Director Christopher Nolan is back with his first film since “The Dark Knight Rises”. Does “Interstellar” live up to the hype? Or is this 2014’s version of “Prometheus”?
The Good: This film is not for everyone. But when this movie clicks, it absolutely soars. Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Wes Bentley, Jessica Chastain, Matt Damon, and everyone in between is absolutely superb with their performances.
Of course, the special effects are truly spectacular. But the real moments are those moments when the film hits a home run with some emotional moments. You can feel what the characters are going through right along side them. And the film takes a few twists and turns that I didn’t see coming.
The film’s scope is epic and ambitious. And there are ideas at play that are at once recognizable and yet new and thrilling at the same time.
The Bad: I wanted badly to say this was a masterpiece. Alas, it was not. The film gets a little … unique near the end. And more than a few people groaned as this film seems to suffer from “Return of the King” syndrome where there’s about three or four spots where the film could have ended.
I’m also not sure the film’s primary driving human relationship is hitting home with audiences. I’d say more than half of the crowd I saw it with were yawning and growing restless midway through the film.
The film reaches high, but it definitely doesn’t reach those heights all the time. And when it doesn’t, the film can feel overly long and tedious.
The Final Word: This is not the next “2001: A Space Odyssey”. What it is, however, is a beautiful, good film. At times, you catch glimpses of an instant classic. At others, a film that slows to a crawl. Yet, I’d say this is a film worth checking out. Because you if you like it, I think you’ll love it.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.