Gravity (12A)

Directed by Alfonso Cuaron

4 Stars

At the beginning of Gravity the wonder of nature, represented by a falling sycamore and the silence of space, is shattered by Dolby sound.

There are constant repetitions of that famous phrase employed since the first US mission to the moon, "Do you copy that, Houston?"

As the 3D kicks in, we swerve and dodge space debris and are introduced to two astronauts trying to fix a panel on the Hubble telescope that's gone faulty.

Sandra Bullock plays Dr Ryan Stone, a medical engineer involved in the operation along with her veteran wingman Matt Kowalski (George Clooney, bearing a passing resemblance to Buzz Lightyear).

While the religious might marvel at the heavenly panorama, veteran cinema-goers who remember wobbly sci-fi B-movies will be wowed by the truly awe-inspiring CGI that is revolutionising image-making in cinema.

We soon realise that as a consequence of space exploration, astronauts and cosmonauts are working in conditions that resemble a super highway littered with space junk.

Inevitably, it's going to strike something and when the pair learn that a Russian rocket has exploded, they decide to get back inside the space station and batten down the hatches.

When that becomes impossible, even though they're linked by lifelines suggesting umbilical cords and Clooney's calming voice and comedy routine attempts to make things sound normal, their worst fears are realised. Something has to be jettisoned, since they're caught up in a parachute wire.

You'll find it as difficult to breathe as Bullock, whose air starts to run out, while Clooney keeps reminding her to remember her training - "I crashed all the simulators" - and that she'll be able to use the pod to reach a Russian or Chinese ship.

Clooney's words resonate and she slowly works out the procedure and what she should do - which includes scavenging everything, transferring from various vessels, acting as a fire-fighter and working out the descent time.

It's all remarkably put together using blue-screen background and Bullock, in particular, has to perform complex manoeuvres in a weightless chamber.

Directed by Alfonso Cuaron from a script he wrote with his brother Jonas, the team also includes Emmanuel Lubezkii's 3D-photography and the skills of the film workers at Elstree Studios.

Yet despite the amazing effects, this is but a simple story which underlines the point that while we have created dangerous situations in space we do have the ability to survive, as long as we work together with ingenuity.

A feisty female can make a difference too.