Wow, just saw Interstellar, what an amazing piece of filmmaking. It really was incredible. You know, I read a review before seeing it that said it’s more of an experience than a film, and I can say that I agree with that now in the best way possible. I enjoyed every minute of it, it didn’t even feel like a 3 hour long movie, it never slowed down or grew boring.
I’m not even sure where to start honestly, it was a lot to take in. I’ve come to expect that from Christopher Nolan though, he packs a lot of story and complexity into all of his films. Think about it, most of his movies have been far above 2 hours long, they’ve all tackled topics and issues that somewhat exceed the film that they’re in. Like in the Dark Knight, the whole scene with the two boats, one filled with prisoners and one filled with innocent families, and they’re both given remote triggers to blow each other up, THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BATMAN!! It didn’t even fit in with the movie, but it was a powerful, awesome scene. It could have been it’s own movie probably, but Christopher Nolan put it in anyway.
So taking that into account, there was a lot thrown at the viewer; themes of death, life, love, relationships, families, father-daughter relationships, priorities, betrayal, humanity, and then it gets way deeper, themes of space and time travel, black holes, gravity, light, quantum physics, and even supernatural communication. Needless to say, it was very complicated. And to add to those themes, you have amazing acting, amazing special effects (Even though I think that Gravity had better quality space shots), strong dialogue, powerful music and soundscapes and many plot twists and surprises. I can’t stress enough how much stuff this movie has in it, but it makes it incredible. It’s definitely one of those movies that you have to see in theaters to fully experience it, especially in IMAX, that’s what I saw it in, definitely worth it.
Now, time to address the critics. I’ve been following the critic’s responses and ratings a lot the past week or so, and I’ve been surprised by a lot of it, they’re not overly positive, and now that I’ve seen it I think I understand it a bit more. I think a lot of very good, popular movies get a lot of random negative reviews sometimes because I think critics feel like they’ll get more attention and readers if they review a popular movie negatively, they’ll think everyone will say “Wait, they didn’t like it? But why? Let me read that!” But when in reality, the movie isn’t actually that bad. So I think that has a lot to do with it, but also that it’s a Christopher Nolan movie, which people have come to expect a lot from, and so if there’s anything in it that might be considered remotely disappointing by some, they’ll highlight that instead of the good parts.
There’s been some criticism about plot holes and general inconsistencies in Interstellar, and I understand some of them, but I think every movie has plot holes and inconsistencies. You know what movie had a ton of plot holes but was still overwhelmingly popular and got great reviews? Inception. They never even explained how you could get into someone else’s dream, never once explained what that machine is that they always pack into a briefcase, or how they even discovered any of it was possible, but nobody criticized that! So I think some of the criticism over Interstellar is a little unwarranted or not really that big of a deal. But on second-thought, maybe Christopher Nolan has become a little too comfortable and has decided to disregard a lot to make the story work, which I think a lot of filmmakers do, but maybe he went a little too far this time. Some things like character reactions and actions don’t matter as much, you can complain about their reactions as much as you want but they’re still just fictional characters, and you’re only speaking out of your own experience and with hindsight, but you’ve obviously never been in their shoes before so shut up. But things like communicating through different dimensions and ending up at the right place at the right time might be a little too far, but that’s alright, it didn’t sacrifice the movie.
So, as for the characters, I think many of them were pretty well developed, even though there wasn’t a whole lot of backstory for any of them except Matthew McConaughey, but that’s alright, it doesn’t need anything more added to it honestly. But I think every actor in the movie did a fantastic job, and there are even some surprise characters to watch out for!
Overall, I think that Interstellar was a huge success on multiple levels, it was a success in grand story-telling, a success in acting, a success in effects and music, and I feel that once again, Christopher Nolan will be leading the way into a new style of filmmaking of grand ideas and visions.
I give this film a 5/5 rating *Gasp!* Yeah, it was that good, now go see it!
The Qualmist 