A visually epic film

Rating: 6/10 (3 November 2014)

Interstellar marks Christopher Nolan's return to the silver screen since ending his Dark Knight trilogy. While Interstellar seems like classic Nolan, it also feels as if he wanted to focus on making the most realistic space film even if the story fell casualty. And it most certainly seems this way. Interstellar has the best effects that I've ever seen in a film. Each shot detailing the vacancy of space, and the planets that orbit gently is so well crafted that it almost makes you forget about the story flaws in the film. While that does remain as a huge advantage that this film has, it also doesn't delude the fact that there are some pretty glaring issues regarding Nolan's story and its characters. The story behind the film starts off as the unlikely hero is tasked with saving the planet...then it starts talking about space and the relation of time and space. While spoon feeding the audience isn't exactly Nolan's forte, it does begin to start sounding like a physics class in some scenes as characters spout off information as if it is supposed to be common knowledge. But, as Nolan intended, this is most definitely not your typical popcorn blockbuster. Interstellar demands multiple viewings and echoes early Stanley Kubrick in style and in pacing but one thing that has kept me from giving this film a higher rating is most definitely the characters. Christopher Nolan can certainly deliver us a GREAT film, his filmography speaks for itself, but Interstellar is one of his few films that features very little in the way of good characters. Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway certainly delivered the goods here in regards to their performances, but their characters themselves were very flawed and not well rounded in the least. Their characters are there, strictly to progress the story when it begins to slow down and with a running time of nearly three hours, it certainly does drag in certain scenes. However, despite it feeling long and bloated, the imagery here is more than enough to captivate you. The technical aspects of this film are EXTRAORDINARY. Everything from the beautiful, flawless cinematography to the robust sound design, everything here is utterly flawless on a technical level. It makes for a truly engrossing theater experience, if nothing else. Overall, Interstellar feels like a film that is bound to divide audiences and while I didn't love the film outright, there's a lot to this film to admire and appreciate.