Epic but flawed and unsatisfying

Rating: 7/10 (15 November 2014)

Explores grand themes such as humanity's relationship with the earth and the relativity of time, mixed with very personal ones such as love, loss and a man's struggle to find meaning in life. But it is poorly executed in parts and an unsatisfactory experience on the whole.
Some of the planetary scenes are very well done and warrant a trip to the cinema to see. A few moments gave me goosebumps, especially combined with the film's soundtrack. Juxtaposed against this grandeur, the plot seems poorly timed and slips into cliché at times.
By the time the climax arrived, I found myself wishing the movie wasn't so long, the plot so obvious, and the director's ambition so grand - a feeling I also had towards the end of The Dark Knight Rises. Although, as with TDKR, there is a twist that attempts to bring the film back from block-buster stereotyping into more unexpected territory.
For me it sits alongside M.Night Shyamalan's 'Signs' or Danny Boyley's 'Sunshine' in that it is a film to discuss afterwards, mostly for its flaws.