Gravity is, without a doubt, the most visually spectacular film I have ever seen. Its use of 3D surpasses the quality and effectiveness of any other feature film to date, and the cinematography as a whole has been broadly and rightly branded a landmark in the history of the art. However... Alfonso Cuarón cannot be given such concrete praise for many aspects otherwise. To be honest, this piece of exceptional eye candy has rather a bitter core. I was mesmerised by the opening scene, dizzied by the slowly drifting image of our bright blue earth. Bullock and Clooney encouraged a feeling of serenity, which was abruptly cut short by flying debris and a chaotic scramble for survival. It was truly gripping stuff, until Marvin the Martian floated out of the wreckage. That's when it all began to unravel. Cuarón had worked so brilliantly to nurture this horrific and ironic sense of claustrophobia, only to punch a hole through it for space joke. How inappropriate. Gravity could have been the best film ever made, but when it takes one step forward and two steps back every 15 minutes then it undermines its strengths. The Academy Award for Best Picture should go to the film which is strongest in the most departments (unfortunately that is not always the case). Nobody can rival Gravity in terms of visuals, so I fully expect it to sweep the Oscars for Cinematography, Visual Effects, Film Editing, etc., but here are 7 reasons I think it doesn't deserve to win the top prize.
BEWARE SPOILERS.