Interstellar

There was no doubt in my mind when I was coming up with the list of 2014's Best Films.  No doubt at all that this film would be at the top.  The film just blew me away.  Completely and utterly amazed me.  I don't know what individual aspect was so overwhelming, maybe it was the music, maybe it was the imagery, but one thing was for certain, all the aspects together created a spectacle that I had rarely experienced in a cinema auditorium.

I, of course, am talking about Christopher Nolan's science-fiction, space exploration opus....

#1 - Interstellar

For those of you who didn't manage to watch Interstellar, it takes place in the near future, in which the planet is slowly producing less and less food for the population to eat.  This begins a worldwide 'dust bowl' effect, and NASA start to wonder if another world is our best bet at a potential future. Enter Matthew McConaughey, fresh off his Best Actor Academy Award win for The Dallas Buyers Club, who is just the spaceship pilot NASA have been looking for.  Alongside Anne Hathaway and Michael Caine's help, McConaughey must leave behind his two children in order to potentially extend humanity's last chance for a future.

The film is such a technical marvel, I was lost for words at its culmination.  The neighbouring couple of people seemingly disagreed, as they exclaimed: "Nolan has lost it! He can only do Batman!"  I nearly punched that man.  It is so obvious that Nolan has put so much effort into creating a science-fiction masterpiece that seemingly marries the theoretical story of Contact (which also starred McConaughey), with the visuals and imagination of 2001: A Space Odyssey as well as the action and drama of recent films such as last year's Gravity.  The end result is a thrill-ride that shocks, marvels and awes you with its grandiose, as well as its visual splendour.

A massive part of that is down to Hans Zimmer's wonderful and powerful score.  It has been known to reduce some audience members to tears in American cinemas, and rightfully so.  He has truly gone all out on this score, seemingly trying to match the grand scale with the film's ideas and visuals and it works perfectly.

The acting is top class too.  The McConaugha-sance (said like 'Renaissance') continues with everything this man touching turning to gold.  Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine and David Gyasi all provide top-notch performances.  However the plaudits have to go to two unpredicted sources, a child and a CGI robot.  The robot, TARS (voiced by Bill Irwin), is the source of most of the film's humour and has some witty dialogues with his human counter-parts.  However his design is just beautiful, being a Space Odyssey-style monolith but with the capability of being a Transformers-esque multi-legged transportation device; an inspired creation.  The child actress, Mackenzie Foy, playing Coop's daughter Murphy, provides an excellent performance as a girl who is devastated to lose her father at such a young age.  She provides wit and charm not-often-seen in a actress so young.

The film potentially could have fallen into two dreaded categories; too highbrow and technical that audiences would be uninterested, or painfully over-explaining every bit of information.  Thankfully, it treads this line perfectly.  Information is doled out by the bucket load about what McConaughey et al plan to achieve on these potential livable "new worlds", but time is spent explaining only the essential information rather than everything, leaving the audience informed and comfortable, rather than patronised or confused.

Admittedly, the film slightly over-reaches when it comes to the film's final third, with McConaughey entering unknown territory, but it is typical Christopher Nolan to aspire to pushing boundaries and I, for one, always admire him for that.  However, there is a problem when it comes to Nolan's technical achievements.  He seems so focused on providing such a visual marvel that he sometimes forgets what else cinema is known for; emotion.

Upon doing some research, I found that Interstellar was originally going to be directed by Steven Spielberg, and that was not really a shock.  With his past work with Close Encounters of the Third Kind and A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Spielberg is no stranger to emotion-driven, thought-provoking science-fiction.  Spielberg brought Jonathan Nolan on board to write Interstellar's script, but then left the project some years later.  This allowed Jonathan to bring his brother Christopher on board and the rest is history.  However Nolan is fantastic for his technical precision and keen eye for visuals, but when it comes to the emotional core, the film feels like it doesn't know what to do with it.

All the way through, Coop (Matthew McConaughey) regrets leaving his daughter Murphy on Earth, and they grow further and further apart.  However, the film begins to argue (in typical Hollywood fashion) that love can transcend the boundaries of space-time and that it can reach further than we think.  However such an argument would have felt fine within a Spielberg film, but within the constraints of a Nolan film, it feels artificial and unnecessary. Like a robot finding out what human emotions are, you get the feeling Nolan simply said, "What is this thing you call 'love'?" and tried his best to convey it, but it ended up failing.

However, these things are trivial when it comes to the film overall.  It may fall down slightly on the emotional level, but it is right on cue with everything else.  The visuals will astound, the acting will entertain, and the music may leave a tear in your eye.  The IMAX presentation was especially incredible.

Interstellar definitely left me with the conclusion that Christopher Nolan can do no wrong.

Except poetry...

...and Superman films.

Now, bring on 2015!  Happy New Year Everyone!