Sunday, November 9, 2014

Interstellar Review: Better Than Avatar

Interstellar Review

Anyone remember Avatar? You know, the best selling movie of all time the was basically Pocahontas in space? The movie that is accepted as one of the best sci-fi movies ever? I have news for you, Avatar has been beat.

I don’t know why I’m only realizing this now, but Avatar has actually been bested (as far a quality goes) multiple times this year alone. Hell, Guardians of the Galaxy was easily better than “Quest of Blue Monkey Cats.”

I suppose I am noticing because Interstellar is the first sci-fi space adventure that I truly loved since Avatar. (To be fair, there haven’t been many of those in recent years). Let me explain:

By the way, there could be Spoilers. Maybe.

Plot

Describing the plot of this movie without spoiling too much is going to be like playing a game of Minesweeper. Here we go.

Interstellar stars Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway (among others) in a future where Earth is dying. Farming and food is the priority for every person on the planet. Blights and Famines have ravaged the countrysides, killing crops and creating a 21st Century dust bowl. People are starving and the world is desperate for a solution.

In comes Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a farmer, engineer, and former NASA pilot. He is also a beloved father. After discovering a secret NASA base, Cooper is enlisted by his old mentor to lead a mission through a wormhole to find potential planets to relocate to. Much to the dismay of his family, Cooper agrees to the journey, and shortly after, lakes off towards the wormhole.

At this point you are about twenty minutes into an almost three hour long movie. Unfortunately, this is as far as I’ve decided to summarize this time. The rest of the movie is something you need to experience for yourselves. The rest of the movie is just constant thrill and emotion. Matt Damon shows up at some point; it gets weird.

Acting

What a cast. Seriously, everyone in this movie is fantastic (Yes, even Hathaway). I felt that in some moments McConaughey’s performance felt too forced, but for the most part he was okay.

Note: Do not go see this movie for the acting. Even though the performances are great, the movie is more about an exciting journey and heart-touching story.

SFX/Action

Interstellar looks gorgeous. Outer space and all the planets look amazing. There are several scenes in the movie that are so thrilling just because of the scenery and SFX. I want to tell you about them, but instead you should really just see the movie.

Award Time!

Best Performance: Matt Damon as Dr. Mann.

Best Scene: The emergency docking scene (you’ll know the one).

Best Planet: The ocean planet.

Conclusion

From the outside, Interstellar may just look like a space adventure. Although that is true, Interstellar is more than that. It has a thrilling, heartwarming, and thought-provoking narrative that had me literally on the edge of my seat the whole time. I give Interstellar a 9.5/10. Please go see this movie and scratch that sci-fi itch that I know has been bothering you.

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