Rated PG-13
169 minutes
Directed by Christopher Nolan
First off, let me get this out of the way; I did have problems with the sound mixing. There were plenty of scenes that were drowned out by bass, especially that one scene (the one with Murph and Cooper as Cooper's about to go away). I'm just like everyone else. My theater isn't different. I'm just a regular joe.
However, this didn't ruin the movie for me. With the sound design problems being prevalent in only a few scenes, it really didn't intrude on the movie experience. It showed up only for a few minutes, leaving the potential of rest of the movie to just wow me. It didn't do that on the whole, but there were some pretty stellar sequences. As well as some pretty terrible things. I'll want to get to one of those terrible things, but it's also a spoiler, so I'll just post it after the grade with warnings.
One of the more positive things is the absolutely amazing visual effects. The film looks absolutely beautiful. The depiction of Saturn was breathtaking. And that black hole was something special. But it's not just the computer-generated things that are beautiful. The planets were beautiful, and they were shot on Iceland. The robots were awesome, and I was frankly shocked to find out they were practical. Also, the bookcase scene (those who've seen the film will understand) was all practical, so that just speaks in the film's favor.
Another key element of the film was Matthew McConaughey's performance. To think that this guy 5 years ago was making romantic comedies is unbelievable. His performance here is kind of amazing. He has an ability to cry really well, and elevates any and all material. The scene where he watches messages from his kids is really emotional because McConaughey's crying never seems forced. He seems like a genuine father who feels incredibly sad that he went on this mission instead of staying with his kids. And he gives it his all with that bookcase scene, which was just really emotional, though it didn't make me cry.
One of the things that I'm most conflicted about with this movie is it's score. It follows in the whole "loop" pattern that Magic and the Moonlight and Gone Girl held, but the select piece of music that does loop is better, in my opinion, that the pieces of music that were looped in both movies. I'm not saying that Interstellar has a better score than Gone Girl, but just the piece of music they chose to play again and again was better. The score in Interstellar was moving emotionally, but alas, it's part of the sound design problem. The score would sometimes drown out conversations, and I wanted to hear the dialogue, and not a piece of music.
Since my final two (spoiler-free) complaints with the movie are short enough, I'll just combine them into this one paragraph. The first one is that love speech by Anne Hathaway. That was so hokey didn't go with the rest of the film. Sure, the film had a lot of love throughout, but the speech didn't go with the tone of the rest of the film. Also, how in the world did McConaughey's son not resent him? McConaughey spent more time with the daughter, showered her with praise, and just seemed to do a bunch of stuff with her. The son just got a few rubs on the head and a hug. There must've been some hardcore love between them before, because if the relationship was always like this, I don't think there was a good relationship. Despite this, the film is inches away from being great, and it's necessary viewing in the theater. Recommended.
3.5/5
B
(SPOILERS) Did it piss anyone else off how Wes Bentley died? He was just standing by the ship forever, with any opportunity to board the ship. Instead, he twiddled his thumbs and died unnecessarily. (END SPOILERS)
However, this didn't ruin the movie for me. With the sound design problems being prevalent in only a few scenes, it really didn't intrude on the movie experience. It showed up only for a few minutes, leaving the potential of rest of the movie to just wow me. It didn't do that on the whole, but there were some pretty stellar sequences. As well as some pretty terrible things. I'll want to get to one of those terrible things, but it's also a spoiler, so I'll just post it after the grade with warnings.
One of the more positive things is the absolutely amazing visual effects. The film looks absolutely beautiful. The depiction of Saturn was breathtaking. And that black hole was something special. But it's not just the computer-generated things that are beautiful. The planets were beautiful, and they were shot on Iceland. The robots were awesome, and I was frankly shocked to find out they were practical. Also, the bookcase scene (those who've seen the film will understand) was all practical, so that just speaks in the film's favor.
Another key element of the film was Matthew McConaughey's performance. To think that this guy 5 years ago was making romantic comedies is unbelievable. His performance here is kind of amazing. He has an ability to cry really well, and elevates any and all material. The scene where he watches messages from his kids is really emotional because McConaughey's crying never seems forced. He seems like a genuine father who feels incredibly sad that he went on this mission instead of staying with his kids. And he gives it his all with that bookcase scene, which was just really emotional, though it didn't make me cry.
One of the things that I'm most conflicted about with this movie is it's score. It follows in the whole "loop" pattern that Magic and the Moonlight and Gone Girl held, but the select piece of music that does loop is better, in my opinion, that the pieces of music that were looped in both movies. I'm not saying that Interstellar has a better score than Gone Girl, but just the piece of music they chose to play again and again was better. The score in Interstellar was moving emotionally, but alas, it's part of the sound design problem. The score would sometimes drown out conversations, and I wanted to hear the dialogue, and not a piece of music.
Since my final two (spoiler-free) complaints with the movie are short enough, I'll just combine them into this one paragraph. The first one is that love speech by Anne Hathaway. That was so hokey didn't go with the rest of the film. Sure, the film had a lot of love throughout, but the speech didn't go with the tone of the rest of the film. Also, how in the world did McConaughey's son not resent him? McConaughey spent more time with the daughter, showered her with praise, and just seemed to do a bunch of stuff with her. The son just got a few rubs on the head and a hug. There must've been some hardcore love between them before, because if the relationship was always like this, I don't think there was a good relationship. Despite this, the film is inches away from being great, and it's necessary viewing in the theater. Recommended.
3.5/5
B
(SPOILERS) Did it piss anyone else off how Wes Bentley died? He was just standing by the ship forever, with any opportunity to board the ship. Instead, he twiddled his thumbs and died unnecessarily. (END SPOILERS)
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