Interstellar

By: Robert Murphy 

Technology can be a wonderful and amazing thing and as we develop it further and more promisingly, we begin to think of the theories and devices in science fiction movies as less of a fantasy and more of a reality that we one day might achieve. Interstellar initially starts in a not too far off future and the world is not in a good place, think 1930's era Dust Bowl kind of conditions and setting. Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is living with his family on the farm just getting by and living their lives by growing the only thing they can, corn. The reason for this is a virus that has blighted all other agricultural foods and growable forms of sustenance. Cooper though isn't very happy with the current situation he is in though as he use to be an engineer and one of NASA's best pilots and because of this he desperately wants more for himself and his family. So when his daughter, Murph (young: Mackenzie Foy, adult: Jessica Chastain) complains of a ghost that's haunting her dad's old books, he discovers that they're being sent a message from somebody. This leads the two to rediscover the remnants of NASA program which has been put back together in the hopes of finding a new home for the human race through an interstellar worm hole no less, right outside Jupiter. 

Save your criticisms for the oddly casted movie scientists all you want but Interstellar pulls something amazing with this science fiction film about space travel that I haven't enjoyed since movies like Event Horizon, granted that was somewhat of a horror film but the science behind it remains. Cooper joins up with the team of astronauts/scientists as the lead pilot for the mission to save the planet, hoping to find a new home in the galaxy through the worm hole. Leaving behind everything they know, their families, their culture and their very way of life in order to save everyone and the sad part is the rest of the world neither knows about it or believes it is even possible for them to do. Joining Cooper in his journey are some other egg heads that don't get much attention but an Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway) comes along for the ride and pours in some emotional scenes. Her father, Prof. Brand (Michael Caine) is the one responsible for the theory and formula for getting them through the worm hole to the other side which is viewed as some sort of event sent from unknown sources. And later introduced on one of the planets is a surprise cast member that I did not expect to be a part of the film pops up as one of the scientist sent to find out whether any of the planets on the other side can support life. The whole affair is jam packed with enough A-listers and celebrities to make another Ocean's Eleven movie but they all deliver powerful performances through and through and are not put in just for Oscar bait or for you all to say "oooo it's that guy, I love him." 

Honestly, the amount of tears shed throughout the film could probably fill a pool as the outpouring of emotions gets cut deep and ingrained into you. Years and decades pass for the crew of the Endurance, the ship that the astronauts are piloting, and while they can communicate with home through video letters, the toll that it puts on both sides is immeasurable. After the first trip down to the first planet and hearing how hours on the first planet is years back home, Cooper comes back to a lifetime of messages from his family and seeing his son being proud of his work and seeing his first grandson, it all changes to his son giving up on talking to Cooper in an instant and it's gut wrenching. All of it almost eclipses the state of the art rocket they're in or the fact that they're in a whole other world and have traveled further than any other human before them. That isn't to say that it isn't all relevant or prevalent throughout the story but you can definitely tell that the story is more about the struggle of leaving behind everything and the ones who got left behind as well. All of the technology present in Interstellar is a delight, from the rocket to worm holes and all the little scientific details that just made me want to shout out "SCIENCE IS SO AWESOME!!" So don't get me wrong when I say that things get pretty emotional because everything else that is going on is just as dramatic and jaw dropping. 

Things are not entirely perfect though as some of the space flight scenes that are spliced throughout the story aren't as dramatic as the booming sounds would want you to believe. The odd camera angle at which most of the ships scenes are cut to are a bit underwhelming for the simple fact that it looks like somebody stuck a Go-Pro to the side of a weird car and put a space background behind it. Also Christopher Nolan tries to add some Gravity feel to the space party by making no sound shots of the ship traveling to Jupiter in the first half of the movie but later for dramatic effect he blares more music down your throat to an outer space shot of the ship racing back from a planet. Scenes like this and others were way to drawn out to try and add spunk to the film when there was any need for it to begin with especially with this style of story.

Interstellar's greatest moments come from its genuine adherence to the story being told, time moves differently for both sides and it provides for a deep emotional impact to the film. Due to this fact the tiniest things that Cooper and his team do can be viewed as a huge substantial event, even at one point where one of the members stayed behind on the Endurance and the others went down to a planet, they came back to an older team member and it only felt like a second for them. I can see now why the movie was so exceedingly long and at first I thought that it would be a criticism for me but once I was watching, I understood why. All the actors and actresses for Interstellar do an amazing job, Matthew McConaughey pours a very emotional performance at the end of the film that completely hit me hard and I loved it. If not for the puffed up scenes throughout the film, I would of viewed things as all around enjoyable but that isn't so, none the less, Interstellar exceeded my expectations in many ways.

Good:

- Performances by all the cast were well done, McConaughey being a big one

- The ascetics such as the Endurance and other technology were top notch

- Griping scenes and moments throughout

Bad:

- The puffed up moments with explosions and added dramatic music were unnecessary

Scully Rating: 8.8 out of 10