Good but not Great

Rating: 7/10 (20 March 2018)

As far as cinematography and visuals, this movie was stunning. Whether it be on earth, in space, or an alien planet, you will be in awe of what you see. Gorgeous landscapes, horizons, and star fields never got old to look at. There wasn't a time in which I was disappointed with what I was taking in. The two "alien planets" in which we visit are detailed, intricate, and overall visually appealing. The ocean planet was impressive, and really was believable as a planet completely covered in water. The "Hoth" planet was also nice, giving us precarious ice cliffs, vasts deserts of barren snow, and frozen clouds. The whole movie I couldn't stop looking around the screen, and just thinking. "Damn."
Acting performances. Apart from my somewhat dislike of Cooper's character, be it poor writing, or not-so-great acting, most of the roles in this movie are wonderfully acted. Also - SURPRISE! Matt Damon is in this movie! and so is Topher Grace! and Casey Affleck! I was pleasantly surprised each time a new cast member came out, performed by an actor that was nowhere to be seen on any promotional information or trailers. From a combination of the writing for most of the characters, and being well acted, there is very good character development and these characters help drive the plot. The big thing I got from this movie was emotions. emotions, emotions, emotions. I really felt for these people, and felt involved in this story.
How about robots? I absolutely loved the robots in Interstellar. TARS being the "main" and CASE being another, just not quite as cheeky. All of the dialogue between these AI controlled monolith styled robots and the humans is wonderful. I loved the talk about changing there settings for humor and truth etc. From the beginning when TARS is first introduced, you feel uneasy about him. The way it walks...acts around people, talks naturally, and has an attitude, leads you to think that maybe he could be the typical "AHHH ROBOTS ATTACK" but this is not the CASE(Ha. Get it?). I digress...The design of these monolithic machines is fantastic. Their articulating and nearly fractal way that they can manipulate and interact was smart, and logical.
Now we come to the part of the review where I complain. A lot.
Plot holes. This movie is riddled with plot holes. Some minuscule, some big. From the beginning of the film, you are left wondering...
While you don't necessary have to know the year it takes place, it just kept nagging in the back of my mind for the entirety that the film is focused on Earth. Another thing is the reason each selection of crops keeps dying. There was some word they were using, but I can't remember it. Despite the name they call it, they never fully explain what exactly it is, or why it's happening. Even just a blip of exposition would satisfy this massive question that really drives the whole movie. There's also reverse plot holes. (That's a thing, right? Maybe we could call them "Plot Wholes") There's a lot of extra time and exposition explaining things that...really aren't integral to the plot of the movie...or anything at all. The science in the movie also has holes...sometimes. For the most part, nearly all the science is sound. However there are some things that just aren't right, which I can for the most part let go of, for the sake of an easier to make movie, and more entertaining than a big science lecture(Which it also has plenty of, mind you). I won't go into detail about all the not-so-accurate science things, but some of the placement of planets around a black hole don't match up with what it would actually be like.
Near the end of the film, the plot decides to take a detour from the fairly logical and scientific stance most of the film has been. We get thrust into a black hole, and stretched out into another dimension, viewing time as a physical entity, as moving left and right. This is interesting...and explains a few questions I had had since the beginning. I wasn't a huge fan of this last 30 minutes or so, as it felt cheap and like they just rushed the last bit as they didn't know what to do(despite the movie being a whopping 3 hours long). I also had a bit of a problem with the fact that the "THEY" everyone was talking about throughout the film, made to seem like an alien race, was actually just highly evolved humans from the super future. Who changed the past, to let us go out and explore. and become highly evolved...to go back...you see where this is going. A PARADOX. Or just a use of the less used time travel idea that time is a circle and travelling in time is set, and what has happened, happened, and what will happen, will happen, no matter what.
I could go on and on and on about too much emotion and bogged down story tropes and that bloody long run time, but that's enough mad ramblings for one post.
Overall, I thought that this was a well rounded film. Visually stunning, scientifically interesting, and although there are some plot holes and a few less-than-stellar acting performances, this movie is sure to entertain. Especially viewed in it's native 70mm Imax.
Visuals: 10/10
Acting: 7/10
Writing: 6/10
Direction: 7/10
Overall: 7/10