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| Going beyond the known limits: INTERSTELLAR- to be experienced in cinemas. Images: WARNER BROTHERS. |
INTERSTELLAR
Starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, and Michael Caine
Written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Out November 7th, 2014 in cinemas and IMAX
Released in the UK by WARNER BROTHERS
Reviewed by Scott Weller
Note: This review contains mild SPOILERS...
He took us on an incredible adventure into the world of dreamscape manipulation that was INCEPTION, now acclaimed director Christopher Nolan put us front and centre into a unique, danger fraught journey to the far depths of space, beyond anything Mankind has ever experienced, in the epic blending of science fact and fiction that is INTERSTELLAR, released in UK movie theatres and IMAX from November 7th, courtesy of WARNER BROTHERS.
▶ Interstellar Movie - Official Trailer - YouTube
▶ Interstellar Movie - Official Trailer 3 - YouTube
Interstellar Movie Trailer - Film by Christopher Nolan
As our future Earth faces its darkest hours- Mother Nature sending its revenge against humanity's technological progress via a vicious, all-devouring blight, a seasoned former pilot now farmer, Cooper, allied with a small and specialised group of NASA technicians, become our last hope for continued survival beyond the planet's rapidly approaching dying days, heading out beyond our solar system via a newly discovered wormhole- a present seemingly created by a new and unknown, hopefully benign, alien race- to worlds anew and an imperative for salvation. It will be a journey fraught with peril: the experience and problems associated with time travel, landing on ultimately hostile planetary environments of the most diverse kind, before a final encounter with the irresistible pull of a light and life consuming Black Hole!
Fusing a believably designed future with the kind of epic storytelling previously seen in the pioneering 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, sprinkled with an aura of other classic sci-fi literature thrown in, Christopher Nolan, alongside co-writer brother Jonathan, gives us a continuance of, and tribute to, Stanley Kubrick's epic ideas from 1968 with INTERSTELLAR, albeit with a new, perhaps darker spin, and more of a personal equation to its storytelling foundations, showing us the beauty and dangers of space exploration alongside very real themes of love, dedication and humanity, as our responsibility heavy heroes have to make gut-wrenching choices that may separate them from their loved ones forever. Intriguingly, alongside the space exploits, Nolan also shows us how this do-or-die mission will affect the lives of those left behind on terra firma, and the continuing consequences of the blight which will extinguish life on Earth- the kind of ecological disaster scenario we've been warned about in real-life for so many, many years, finally made disturbingly real on celluloid.
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| Commanding and compassionate, Matthew McConaughey's Cooper enters the new frontier. |
Now a genuine film star, Matthew McConaughey continues to make the most of the superb character roles that have come his way in recent years, proving thoroughly believable and relatable in his role of the burden heavy commander, Cooper. Other Nolan film stalwarts Michael Caine and Anne Hathaway competently back him up as professor father and explorer daughter Brands, whilst Mackenzie Foy and Jessica Chastain impress as Cooper's gutsy but devastated at being left behind daughter, Murph, who will become pivotal to the film, and Cooper's ultimate destiny, in its final act. Further interesting support comes from John Lithgow, Wes Bentley, Topher Grace, and Casey Affleck, whilst a special guest star appearance, whose name we''ll keep as a surprise, brings a threatening new perspective to the mission. On the non human front, there's a kind of big brother to STAR WARS Artoo Detoo in the blocky but environment-adaptive robot with attitude, TARS, voiced by Bill Irwin, who has some great scenes and interactions with the cast as events escalate into unexpected avenues.
Alongside Nolan for the immersive experiences and challenges of bringing the project to the screen, enthusiastic new Cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema gets a wide ranging camerawork palette to play with, from the green cornfields of Iowa to the expansive steel blue/grey reaches of a water world and its havoc-bringing waves (surely the film's most memorable and exciting sequence), and a later harsh rock environment (filmed in Iceland) that leads to a shocking discovery. With Nolan keeping the silent mantra of real-life space intact, accomplished composer Han Zimmer compensates for its absence to great effect, bringing beauty and danger to the incredibly realised effects work- the sequence where our heroes first enter the wormhole into another universe being both genuinely stunning and unnerving.
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| Preparing for cryosleep: Cooper, Brand (Anne Hathaway) and Romilly (David Gyasi). |
At near three hours, INTERSTELLAR just about lasts its duration, though its final act will surely prove controversial- the mission undertaken by our heroes having been so big, how its resolution is fulfilled will truly depend on not just how much you've invested in the characters but also how much of a leap of faith you're prepared to make alongside Nolan as he takes us into an even more unusual story direction/high concept ideas beyond what we've been witnessing these past two hours, delivering the kind of emotional stakes more akin to the often romanticised style of Steven Spielberg than the restrained but stimulating ethos of Kubrick, which ultimately might not be to everyone's tastes. Impressively, though, the ending is not something that feels forced or tacked on- the director having given us subtle and clever signposts of what would lie ahead early on- moments that will be likely become more appreciated with subsequent re-viewings on the eventual Blu-ray. Though I might not personally regard INTERSTELLAR as Nolan's best work, it's certainly amongst his boldest and most thought-provoking love letters yet to the cinema experience, and well worth catching on the biggest screen you can find...
KOOL TV RATING: 7.5 out of 10
FACEBOOK PAGE: Interstellar
With thanks to WARNER BROTHERS UK for all their help and assistance with this review.
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