Interstellar was my most anticipated film of 2014.  That being said, I tried to be as impartial as possible, but I can’t help it: I really liked Interstellar!

The film was not however without its flaws.

 First let’s look at the positives, cuz there’s a lot.  The acting? Matthew McConaughey is the lead in this film and he kills it. If this were an off year for Best Actor, I’d say he could get nominated, but I doubt he actually will.  Anne Hathaway, also very good in the movie.  I really liked her character and her acting is one of the best, but I do wish her character had a bit more of a backstory and some development time.

Mackenzie Foy is the kid actress in this movie and she was surprisingly great.  I could even argue better than Jessica Chastain, but JC didn’t have as much screen time as I wish she could have.

Other than that, every actor in the movie gives a great performance. No phone-ins, but also no stealing the spotlight from anyone else.  Good job cast.

Then we move to plot which is really hard to discuss since so much of this film is shrouded in secrecy.  I look at this extremely long film as 5 Acts.  Act 1 and 2 are probably my favorites.  Then Act 3 was a bit out-of-place, Act 4 was really cool, albeit a little long, and Act 5 was the necessary wrap-up.

The positives: Act 1 and 2 are near perfect.  All the set-up and beginning of the beef of the plot are really well-written, well executed and some of Nolan’s best work.

Act 3 was kinda weird though… As I said, I won’t spoil it, but I will do a Spoiler-Filled Review of my thoughts on what I didn’t like.  Let’s just just say a certain situation regarding a certain character arises that felt out-of-place and unnecessary.

Act 4 was really cool, and focused on the plot/conflict resolution I though Act 3 would. It is a little trippy, but it works and really ties up a lot of things I was hoping would get tied up.

And yeah Act 5 works fine.

And let’s talk run time for a moment, because a lot of people have complained about pacing in this film.  This is an absurdly long movie.  I went in knowing it would be 3 hours, but I swear to God it felt like 4 and a Half hours.  However, at no point did I think it was dragging.  There were points that I would have been shortened, sure, but every part in the movie functioned perfectly fine.  I thought the movie was paced pretty well, and may have only skewed occasionally.

Also, the visuals were great in the movie.  The shots of Earth were great and every other visual effect was absolutely top notch.  I’ve always loved the concept of space, and theorizing what could be out there.  I’ll be that guy, but I did think Gravity was just okay last year, and I think Interstellar takes the type of space related “stuff” that a lot of people would love to see in films.

And the themes in this film blew me away.  Interstellar makes us question where humanity is going, what we’re willing to do for family, and really makes you question your place on this planet. It’s also a really bold film about conflict and one man’s ideals over another’s.  It does ultimately, though, come down to love, because that is the central theme of this movie.  How far love goes, and, well, I won’t get into the specifics.

If there’s one phrase for me to use walking out of Interstellar its that it, “blew my mind.”  And usually that’s a great thing, which is mostly is here, but even if you don’t like the film or think things need improvement, it will still blow your mind.

People have called this Nolan’s most ambitious project and that is an understatement.  This is his most ambitious and most mind-boggling, which is really saying something.

Though I don’t think this is Nolan’s best film, I try to look at it a different way: if Joe Schmoe director released this film, everyone would be so blown away, and that’s how I rate this movie, getting rid of all my Nolan fanboy-isms.

Some people have called this movie a disappointment or failure because, unlike Nolan’s past work, it isn’t one of the greatest things ever crafted by humans. It was my most anticipated film of the year and I’m not disappointed that it isn’t a 5/5, cuz it was still awesome!

In conclusion, Interstellar had a really clean storyline, lots of really intriguing science mumbo jumbo, fantastic acting, insanely great visual effects, themes worth thinking of for years and ultimately a script where everything cam together at the end, despite all its flaws.

4.5/5

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So guys, those are my thoughts on Interstellar!  What are your thoughts?  Stay tuned for my spoiler review on Sunday, and as always, thanks for reading guys.