INTERSTELLAR ★ | MOVIE REVIEW

♥

Hey Zengarmy,

 Surprise !!!

I usually update my blog once a week,

but TODAY IS THE BONUS WEEK !!!

You get two blog posts from me this week !!!

( Erm wait ... does anybody care ? HAHA )

The reason for me being super excited today is because :

" I WATCHED INTERSTELLAR YESTERDAY ! "

I'm a huge fan of Christopher Nolan.

Ever since I watched "Inception",

I instantly fell in love with his movies.

Like literally, EVERY MOVIE.

He knows how to play with audiences' mind through his directing skill,

and every movie that he directed has a deep meaning behind the plot.

Some movies' ending remain mysterious,

(for example, the "Inception")

while some movies gives you massive blank space of imagination,

JUST LIKE INTERSTELLAR. ♥

I would give this movie a 9 marks out of 10 marks.

( This movie actually gets 9.3 marks on IMDb, which is the HIGHEST MARK ever ! )

Why not 10 marks ?

Because the beginning is a little bit boring for me,

and the movie is too long for me ( 3 hours non-stop ).

That, somehow, are the only critics I can think of now.

Anyways, this movie is definitely one of the best in my life.

Please put this movie in your 2014-must-watch-movie-list NOW !!!

★

Well ...

I'll just give you a tiny little plot here.

REST ASSURE THIS IS NOT A SPOILER HAHAHA.

In the near future Earth has been devastated by drought and famine, 

causing a scarcity in food and extreme changes in climate. 

When humanity is facing extinction, 

a mysterious rip in the space-time continuum is discovered, 

giving mankind the opportunity to widen their lifespan. 

A group of explorers must travel beyond our solar system, 

in search for a planet that can sustain life. 

The crew of the Endurance are required to think bigger, 

and go further than any human did in history, 
as they embark on an interstellar voyage, 

into the unknown. 

However, through the wormhole, 

one hour is the equivalent to seven years back on Earth, 

so the mission won't work if the people on Earth are dead by the time they pull it off. 

And Coop, the pilot of the Endurance, 

must decide between seeing his children again and the future of the human race.

★

This movie felt like it tried to accomplish 

two simultaneous and somewhat incompatible endeavors.

Firstly, it was thought-provoking. 

Many questions were raised. 

What would life on earth be like if our climate runs amok ? 

What happens to government when we all have to live hand-to-mouth ? 

Are "they" (the aliens) out there communicating with us ? 

Is it the essence of humanity to survive, or is it to pioneer, and, by extension, evolve ?

Secondly, it was also an adventure. 

I watched this in a full IMAX theater, 

with eighty bajillion watts of Super Thunder-Round Sound, 

or whatever the kids call it now. 

The visual effects definitely shine on the IMAX screen. 

The format switches occasionally, and usually imperceptibly, 

between 70mm for the scenes with dialogue, 

to IMAX format for that full-on dose of retina-overload spectacle. 

This movie is a wonderfully fun ride through a strangely familiar extra-galactic world.

There are also plenty of tense moments, 

after which you realize you've been holding your breath.

I'm glad I went to watch this. 

Having said that, 

I think the film suffers a little, 

from trying to be both an adventure thrill about the dangers of space travel, 

let alone an actual confrontation with a nemesis, 

and also a multi-layered allegory, 

involving the dimensional tangle of time, gravity, love, 

and what it means to survive.

It asks more questions than it explores. 

While it fills in for the missing answers with white-knuckled brushes with death, 

it wasn't as intellectually satisfying as I hoped. 

I spent an hour discussing the thoughtful components with a friend. 

In the end, we were grasping to find symbolism, metaphors, 

or other messages about humanity. 

We never coalesced "the message" of the movie.

But did we need to ? 

It was, as I said, also a thrill ride. 

The adventurous climax was a little less than terrifyingly dramatic; 

I can't say I had the same post-climactic cathartic experience as I've had for other movies.

But it was a definite end, closing most of the open plot points. 

I certainly felt moved by the characters' resolutions.

I was suspicious that Matthew McConaughey could convince me 

that he was a space-ready engineer; 

it turns out that he didn't need to, 

because he did convince me that he was a dad that loved his children 

as much as any dad could. 

I think all the leads delivered solidly : 

Caine, Lithgow, Hathaway, Damon, Chastain, Affleck ... 

I connected with the characters and felt their pain and happiness.

I'm very impressed by Anne Hathaway's performance,

not overly done, but you can feel her sorrow.

Bravo !!!

Hans Zimmer played up the drama in the music a little heavily, I thought, 

and unnecessarily. 

It wound up creating the opposite of the effect I think he intended. 

Many of the scenes could have used a lighter touch, musically. 

Some of them worked brilliantly.

Although I had my quibbles, 

the final analysis is that I would definitely choose to watch the movie a second time, 

but I'm not making plans to, for now.

★

HERE ARE FEW OF MY FAVORITE QUOTES FROM THE MOVIE :

▶ We've always defined ourselves by the ability to overcome the impossible.

 And we count these moments. 

These moments when we dare to aim higher, 

to break barriers, to reach for the stars, to make the unknown known. 

We count these moments as our proudest achievements. 

But we lost all that. 

Or perhaps we've just forgotten that we are still pioneers. 

And we've barely begun. 

And that our greatest accomplishments cannot be behind us, 

because our destiny lies above us.

▶ Love is the only thing that transcends time and space.

▶ We used to look up at the sky and wonder at our place in the stars, 

now we just look down and worry about our place in the dirt.

▶ Do not go gentle into that good night; 

Old age should burn and rave at close of day. 

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

▶ Young Murph: Dad, why did you name me after something that's bad?.

Cooper: Well, we didn't.

Young Murph: Murphy's law?

Cooper: Murphy's law doesn't mean that something bad will happen. 

It means that whatever can happen, will happen.

▶ Mankind was born on Earth. It was never meant to die here.

▶ Maybe we've spent too long trying to figure all this out with theory.

▶ Dr. Brand: We need the bravest humans to finds us a new home.

Cooper: But the nearest star is over thousand years away.

Doyle: That's the bravery.

▶ Brand: Couldn't you've told her you were going to save the world?

Cooper: No. When you become a parent, one thing becomes really clear. 

And that's that you want to make sure your children feel safe.

★

OK this blog post is getting too long,

I NEED TO STAAAAHHHHP !!!

See you in my next blog post.

★