Film Review: Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' is compelling but too cheesy

Direction: Christopher Nolan 

Cast: Matthew McConaughey, MIchael Caine, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain 

Rating: ***1/2

What's it about: A former NASA pilot and engineer-turned-farmer Cooper (McConaughey) buys into a NASA scientist Dr Brand's (Caine) idea of shooting him into space, through a wormhole, somewhere near Saturn, to another galaxy to study three prospective planets worth inhabiting. Why, you ask? It is because the human race is dying out as the earth is close to becoming a dead planet in the wake of famine and food wars. And because we need those brave enough to boldly go where few have gone before. And this is the near future we're talking about. Of course, since Cooper and his team -- which includes the scientist's daughter Amelia Brand (Hathaway) tagging along -- will be gone for years on end, will they be successful at all, or get back in time to save the human race?

What's hot: It is exciting to traverse the unknown and unexplored, especially when you are doing it on 70mm IMAX, the format you ought to be watching this film in. Make no mistake, this is quite possibly, the best-made sci-fi space flick yet. Almost every frame is beautifully and devotingly crafted to seeming perfection. The VFX (by Double Negative) and cinematography (Hoyte van Hoytema) are mind-blowing. The humour is sparse, but makes for some less-dreary moments during the film.

What's not: There is so much to take in all at once. And you have to ask yourself, was so much sentimentality really required? Couldn't they just hold back on the waterworks a wee bit? Matt and Mackenzie Foy (who plays the younger of Cooper's daughter Murph) do make compelling scenes when they do weep, but you are kind of tired of it. As much as you want to believe in hope and the spacecraft Endurance, as the hours pass, you find yourself wondering when it's all going to end. Or if it is going to end happily at all. And  close to three hours running time later, you're wondering if they're gonna milk a sequel, still.

What to do: Nicely done, Nolan, but maybe I was expecting more... But one thing is for sure, fans of his work are gonna love it. The rest of us, vaguely familiar with his other works, might not find it as accessible. Maybe because its nowhere near as cheesy as an Independence Day? Or maybe because it will come to mean different things to different people. But whatever you think about it, just "don't go gentle into that good night".