Pinnacle of Blockbuster Sci-Fi

Rating: 9/10 (27 August 2016)

With his excellent Dark Knight trilogy and the mind-bending thriller Inception Christopher Nolan proved he was Hollywood's master at delivering broad blockbuster action that still appealed to the thinking man. And now he submits to us that with an expertly crafted and well-paced movie, we the dumb masses will still allow thoughtful science fiction into the theatre.
Interstellar features a gallery of stunning visuals and an unforgettable crescendoing score to match. It's an astounding cinematic experience - one for a big screen and booming speakers. Performances are solid and the story drives forward with momentum. Hard science is balanced against more accessible themes of love, family, and aging, each handled maturely and with purpose.
At 169 minutes the film never feels its length - no, in fact sometimes it feels a bit like we're rushing past the breathtaking vistas. Slowing down to really soak in the feeling of exploration would have been welcome. Indeed the film suffers in that, by design (and much like Inception), it simply has too many ideas to explore fully in one feature film. And these days that's a wonderful problem to have.