Christopher Nolan has never been known for his disinterest in concepts and lack of ambition. Driven by a compelling set of ideas and executed with the technical grace of a seasoned award-winning director, Interstellar climbs to the very peak of Nolan’s cinematic summit as one of his most grandiose projects yet. Starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway as the two leads who dive into an extraterrestrial journey into the unknown to, as unironically cliché as it would sound, save the world, Interstellar locks itself to stretch, explore, and challenge the mechanistic properties of time, the mysteries of theoretical physics and quantum mechanics, and the painstaking anguish of not being there for the ones you love.
THE SETUP AND THE STAKES
Christopher Nolan goes for broke as he ushers into the plot the ominous “end of the world” trope, with Interstellar’s Earth running itself to the ground with a (very real) overreliance on limited natural resources. To think that the apocalypse would be caused, not by an asteroid hitting the planet, or global superpowers nuking each other out, but by a shortage of okra. Okra, of all things ---- and also corn. So sketchy-underground NASA, upon spotting a wormhole to a far galaxy containing planets possibly capable of harboring life, devises a decades-long plan to save humanity through a sci-fi version of the biblical exodus.
THE PERFORMANCES AND THE VISUAL MARVEL
Interstellar is a pretty movie. Not just because of what it offers visually on-screen, but the atmosphere it genuinely generally delivers is a spectacle in and of itself. An A-list cast of actors led by McConoughey (who, I’m convinced, is playing himself in every movie he stars in), and packed with performances from Anne Hathaway, Matt Damon, Michael Caine, Jessica Chastain, Casey Affleck, and Timothee Chalamet, just to name a few, harmonizes the movie so well instead of drowning the characters with each other’s spotlight. There’s really nothing to nitpick about the actors’ performances here, except maybe for Matthew’s allergy to projecting his voice during lengthy and emotional conversations. The man requires subtitles.
Though with all that, there’s not really a reason for me to regret not watching the movie sooner. Well, okay maybe bar one thing, but only this one thing. I found myself repeatedly wondering how much more beautiful some moments would have been to experience inside a movie theatre.
This image does not do the shot justice.
Those broad shots of the universe, of the stars, of Gargantua --- the black hole, of the galaxy, and the great beyond. They just left me in utter awe hoping I saw those spectacular shots on the big screen. Compounded with Hans Zimmer’s peerless score, the ambiance that Interstellar’s sonics provide is sensationally unparalleled.
THE FLAW AND THE VERDICT
I’m not sure if Nolan and his writing staff wanted to be smart with the concept of love, or they thought they could get away with such a cheesy approach to it, but man; Brand’s love monologue falls as flat as a kid pressing the wrong note during the peak of their piano recital, followed by the eyebrow twitches and look-aways of the onlooking parents. In a movie where the key components of its science are well-researched and grounded on truth, I’m just boggled why Christopher Nolan attempts a radical swing for the fences with a bail-out grab for emotion. And no matter how much a person would say they loved Interstellar, appreciating it in full would nonetheless need a significant suspension of disbelief.
Coop actually being Murph’s ghost, Coop actually being able to place a complex idea in morse code inside the tickings of a watch, Murph actually recognizing the morse code, and the Tesseract being some sort of a manifestation of humanity’s chronological destiny, can be seen as lame or brilliant or all the levels in between. Coop being a downright bad dad to Tom (his other child) was so sad it gradually became funny in reflection. But moments like successfully docking on the wildly-spinning Endurance and Coop crying as his children grow up lightyears away from him rock the heart enough to leave a lasting emotional mark. Obviously, I loved the movie regardless of its blatant flaws. The pacing was steady, the visuals were peerless, the music was top-notch, and the script was compelling enough for the film’s idea to truly shine.
Giving this movie, a must-watch film for modern-day cinema,
an okra-supernova out of ten.
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