An "Odessy" for the 21st century

Rating: 9/10 (7 December 2014)

What can I possibly say to explain Interstellar? Perhaps I should begin by admitting I did not fully understand this movie, and you probably won't either. Honestly I doubt that Steven Hawking and Neil Tyson Degrassi really understand this movie. That's not because of plot holes or poor exposition but because it is based around concepts which are themselves mind bending. Here time dilation, gravitational anomalies, and super-massive black holes are just the beginning, leading up to paradoxes that make Doctor Who seem straightforward and understandings of time and space that we don't yet have the ability to comprehend. In other words there are things in this movie which are not explained because they simply cannot be.
But that matters less than you would think. You'll probably understand the who and the why of the story even if you don't always understand the how. What is important to understand is that the earth is dying. Society is trying to rebuild itself after some unspecified cataclysm, but world population is dangerously low, the farm belt is In the midst of another dust bowl, and though few realize it yet our crops are on the verge of dying. Our only hope is to follow messages from unknown beings to new worlds in another galaxy. And it's going to be one hell of a trip, both for the handful of brave astronauts and the people they leave behind on earth.
Put simply, Interstellar is 2001 A Space Odyssey without the long stretches where nothing happens. Not to say that the story is the same beyond the general outline of mankind exploring the cosmos and a mysterious force guiding us. Yet there are so many things about Interstellar that draw the viewer's mind back to that classic of sci-fi. From the often majestic, sometimes hallucinatory visuals of alien worlds, interstellar phenomena and spacecraft gently floating through the void, to the ever present themes of distance and isolation, to the black, slab shaped robot with an attitude like HAL 9000, it's clear that Kubrick's 2001 was very much on Christopher Nolan's mind when he made this.
But don't let me give you the impression that this move is all high concepts and deep themes. Interstellar is also a fast paced, suspense filled thriller with all the action, twists, and cutting edge special effects one has come to expect from Nolan. The action scenes are nail biting and visually stunning, with photography clearly influenced by last year's Gravity. In the third act the revelations and close calls come so quickly one after another that the tension builds until you're sure the climax is just around the corner, and yet it keeps on going, tenser than before.
Beyond the suspense and the excitement it's the emotional dimension that gives this movie its impact. Because the heroes aren't going into the unknown just to save humanity, they're going to save the people they care about; their children, parents, mentors, the ones who can't even know if they're still alive. And as corny as it may seem, Interstellar makes a good case that more than gravity or even time, it's love that's the most powerful force in the galaxy. In the end you'll likely have as many questions as answers, but that's OK, because the whole point is that there is so much we have yet to discover, and yet that will never stop us from trying.