It’s taken director Alfonso Cuaron and his crew close to 5 years to make Gravity and the time and effort was well worth it. It’s a stunning movie from start to finish. An exhilarating movie with mind bending visuals, raptureous audio and genre leading acting from Sandra Bullock.

While on a space walk to fix the Hubble Telescope, Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) get caught in a chain reaction disaster that leaves them alone in a exhausting fight for their lives. They must depend on each other to survive the most inhospitable environment imaginable.

The visionary work in direction and technical effects make Gravity one of the most visually stunning movies ever made. To the point, it looks like the movie was actually filmed in space. The 3D is done just right, it often achieves the “window effect” where it looks like the movie screen is actually a window you are looking through with the action happening beyond it. There’s depth to what you are looking at. From the shots of tools floating in front of Ryan while Matt buzzes around her with his jet pack as she works to the absolutely unbelievable of Ryan spinning alone through space are just amazing. The latter scene of Ryan alone in particular is really arresting as there is nothing but space around her. With the 3D it looks like she is actually getting further and further away from you sitting in the theatre. Each time she spins around you can see her face lit up by the lights in her helmet, but with each rotation she gets smaller, her face harder to make out with the endless void of deep space and stars stoically shimmering all around her. It looks like she’s just seconds away from being swallowed into oblivion. It’s a frightening scene of complete isolation that is absolutely convincing. The phenomenal sound work completes the illusion of bringing you into space, watching these two trying to survive. The music (and lack of music) is just perfect, the sound effects are immensely engrossing.

While the movie stars Bullock and Clooney, this really rides on Bullock’s shoulders and she does a damn good job. I wouldn’t call myself a fan of hers prior to this, but I think this is the best work of her career. Once the movie started, I only saw her as Ryan Stone. You get to know her as things go from bad to worse which makes you empathize with her. Clooney as Matt holds the senior position (this mission is his last one) and offers a cool, confident and funny relief to the crushing intensity that surrounds the movie. It’s a great balance that works very well with these two actors.

I really loved seeing this, Cuaron is one of my favorite directors and his work is simply stunning here. He devoted a big part of his life to this project and it really shows. The long, single takes are mindboggling. The camera moves beautifully and with clear purpose at every moment, the man is simply one of the best in the world. Gravity is a front runner for movie of the year, let alone action movie of the year. I hesitate to call this sci-fi as it is pretty grounded in today’s tech and science knowledge. It’s easier to call an action-suspense thriller than anything else. I highly recommend going to an IMAX 3D showing if possible as it greatly uses all that wacky tech to its fullest.. At the very least you need to go to a theatre with a fantastic sound system. Strap in and enjoy the ride.