See the picture above?
You might wonder what it depicts. Well, it's simply a spaceship going through a wormhole. Why? How else can you cross galaxies? Why cross galaxies? To discover new worlds. Why discover new worlds? Well, the earth is dying!
OK, enough of the cryptic questions and answers. You get the drift. Interstellar is sic-fi pushed to the limit of reasonableness and common sense. But hey, it's sci-fi, so let's get into the spirit, shall we?
No spoiler, so you can safely read on. The basic plot is about earth going downhill due to cosmic disturbances. It's in the future of course. There are miserable dust storms and no one can grow crops. Better find another place to live!
Matthew McConaughey is the hero-astronaut who undertakes the Great Adventure. He is accompanied by a brilliant young scientist, played by Anne Hathaway. The two of them, and a few others, must fly light years to get to other worlds to find one that is habitable.
No more details than that. Suffice it to say that the space voyagers have more than a few mishaps along the way. An example of one? Well, they land on a planet where one hour of time equates to seven years of earth time. Think about that. If they spend just three hours exploring the planet, folks on earth will be 21 years older when they return.
Uh oh!
You can see how you have to stretch your imagination to get into this film. The common expression is "suspension of disbelief." This reviewer had no problem doing that. But what I could not fathom was why the film had to be so convoluted in plot. And I could not figure out why it had to be over three hours long.
The acting was solid. Jessica Chastain, who plays the astronaut's grown up daughter wondering about her absent father, is great. Young Mackenzie Foy, who plays the astronaut's teenage daughter, is even better. Casey Affleck, Topher Grace, and Michael Caine also play solid roles. Matt Damon is a good evil bad guy!
My overall review? Tough to say. The effects are wonderful. Some of the time dimension issues are awesome. The plot, however, is a bit ragged. Can't say you should rush out and see this one. But opinions differ.
Probably best to check it out for yourself. Be sure to drive to your nearest theatre. It's a bit quicker than trying to fly through a Black Hole to find a theater in the nearest galaxy.
If you go, check your logic at the door. And be sure to have fun!
So, this is where sci-fi fan and non sci-fan's perspectives naturally differ. For me, it was precisely the human relationship part of the movie that stayed with me. I think that's what's often missing in sic-fi. McConaughey continues to astound me in his acting evolution and he brought me to tears in that one scene. Who knew scientists had feelings, too!
ReplyDeleteI found the technical tricks of the film to be spell-binding, breath-taking, jaw-dropping. Loved it all, especially the wall of water.
On the subject of suspension of disbelief, TIME magazine devoted a cover and 8 pages to this film, article written by former NASA figure who co-authored Jim Lovell's biography. He points out Christopher Nolan's reasonable balance of SCIENCE with FICTION. The film actually relies on accurate science. I'm impressed.
I had a problem with Hathaway as a brilliant scientist, until I learned later that she's actually been an amateur cosmologist all her life. Again, who knew?
Yes, long - and tedious in parts. But I got my money's worth. In fact, I've been wanting to watch it again.
As one who for years has been on the receiving end of physical paranormal phenomenon (a well-kept secret of mine), I now playfully regard some of these as maybe, just maybe, it's a visit from MY future bookcase. Haha