Sandra Bullock and George Clooney star in the most overrated movie of 2013.

I did not want to see Gravity. The first trailer I saw was laughable. In fact, my friend, Dan, told me to watch the trailer because it’s hilarious. The next two trailers were barely better than the first. Then Gravity was released and all of a sudden gets critical acclaim and box office success, to which I said, “Huh?”

Because of the glowing popularity and remarkable reviews, I saw the movie that I would have likely skipped otherwise. I was hoping to come out of the movie theater with a better understanding for the film’s record-breaking October box office numbers. Instead, it left me befuddled as to why people loved it so much. It really dragged me down (See what I did there?).

STRENGTHS

Visuals

I thought Gravity was visually interesting. It was no Avatar, but I can’t knock its visuals. It is definitely a movie to see if theaters in 3-D if you plan to see it at all.

George Clooney

George Clooney brought character to a film that was devoid of it. He was funny and engaging. Unfortunately, as far as interesting characters go, he was it.

WEAKNESSES

Plot

There was no plot. The movie started in space. The astronauts were stuck in space. They had to fight for their lives to get back from earth. Very basic and very short film.

Character Development

Like I said above, the movie began in space. There was no time on earth. You didn’t get to learn anything about the characters. You learn a few things along the way, but not enough to make you care if these people live or die. The movie really could have benefited from a longer run time so the audience could develop some sort of relationship with the strangers on the big screen.

The character development was so bad in this film that I’ve exited every movie I have seen since Gravity saying to my esteemed colleague, ssjrem, “That movie had more character development than Gravity?” I also whisper to him during movies saying, “Wow, look at all this character development.” This is definitely the number one thing that bothered me about the movie.

Sandra Bullock

I’m not sure if it is fair of me to list Sandra Bullock as a weakness. I don’t blame her entirely for her character’s lack of engaging qualities. The fact remains that her character had the leading role in Gravity. She had to garner the bulk of the film’s interest, and George Clooney’s character was by far more intriguing than Bullock’s character. I don’t think that should be the case in a movie that centers mostly on one actor/actress.

Not for DVD

I can’t see anybody watching Gravity on a regular sized TV and actually enjoying it. One of the only things Gravity had going for it was its visuals. Take the big screen of the movie theater away and what do you have? An average science fiction film that you only watch because for some reason you’re still awake at 2 a.m.

MOMENT THAT STUCK OUT (Could contain spoilers)

Bullock barks

In a scene that embodies the three weaknesses I listed above, Sandra Bullock tries to get in touch with people on earth. In a moment of despair, she gets it touch with people from I believe China (I really had to pee so I caught half of this scene) who are simply laughing and having a good time. Suddenly a dog starts barking and it apparently touches Bullock’s character emotionally. So much so that she starts asking the people to make the dog bark. They obviously don’t understand English so she starts to literally bark. This causes the dog to continue to bark and Bullock’s character barks along with the dog for an awkwardly long period of time.

This intended moment of despair turned into an unintentionally hilarious scene. The scene was really the straw that broke the camel’s back for me as soon after it I lost any interest in how the film ended. However, I’m not sure if I ever really had it.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Despite its critical acclaim, Gravity lacks plot and character development that even the worst movies attempt to portray. It is undoubtedly the most overrated movie of 2013.

RATING

I’ll give Gravity 1.5 out of 5 cups.

BOX OFFICE INFO/HOW OTHERS VIEWED THE FILM

As of Oct. 28, Gravity made a domestic total of approximately $201 million versus a production budget of $100 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

Gravity has a rating of 97% at Rotten Tomatoes while users at the Internet Movie Database gave it 8.6 out of 10 stars.

To see the movie trailer for Gravity, click here.