REVIEW: Interstellar – Mystery Science Theater 3000 Christopher Nolan Style
Reviewing the film Interstellar directed by Christopher Nolan and stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine and more. The movie opens Nov. 6 from Warner Bros. Pictures.
The film is beautiful I’ll give you that. It’s filled with beautiful imagery of far off planets with so many breathtaking IMAX shots tossed around for good measure. If you’re also shopping for a movie that’ll actually shed time off your hands then Interstellar is the movie to watch this weekend.
Now enough of that and let’s proceed to what really matters; everything.
The movie’s plot is sensible and I like it… at least majority anyway. Nolan presents us something cliche (an end-of-the-world due to starvation) and makes it less scary. You see dear reader, while the food source is nearly depleted people are not burning houses or killing each other. Life is normal and that’s sometimes more creepy than a post-apocalyptic gorefest. It’s real and it’s painful to see humanity like this.
The movie’s called Interstellar and so 30 minutes ++ we’re already in an adventure towards space. It’ s where the film gets technical and it’s also the start point of my worries for the film. More on that later.
Cast Your Worries Aside
You can bank on Nolan as a director to pick the right cast for his movies. The usual suspects are here Michael Caine and new addition Anne Hathaway. They both leave their mark with some very moving dialogues (Caine’s in particular was just plain awesome what with the visuals). Coop (played by Matthew McConaughey) is something else entirely. While some scenes failed with the guy, he shines great on others. The goal of being a literal ‘space cowboy’ has also been achieved and I mean that in a good way. The fatherly aspect here is great and all but it’s just not my cup of tea; felt too forced.
Delving into spoiler territory here a bit:
Jessica Chastain’s role here and her performance was nice. No connection and chemistry between her and her love interest, Topher Grace but still serviceable. Matt Damon’s appearance here was also a nice touch. Was actually surprised when he popped out of here. Maybe it pays to not watch the trailer or reviews in advance.
Ground Control to Major Tom
The grounding factor in the plot here is something to write about. While I wasn’t a fan of the young Murph and Coop, I did get feels for several of the sadder moments of the movie. The dynamics between Michael Caine and Anne Hathaway was seriously non-existent. It doesn’t even show in the acting. And that one time, hardly any feels for that. Still to pull off a movie this grand with such star power is something that only Nolan can pull off; so tip of the hat for that.
Also have to applaud the design for the space suits and for the ships they used. Hell, even the Space station they commandeered looks gorgeous.
Lastly, you’ll love TARS and CASE here in this movie.
Blackholes and Revelations
ne of the iff-iest parts of Interstellar for me happens to be the part of surviving a black hole and the whole ‘ghost’ aspect. It’s fairly obvious that they went with the happy ending moment here in the movie. Sewing back the loose tapestry is great and all but the whole meta about ‘working behind the scenes’ (sorry I don’t want anymore major spoilers) is something that could’ve been avoided or downplayed. I was counting on the usual Nolan plot twists but I wasn’t counting on getting a dose of “Twilight Zone” in this flick.
The moment the credit rolled I was like “Did I just see a Nolan movie or a souped-up version of Mystery Science Theater 3000?” and took the time to really internalize what I saw, which is a good thing because the movie made me think. Which is good because I haven’t done that in recent reviews.
The ending was weird for me. It worked but it didn’t satisfy me too much unlike Inception which bothered me. We’re hoping to get a second take on the film soon and that review’ll give more inputs between the ups and downs of the film. For now I’m doing my tl;dr version:
Interstellar is the bitter nemesis of Gravity and seems poised to kick it’s ass in terms of excitement and intensity. Science fiction elements were grand, science fact likewise. The cast was OK with McConaughey and a few surprise cast members really leaving their mark. The visual effects and costumes were splendid.
VERDICT: 9/10
