 3D is the way to go.

*SPOILER ALERT*

From here on there will be spoilers,  so come back and read this part after you see the movie!

The part of this movie that really hit me hardest probably wasn’t the same as many other people. The destruction of the satellites was really tough for me to watch, and specifically the shot of the ISS as it is torn apart by the debris was like a stab in the heart. Maybe it was just the pain, but it felt like the stayed on that shot for much longer than most other shots. The way its just split into so many pieces and slowly drifted away, all that money, all the work put in, all the scientific breakthroughs, and the international cooperation completely and utterly destroyed in an instant. If you are normal however, her kid dying and stuff was probably more emotional.

I think the fire in the Chinese station and the fact that she nearly drowned when she got back to earth were too much. They didn’t add anything to the story, and they made it less realistic and outlandish.

And why are pens constantly floating into the camera? Every other shot of Stone inside a station or capsule is ruined by pens that seemingly want to gouge out the eyes of everyone in the audience.

But enough negativity, I really did enjoy Gravity. It managed to keep a constant fast pace despite its seemingly slow premice.