Sci fi for the human race. supremely epic. A love poem to the human race.

Rating: 9/10 (1 December 2014)

Well, Interstellar has met with a mixed reception from the critics, but not the paying viewers who are currently rating it #13 of all time on IMDb.
I'm with the people.
And I find it hard to understand why the critics have been so lukewarm.
Yes, it's a movie about the entire human condition and saving the human race (which inevitably brings it into some potentially pretentious territory - it doesn't escape Scot free in that respect) but Christopher Nolan doesn't let that get in the way of a good story, carefully handled special effects, some tremendous casting (the young Jessica Chastain as Murphy is just SPECTACULAR and inspired), great acting (Hathaway and McConaughey really do pull it off - again).
Christopher Nolan seems to be maturing rather well.
I've seen most of his films and some tend to over-elaborate in the FX department.
Not this.
When he needs a big canvas, like the icy landscape of a potential planet for the human race to inhabit (in a far off galaxy reachable via a galaxian wormhole) he delivers it in spades.
But it feels believable.
I like Sci-fi that has a heart, like The Handmaids Tale, and this sure does, partly because of its big themes - the Earth is about to die because of global warming for a start - this grounds the movie and it effortlessly cuts between dystopian Earth and not much better alternatives far, far away.
The crop burning and the dust storms that ravage the (earth) screen are biblical in their fury. The end of the world truly is nigh. But the alternative seems either worse or sort of non- existent for most of the movie.
What binds it though is the remarkable relationship between McConaughey's character as the father of Murphy (Jessica Chastain) and her aforementioned younger self, played by Mackenzie Foy - the likeness is remarkable.
When Nolan finally goes all Matrix/Inception (as he must) he does it amazingly, in a way that makes the whole movie; theory of relativity, gravity and time continuums, and all come together like a slo-mo implosion. It's awesome (sorry for using that word, but it's appropriate).
Now: a postscript.
This is a peaen to 2001: A Space Odyssey.
We have many nods in deference to the almighty Kubrick in this movie. Not one of them any more than a doffing of the cap to one of the greatest filmmakers who ever lived and I, for one, respect Nolan for that.
This is surely Nolan's greatest movie and at 2hrs 47 mins it felt like a short.
Bravo.
(A final word. Hans Zimmer rocks in this movie. An outstanding soundtrack that will surely pick up yet another Oscar.)