Interstellar Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: When the Earth's plant life begins to die off, humanity reaches for the stars in order to survive.

Review: I had intended to see this film when it was first released, but I don't go to the theaters as much as I used to. Nevertheless, I was still hyped to see this film considering the reviews I've read accompanied by that ridiculously high imdb score (almost a 9/10!). Unfortunately, "Interstellar" does not come close to living up to that score. Sure, the film is incredible for the first two hours or so, but that ending is terrible--nearly defeating the purpose of everything! I was teetering on an 8 or 8.5/10 up until the end, but my image of the overall story plummeted to the 7/10 I am rating this film. The best way I can describe what we have here is that it's a beautiful film that is crippled by its glaring flaws. The one caveat I will add is that the positives do outweigh the negatives, but the problems are significant.

Starting with what works, I have to acknowledge Matthew McConaughey's fantastic performance. I have watched Mr. McConaughey over the decades do some of the absolute dumbest roles ("Tiptoes" comes to mind), while applying his trademark, shit-eating grin, but this was the antithesis of that. In general, Mr. McConaughey has stepped up his game in recent years and it's showing. I felt his pain, determination, and struggle through his portrayal as the lead, Cooper. In fact, the acting from all the players was well done with many accolades to give out. I especially enjoyed the subtle romance between Cooper and Brand, played by Anne Hathaway; this was a nuance that helped develop the characters perfectly. Speaking of which, the characters are quite moving as they struggle to deal with loss, dread, and the knowledge that the fate of humanity lies in their hands. I think it also helped to show the struggles of the humans on Earth in contrast to Cooper and his crew traveling across space. Can either one succeed? It certainly keeps you intrigued.

As for the story, it can be quite inspirational at times while always maintaining a harrowing journey for the characters to endure and overcome. The strongest aspect of the story is its ability to reach deep into the core of your being and make you appreciate life, love, and the human experience. There are multiple teary-eyed moments that touch and move you with their brilliance; you'd have to be seriously cold-hearted not to at least get a lump in your throat a few times. Actually, I was surprised by how much I came to adore the robot characters; I was genuinely sad when it appeared one died, and that's pretty damn impressive if I do say so. The themes are powerful and apply readily to all eras and walks of life. The film tries not to be too preachy and address current problems with grace while applying an appropriate sci-fi spin. There could have been more wonder and philosophical debate, but I believe Nolan and crew succeeded in telling the tale they intended.

Technically speaking, the film shines beautifully in a genre where it always seems like we've seen it all. The background shots of space, black holes, different planets, etc. are marvelously depicted. Even simple mountain shots can look quite impressive with all things considered. Enhancing the aesthetics was the awesome soundtrack. If I were floating endlessly through space this is the kind of music that would help me think critically about the larger picture at hand; the grandeur and scope of the film are captured near perfectly.

Okay, now let's tackle the faults by discussing the biggest offender: the ending. The time travel aspects simply do not work no matter how hard you try to theorize. They would have been better off leaving it ambiguous with aliens helping humanity for unknown reasons than to claim super advanced humans from the future are helping! Look, if you're changing time, that means there was a different future outcome. This is impossible as we are presented with humanity's demise had there not been intervention. What does this mean? A paradox. So...advanced humans from the future save humanity of the past yet humanity would go extinct without the future humans? Then how the hell were there ever future humans?! Besides, this is the worst "help" I could possibly imagine. These time-bending, godlike humans can't even tell the past humans which planet to travel toward? They simply open up a wormhole to 12 worlds? They also put the wormhole all the way at Saturn--what the hell? You couldn't bring things a little closer? And don't even tell me the future humans were pushing the past humans to succeed--you're dealing with the fate of your own species, not trying to help your kid win a race. On top of that, if future humans have reached godlike powers, who cares about the past? Wouldn't a thing like the past be a relative concept to a god? Wouldn't changing time theoretically negate their own existence to boot? Then we have to consider how the hell did the future humans know Cooper's relevance in this scenario? How did they know he was the key? How did they know their actions wouldn't fuck it all up? What was the significance of other "gravity anomalies" unrelated to the plot? If they're omniscient, then why go through the hoops? Why not tell humanity how to survive outright? And come on, going through a black hole now makes you reach a fifth dimensional rift where you can alter the past...except you already altered it? Whaaaat? The dumbest aspect was Cooper wanting to change time yet following the way time played out! This is nonsensical. If Cooper must still do these events in order to establish the past, he already knew his own actions...therefore, he simply had to not perform those actions and he would have changed time! The paradoxes are going to make my head explode! Bottom line, it does not make sense given the context. And future humans were the worst deus ex machina I could imagine outside of a literal appearance by god.

Besides the ending wrecking everything, there were aspects that didn't add up anyway. So we have robots, advanced spacecraft, stasis pods, video transmissions across millions of miles, drones that can fly on their own for 10 years, and we can create space stations that save humanity on a whim...yet we can't figure out how to stop this "blight?" I love the sci-fi aspects but, come on, the threat is unreal when you present this kind of technology that should counter it. I mean, the world is saved by simply figuring out a way to get artificial gravity for space stations--that's it. Say what?! It also bothered me that Cooper, who has traveled across space and time for like 90 years, survived a black hole, saved humanity, and appears to be greatly respected, must resort to stealing a spaceship to find Brand. I'd be saying Cooper was the damned savior at that point especially when they claim everyone didn't believe in him until he showed up just as young as the day he left. Plus, they know Brand is out there--hopeless and believing she must artificially recreate humanity on a new world--and they're just like "whatever?!" Was the last hour of the movie written by the studio or something?

In the end, this is an amazing film that is both beautiful to behold and thought provoking. You are truly engrossed to the point that you feel connected to the story and characters as if you are traveling across time and space in your own effort to save the world. So much of this movie just works on all levels with epic scope and presentation. However, all of this does not come without the price of a disappointing conclusion and many annoying flaws that build up when said ending comes abruptly. I'm sure some will claim I'm over thinking the story, or that I'm wrong in my interpretations of the events, but these flaws were a tremendous hindrance in my eyes that are hard to defend. You can ignore the flaws and take things at face value, but, when a film is trying to be this deep, one must take its analyses into consideration. I definitely still recommend checking this film out, as it is well worth anyone's time, but it's not nearly as mind-blowing as I had hoped. In other words, come for the characters and themes but ignore the explanations for why everything is happening and how it's resolved.

Notable Moment: When Cooper comes back from the water world, realizing 20 some years have passed, and watches all the videos he's missed. This was probably the most moving part of the film for me with Cooper's son "letting go" and Murph trying to come to terms with the situation.

Final Rating: 7/10