2001: Space Odyssey + Inception = Interstellar

Rating: 6/10 (17 November 2014)

There were definitely many parallels between this movie and 2001: Space Odyssey. It's almost as though Nolan just decided to mash the Inception storyline together with a deeper exploration of the concepts explored in 2001. If you break this story to it's basic form it's almost identical to what happened in Inception:

A group goes on an exploration into some obscure place that nobody quite understands. - A bunch of vague explanations of scientific theories are thrown around. - A couple people die in the process. - Then at the end there's a revelation related to a "Memento" that was briefly introduced earlier in the film. - And there's some old person of significance on their deathbed.

Other than that the movie was visually captivating and the music was moving. It just seemed as though the storyline was a little flat and the characters didn't really struggle despite going through several perilous situations. Both Anne Hathaway and Matthew Mcconaughey pretty much went through the whole movie unscathed. Even the ship hardly suffered any damage after being hit by 2 mountain sized waves which mildly tossed around the crew who didn't even have seat belts on. Not to mention flying through ice clouds, a black hole, and an explosion where debris flew every where, yet the great Matthew Mcconaughey was able to swiftly avoid all of it and dock with the spinning half destroyed station. Then after being expelled from the ship he casually flies through a worm-hole where he becomes the "evolved human", who pushes humanity to the next level which is a concept explored in the film 2010: The Year We Make Contact.
My biggest gripes:

Idiotic character motivations: Anne Hathaway risking everyones life to go get the beacon as the huge tidal wave approaches. Wes Bentley standing by the ship while watching the whole thing happen yet somehow Anne Hathaway was able to make it back to the ship and safely get inside while Wes just stands there... (He deserves what happens to him.)

Poorly underdeveloped African American character who really serves no purpose other than to be a stepping stone for the main "lighter" characters to succeed... Something needs to be done about these T-Dog (Walking Dead) like characters who seem to just be thrown into the movie just to add some "Color" to the roster. Even in the casting it seems like they took the time to cast High Profile actors/actresses for the main roles, yet the main black guy in the film is just some guy no ones ever heard of. Oh wait I forgot about his memorable role as "Skinny Prisoner" in Dark Knight Rises...