Maybe the most spectacular movie of 2014 and one of the best

Rating: 8/10 (25 December 2014)

To this day , many people still talk a lot about Christopher Nolan's "Batman"-trilogy, but here is his newest work: "Interstellar". He gets help from Michael Caine and Anne Hathaway again and a couple more familiar faces. One year after Cuarón with Gravity, he discovers the endless widths of space as well. The difference, however is that a large part of his movie, including the first 40 minutes or so completely, plays down on Planet Earth. However, it is also about survival in space, including two people instead of one though. Or you could probably say the whole human race and not one individual fate.
This is like our generation's "Armageddon", only that it is much better and much more edge-of-the-seat. The lead character is played by Matthew McConaughey, whose career is still on a massive high after numerous critically lauded performances and an Academy Award win. "Interstellar" is much more than Sci-Fi though. I personally found the film was at its best when it touched more the emotional relationships of the characters. The water planet sequence was incredibly well done. And right afterward, when Cooper (McConaughey) sees how his beloved family has aged and become parents, it is truly moving as well. I had a lump in my throat just like I did when he meets his very old daughter at the end of the movie. The inclusions with the old people telling about the past seem a bit odd at first, but make sense towards the end as we find out who is speaking there really.
Then, I also had a love-hate relationship with the Matt Damon parts. I found it pretty boring to be honest initially, but when we found out about his true intentions, it quickly turns into one of the best parts of the film. Nicely done. When Caine's character mentioned him with high praise early on, I felt there could be something fishy (like with Pixar's Up) there and yes it was. The ending of the movie with Hathaway's character completely alone out there made me think maybe there will be a sequel. Saving Private... ehh I mean Dr. Brand. Who knows? The time during which the whole film plays is also interesting. Somehow, the NASA lost a lot of their reputation and the moon landing is called fake in American school books. It is some point in the future. That much we know. David Oyelowo plays a small role here as one of the teachers. He has "Selma" in the race for an Academy Award nomination this year.
The ending of the film was not among the best scenes in my opinion, but I still liked it. The whole ghost explanation about Cooper being actually the one giving the signs was pretty exciting. The effects are brilliant of course, but that does not really need be mentioned for Nolan movies. A given. Hans Zimmer did a good soundtrack and there is also some comic relief coming from McConaughey's charm (if you like that) and some droll robot creatures. Anyway, I found the film interesting enough that I found it a bit sad they did not get to visit the third planet (with Hathaway's character's lover), only the water planet and the ice planet. I'd have loved to see that. However, maybe that could be a nice inclusion for a sequel as well. The movie never dragged despite coming pretty close to the three-hour mark. It could have run for another hour and I probably would not have been bored. There really was hardly anything wrong with it. Affleck's character did not do too much for me. He wasn't particularly well-acted and the character felt just included as a simple man who quickly gave up on his dad in order to show the contrast compared to Chastain's character: the ambitious loving smart daughter with a true connection to Cooper. John Lithgow plays a small role too and is fun to watch as always.
This is one of the movies I really recommend to watch, preferably on the big screen due to its sensational visual aspects. It's also good for a rewatch I believe, also to evaluate the characters' actions, especially Caine's for example. And the story of course. I believe, after one viewing, I am still far away from having understood everything that was going on, especially the scientific aspects. That however, does not hurt the viewing experience at all thanks to the film's great acting and emotional impact. If you are interested in space, you really have to see this too. It has distant planets, wormholes, black holes, spaceships and a lot more. Let me finish this review with two little snippets: First, the actress who played Murph as a child was the same that played Renesmee in the last two Twilight movies and, secondly, that fittingly Hathaway's character was called Amelia like the aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. That can't be coincidence, can it? Especially with her last shot.