Interstellar Review

“With great power comes great responsibility” – this Uncle Ben quote can’t be more true for anyone other than Christopher Nolan. With the talent that he possesses in terms of narrative, direction and screenplay, it is very difficult to expect something that is not mind boggling.

Interstellar is incredible, spectacular and thought-provoking. It is one of those rare genre which deals with science and space without sounding like a documentary and manages to keep us on the edge of our seat.

Story of Mankind, Space, Science, Love and Mankind

The story begins in the futuristic America, at a time when there is dust storm everywhere and Corns are the only farm that could sustain this environment. Earth is facing certain extinction, and Indian Drones are flying over America. So it comes down to Cooper, a failed space-pilot, to steer the spaceship Endurance, leaving behind his notorious son and lovely daughter to save the world by searching for new planets in other galaxies to inhabit. Sounds American yet? Well that’s the only ‘True American Hero’ moment of the movie. As the five of them- Cooper, Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway), two other scientists (the ones who usually die in these sort of adventures) and a highly intelligent box-like humanized robot TARS leave the earth for a Wormhole situated near Saturn, they have 2 plans.

Plan A is to find an inhabitable planet amongst the three they have identified and with the help of Professor Brand’s (Michael Cain) unsolved and highly complex equation they could bring all the world’s population to that planet. Sounds too ambitious for even a movie like this (And guess what?).

Plan B is to use fertilized embryo to start new human species on the other world if everything else fails.

After reaching the wormhole, the visual spectacle of this movie starts and with that our highly engaging class of physics. Nolan takes us through the Theory of Relativity, the ultimate singularity in Black Hole and the fourth and fifth dimensions. It might become too heavy for a casual viewer but the cinematography and the screenplay never lets you down. Another character who keeps you on the edge of the seat is the Music. Hans Zimmer has created some beautiful soundtrack and this one’s no less.

In terms of Acting, Matthew McConaughey is having a time of his life this year. He played a brilliant Cooper. Emotional, yet assertive. Rash, but wise. He manages to showcase his love for his daughter with genuine touch. And also managed to remain calm in tense situation without looking too heroic.

"What?? My daughter played Bella and Edward's daughter?
I need to get off this planet." 

Jessica Chastain as Cooper’s daughter Murphy is also a strong character but it’s nothing new for her to play a strong smart woman. It’s the 10 year old version of her played by Mackenzie Foy, who catches our attention with a beautifully put performance. It is very astounding to think that Mackenzie Foy played the role of Bella and Edward’s daughter in Twilight series and it has not yet diminished her brain, let alone her acting skills!!

Anne Hathaway as Amelia Brand was a sole letdown in this amazing cast. It’s nothing to do with acting skills of Anne but more to do with characterization of Amelia Brand. She starts out as no non-sense biologist and then it is revealed that she has come to this voyage for the hope of finding her lost love. That’s a real bummer.

Dr. Brand played by Michael Caine is, as in most Christopher Nolan Movies, the voice of reason and intelligence. He is the father of Amelia Brand and also the head of the operations. He has his own secrets and reasons for this mission to take place. He also has some of the best dialogues in the movie.

*Spoiler Alert*

There’s a guest appearance by Matt Damon playing Dr. Mann. And just like his surname he plays a character that is fallible and betrays the team. But 30 years of cryogenic sleep could do that to anyone! But Damon manages to play a coward so well even though being fearless in movies is his forte.

*Spoiler Alert Finished*

The most interesting thing about the movie was that the cinematography and music complemented each other very well. There’s a sequence in the middle of movie where Captain Cooper had to dock his shuttle at very high speed and rotation which was categorized as Impossible by their robot CASE. But still Cooper tries to dock it. The sequence starts with very miniscule music but by the end it will have reached its crescendo and your heart will have reached yours. Even though we know that Cooper won’t fail but still the music does its job and have us in sweat.

Also, the movie requires a pretty higher than average intelligence to follow it. Having read ‘Brief History of Time’ and ‘Theory of Relativity’ by Einstein, I could say that movie makes more sense the more you understand other dimensions, black holes, gravity and relativity. And it’s not that the casual viewers have been totally isolated, as some good examples in the movie are created to make us understand the science of it all. Even with all this going around, it manages to keep a good humor level, a trait of Christopher Nolan movies, through the two robots CASE and TARS.

In terms of story there are many flaws, not expected from Nolan. Editing could have been done better. It will definitely be compared to likes of Inception and Prestige. And it lacks the moments of genuine awe of those two. There are some exhilarating moments but the pace was slow in the starting. We need to be patient to let Christopher Nolan weave his magic on screen.

But, as with all his movies, Nolan showcases his flair in the final act. The ending was remarkable and disappointing at the same time. Don’t blink and don’t whisper as you might miss one of the most charming end.

*Spoiler Alert*

Remarkable because even though I had a pretty good guess that Cooper was the ghost in Murphy’s room, I could never have imagined it being shown in other dimensions. Or why Cooper was chosen for this inter-dimensional voyage.

Disappointing because, Cooper was meeting his daughter after so long time and so many things that he went through. And his daughter who missed him so much was meeting him after literally 120 years and there was no love to be found as she shoved him away to go and find Amelie! Maybe Nolan is not that good at showing relationships.

*Spoiler Alert Finished*

Any one of these movies in one's CV could make a director great.
He has all four of them.

In the end, watch the movie not for the science behind it, or the great space backdrops, or the incredible talent of Hans Zimmer, but for the genius of Christopher Nolan. In the years to come he will have joined likes of Scorsese, Spielberg and Kubrick, if he already hasn’t.

And yes I am a Christopher Nolan fan and this might be a pretty biased review.

9/10 – Minus 1 for not being as awesome as Inception or Prestige, as we expect him to be.