movie review: Gravity

Let it be said that I still want to go to space.

It's my #1 ambitious bucket list item to see the earth from the outside, like a swirly marble. I would really like to go all the way around the planet and see the Aurora Borealis from the outside, etc. I'll start with seeing it from the inside sometime. But back to the movie....

The trailer for Gravity only mildly hooked me, as much as I love space...and Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. But then my friend told me that it was getting insane praise, including a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, so I was like, "Sure, let's do this."

via

My overall reaction? (no spoilers!)

Go see it...unless you can't handle anxiety or get easily motion sick. (I did see it in 3D, but regardless, there was a lot of spinning in this movie.) One of the guys I was with said it was one of the best movies he's ever seen. For me, it was more like Castaway -- an awesome, thought-provoking movie that I enjoyed but probably won't watch repeatedly.

I will admit that I had my moments in the middle where I thought, "We're beating this I'm-struggling-in-space-and-things-keep-going-wrong horse to death." I feel like, unlike Apollo 13 (to cite a similar film), I didn't feel as connected to the characters in this one. However, that connection came like 3/4 of the way through the movie with some more moving, personal moments. The last 20-30min reeled me back in and added to the tense anxiety-fest that characterizes most of the movie. And, the movie is only 90min long. (Praise the heavens, more movies should figure out the benefit of a shorter film these days.)

Other than the stunning space visuals, I really liked some of the deeper metaphorical stuff in the movie about courage, recovery and rebirth. I can't find the exact quote online just yet, but at one point there were these words that just spoke to me. It went something like, "I'm either going to come back with one hell of a story, or die in an explosion in the next 10 minutes. Either way, it'll be one hell of a ride."

...kind of reminds me of the whole move-to-California-by-myself thing I pulled off this summer, eh? I love that mentality. Go all in, because...why not? It made me consider if I'm currently holding myself back from anything in my life. Always a good topic to ponder.

Anyone else seen it yet? Thoughts?

p.s. Congrats to Amanda for winning the Moo card giveaway! Thanks to everyone who entered :)