Overall Grade: (A)
“Gravity” meets an ambitiously creative story-line, and the result is nothing short of an exceptionally dramatic and intense science-fiction, saga… all in one film.
Synopsis
In the near future climate changes and famine have changed the way of life. Food is in short supply and crops are dwindling. When a mysterious wormhole opens deep in space, a glimmer of hope for mankind presents itself.
A small group of explorers volunteer to take the mission into unknown universes in hopes of saving the human race, while knowing the possibilities of never making it home, and whether or not there will still be a livable planet waiting for them to come home to.
My Thoughts
After a two-year directorial hiatus from resurrecting the Batman character with an amazing trilogy, Christopher Nolan is back to do the same for the spacewalking science-fiction genre. After watching this film I can easily say he held nothing back in telling his wide-spreading saga that spans several years and crosses multiple universes. The run-time is very long hovering just under three-hours but the time spent will be well worth it.
The story is bold in its ambition and sharp in detail. The sequence of events that take place will keep you enthralled and highly intrigued. There is great detail in the structure of the story-line as well as strong development in the characters.
The well written characters are amplified in their impact by the performances of the cast that are excellent all around. Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway were both nothing short of perfect and they only added to the greatness of the material they had to work with by generating characters you can build a connection to.
Off an already strong performance in “Dallas Buyers Club”, McConaughey only elevates his output in this one showing great range. He was more the compelling in his conveying of emotions during the many tense, dramatic and thrilling moments in this massive story-line. Some moments will draw a watery eye as he fights through many ordeals from the onset of the mission both in space, as well as the effects of leaving his family behind.
To only build off the strong cast, Nolan brought out the big guns in regards to special-effects. There are many stunning moments that build off of the already detailed creativity in the creation of space, the wormhole, as well as the other planets the story takes the viewer to. There are too many eye-popping moments in this film to count and there are a handful of moments where you will catch yourself on the couch, sitting in a trance with your chin dropped as you take all the visuals in.
In recent years too many of the films in this genre have relied too heavily on special-effects to make a movie and the result is often a weak story-line with many holes and a high level of implausibility. “Interstellar” is a great combination of both and is a classic example that, when done properly there is always a place for a highly dramatic and captivating spacewalking film in Hollywood.
Regardless of the three-hour length, there is a smooth pace to this film and Nolan uses every minute of the run-time to tell his tale. When there isn’t breathtaking scenes of harrowing danger in space, or the oddly unique vision taken into the creativity of the other planets – that are as visually eye-popping as they are through provoking – there is an emotionally charged family drama that weaves nicely into the framework of the plot. The world that Nolan creates from start-to-finish, is inventive and entertaining, with an enormous amount of information to deliver while still holding the feel of tightly organized script.
I recommend “Interstellar” to anyone, and even if you are not a true fan of the genre you will still find yourself touched by the emotion of the saga and intrigued by the journey the script takes you on. Nolan proves with this film, that if you can imagine it you can create it, and nothing is out of reach in film-making.