OVERALL:  Wow. Just wow.

POINTS:  This is like no other movie you will ever see. There is talk of new technology needing to be created for the movie and it shows. You truly feel like you are in zero gravity and it is a freaky feeling. Plus it is amazing to watch the actors work with the difficulty that is zero gravity. Every movement you do here on this Earth was designed to account for gravity. Thus life in space is constant adaptation and at times, moving and doing things more slowly than on Earth. Apart for actually experiencing zero gravity, watching this movie will give you a taste of that experience.

Also note that if jiggly hand-held camera work makes you queasy, this movie may not affect you poorly. Hubby reacts badly to handheld camera work and did not have any ill effects from Gravity. Go see this movie.

PITFALLS: Hmmmm….. Well [*SPOILERS*] it does get a bit wearing that every disaster imaginable happens to our heroine, Ryan Stone. I mean come on! In fact, Ryan even says something like that in the flick too. But the movie was such an EXPERIENCE that I just kept going right along with it.

Oh and if you think it is odd that a woman is named Ryan, I say nope. One of my friends named her daughter Ryan because the name is beautiful. 🙂 It ain’t just for boys anymore.

FEMALE CHARACTER(S): Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to our heroine Ryan Stone played by the awesome Sandra Bullock. Oh yes I am fond of Sandra. Her star power might have helped get funding for this movie that showcases her leading woman chops with ease. She is a master of acting and drawing you in to her character. She is in every scene, so when we say she carries this movie, she does. Well done madam!!!

Now Ryan is a fun very smart woman. Note that you have to be smart to be an astronaut. She is helping do repairs in outer space and we know early on that she is an engineer first and an astronaut second. Therefore her survival skills in space are not as well honed as George Clooney‘s character Matt Kowalski. Therefore it is absolutely logical that Matt does a better job of making space survival decisions.

CULTURAL PITFALL(S): I often think that women are chosen to be heroes because they can do two things we don’t allow heroes to do in our culture: 1) Show Fear and, 2) Show Vulnerability. This does not distract from the heroine. Oh no! If anything this allows her to show even more than her male counterparts. Hence we need a Men’s Liberation Movement so men can show fear and vulnerability too. Yes I know, you can say that you do see those things, but not in the same way you see that in women. Now this is not really a negative, it just strikes me as interesting.

So one of the reasons we have this wonderful heroine is because it is acceptable for us to see a woman in such a vulnerable situation and accept her reactions. I wonder if audiences would accept such vulnerability from a man. (I doubt it because of how audiences reacted to Peeta in The Hunger Games, but that’s another post.)

Is this a negative for this movie? Not at all. This movie is Wow. I am just wondering about this issue I have wondered about since Alien.

ALSO: I, and many others, get annoyed if not downright disgusted with Hollywood for fearing that movies that star women only or have women in the lead role won’t sell. Gravity has been the number one ticket selling movie for weeks. So bite it Hollywood and give us more GOOD movies that also have women leads. Now.

HIGH POINT(S): Hmmmm…. All of it? 🙂

BECHDEL TEST (Website): 0 of 3. Well drat. And yes not surprising as there are only a handful of characters in the movie. Seven to be exact. Two were women though the second character was a voice with no name.

IMDB: Gravity (2013)

OFFICIAL MOVIE WEBSITE:  Gravity.

DVD/BLU-RAY WORTHY: YES!!!! May need to see it in the theater again too!

LION PAW PRINTS: 4 of 5. This movie was, oh I’ll just say it again, Wow!!!

Now go see this  movie. 🙂

UPDATE: Apparently Ryan Stone is in another movie called Aningaaq. Check out the link to find out about this exciting little short movie that just might win an Oscar. Like Ms. Bullock should. (I’m looking at you Academy.)