Production Company: Warner Bros. UK
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain
Director: Christopher Nolan
Genre: Science Fiction
Running Time: 169 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
My Rating:
With acclaimed producer/director/writer Christopher Nolan behind the wheel, we’ve seen features that break the barriers of modern movies. He always brings amazing visuals, intellectual stories, and witty dialogue. You can never casually watch a Nolan film, and Interstellar is no exception. But is Interstellar as good as his previous films?
Nolan is one of those filmmakers who want to show us a groundbreaking film we haven’t seen the likes of before. With Memento, he gave us a film where the movie starts at the end and goes back to the beginning. With Inception, he wanted to bend our minds visually. His Batman franchise is the reason we want our comic book films to be serious. Interstellar is another of Nolan’s monumental films that mirrors some of his classics. He takes us on this great space voyage and gives us a tasteful science fiction film. But is the film groundbreaking? Have we seen a movie like this before?
The movie takes us to the far reaches of space and shows us a part of our universe that leaves us in awe. The movie takes place on Earth in the near future. Dust conquers the air making breathing almost impossible; produce and other food resources are running out; and schools are teaching kids faulty science (which isn’t too different from today) where they believe the moon landing is a government conspiracy.
The movie stars Matthew McConaughey as Cooper, a former NASA pilot turned farmer, who is now supporting his father-in-law (John Lithgow), son (Timothee Chalamet), and aspiring ten-year-old scientist daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy). But, with crops dying and less air to breath, the future looks bleak. That is, until Murph gets a message from an advanced being, telling Cooper the location of NASA, which is now a secret organization.
L-R: Cooper, Brand, and Romilly (David Gyasi) about to open a hibernation chamber to see who’s inside.
A team of scientists, including Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway), daughter of Professor Brand (Michael Cane), an old friend of Cooper’s, tells Cooper the world is going to be dead in the near future, and he is the only qualified pilot who can take the team to search for a habitable planet on which the human race can survive. Pretty intense for a farmer.
The main theme of the film deals with the importance of life. In the film, Cooper is asked to save the human race, but is also asked to leave his family with the high possibility of never seeing them again. He has to decide whether living a life with his loved ones is important, or if saving the human race outweighs his personal attachments. The actors do a wonderful job of conveying their characters’ hardships. So much so, I felt attached to them and their struggles, but was delighted I wasn’t force fed a clear answer.
One of Nolan’s inspirations is Stanley Kubrick, and you can see it with Interstellar. Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was a groundbreaking film. It came at a time when the original Star Trek series got away with faulty special effects and comical sound stages. 2001’s special effects were so realistic, I’m still convinced they filmed the majority of it in outer space. That being said, Interstellar, while not groundbreaking, and not even one of his best, surpasses Kubrick’s sci-fi film on many levels.
2001: A Space Odyssey might have paved the way for sci-fi films like Blade Runner, The Aliens saga, etc., but it contained too much ambiguity. Nolan has always understood character arcs and pacing in his films, which we see in Interstellar. Like 2001, some things are left to the imagination. But we travel with these flawed characters, and whether they figure out the meaning of life or not, we leave the film satisfied.
Christopher Nolan (left) giving direction to McConaughey
I am happy with the outcome of the film, but it took me ten minutes after it was over to realize that. I’ve been able to follow in depth films before, and am pretty keen on astronomy. I have also listened to my fair share of Star Talk radio. But I have to say, a few things went over my head while watching this film.
Like Inception, this film throws a lot of science and information at you. By the time you process the science, you’re also being told about another concept dealing with time, space, and other trinkets from Einstein’s theory of relativity. It was hard to keep up with for the most part but luckily, I was able to follow what was going on.
There were times I thought Nolan might have given into lazy writing, but I was wrong. For instance, when Cooper conveniently finds NASA, they just so happen to need him on the most important mission in human history. This really bothered me when I was watching the transition from farmer to the most crucial person in the world. I felt it was too unrealistic at the time, but it makes sense in the end. All of the coincidences, and all the places where I felt Nolan was losing a step with his story telling, become clear by the end of the film.
If you’re looking for the next Inception, you’ll feel gypped. Although, make sure you’re ready to think. You have to pay attention and be really engaged but that shouldn’t be hard. The handful of cameos enriches the film, and the casual dialogue will give you a breather between your astrophysics lectures. Interstellar, although not Nolan’s finest, is a great film overall.
For more information on Interstellar, visit the movie’s website at https://www.warnerbros.co.uk/movies/interstellar.
LIKE Interstellar on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/InterstellarUK.
Follow the movie on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/InterstellarUK.
All photos © 2014 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved.
Nick Polizzi
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