Is this a scene from the movie 'Cloud Atlas?" Is that Benedict Cumberbatch? You'll get that joke if you saw 'Cloud Atlas,' which you totally should just so you can understand this joke. This is insanely futuristic looking, like it belongs in a science fiction film. It's already an intense image, but all the bright blues give it an unreal vibe and cinematic quality. After seeing so many images of people hanging, it's nice to one that's so stylistic. As much as I like the raw quality of a standardly lit picture, this is a nice change of pace.
This guy hasn't given himself the easiest job in getting back up. I'm sure you don't do something like this without being very confident in your upper body strength, but thats looks like a Captain America level reach to pull himself back up.