Interstellar (2014)

I managed to catch Interstellar on my anniversary trip with the wife. We were in a town with a IMAX and we had never been to one. Everything I had seen on this movie made it look like the perfect fit for that format. Now my wife hates space, I don't blame her for that. But this was oddly her idea, as the movie wasn't even on my radar at the time. I didn't do a write up at the time though, so this is a good 10 days after the fact. I will try to do a simple overview, and should hopefully stay out of the heavier points of the film.

The story is pretty much the entire film here. Cooper played by Matthew McConaughey is a ex pilot. He and his daughter Murph played by Mackenzie Foy end up finding a military base run by a old friend of Coopers. Professor Brand played by Michael Caine. Brand tells them the world is ending and only has a small amount of time left. There are dust storms that are killing all the crops, and we can only grow corn at this point in time. Somebody has put a wormhole however right outside our planet. We do now know who, but we do know it was intentional. That wormhole gives us access to 12 other planets that may be inhabitable. Nasa sends a subject to each one to monitor and record data to be sent back as to whether we can live there. Cooper is tasked with going to the 4 remaining planets and finding out which one we will settle on. Brand is meanwhile trying to figure out how to get the human race there. The majority of the 3 hour film takes place as Cooper leads a team to the different worlds in search of answers to both problems.

The film is very smart in how it handles space and even time travel to a extent. Time is different out there, and it affects the explorers in different ways then the people on earth. One planet they visit effects them in 7 year increments every hour. So 1 hour on that planet for Cooper is 7 years back on earth for his Daughter. This means we get multiple actors for the different roles which was interesting. There is also a mystery in the opening of the film that spans the entire thing and the 80 or so years the film takes place in. Everything has a point to it, and if a question arises it will be addressed later on. The story was simple, but well put together in a way that created great depth. The acting was all very well done, which is exactly what you would expect with McConaughey, Caine, Hathaway, and Damon as some of your bigger roles. But one of the main things that really caught my attention was the way they shot most of the space of vehicle sequences.

This movie has a lot of space shots in it. If you read my review on Guardians of the Galaxy, you know I love space. Guardians had pretty and colorful space that was simply breathtaking to see. Interstellar has realistic space that is dark and depressing. That doesn't mean it wasn't a visually impressive movie, but simply that it was more realistic in how it portrayed space. They also had a tendency to not actually show the ship or pod as it was flying. It would show a on board camera that was attached to the hull or rear of the vehicle. I don't know if that was to save money, or create a effect, but it was unique. It didn't pull me out of the moment, and it may have even added to the drama at certain points. In movies like Star Wars you want to see the ship, they are usually fighting and doing cool things. In interstellar we don't have space battles, so the closer look makes it feel more realistic instead of giving off a fantasy vibe. The effects when we do get a wide shot are great though. And there were a few moments that IMAX screen really got to shine.

This is a Christopher Nolan film. Chances are you are familiar with him as a writer, director, and producer. He has done some big name films, heck most of his are big names. If you know me however, you also know I don't particularly care for him. He started strong, but recently he has been in rather poor form. From the lackluster finally to the Dark Knight, to the Man of Steel which I had to turn off multiple times before I could force my way to the end. Interstellar for the most part seems like a return to greatness, that is before the finally. I won't spoil anything, but the film could have been 30 minutes shorter and much better for it. The entire ending actually drug the whole thing down for me.

It was a smart well written movie that simply over stayed its welcome. Decent visuals, and interesting camera work add to the overall feeling of the film. Space is dark and depressing, just like it should be. The only real issues were the eventual reveal as well as some just straight up stupid moments spread through out. The movie did lull at times, and the pacing was a little off. Overall not a bad film, but one I will probably never see again. The high point? Robot TARS voiced by Bill Irwin.