A group of explorers make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
Christopher Nolan’s post-Batman epic gens up on the physics, gets down with the grandeur, rattles down a wormhole and gets lost in space.
This is a true epic - one whose thrilling ambition is only partially undermined by its sudden final reel nose dive into bathos and absurdity.
Not quite as sturdy as Nolan's best, but still the most transportive space odyssey since 2001.
Nolan reaches for the stars in spectacular fashion, delivering a mesmerising sci-fi epic that, despite a testing running time and a few too many flights of fancy, is grounded by an on-form McConaughey.
Brainy, barmy and beautiful to behold, this is Stephen Hawking’s Star Trek: a mind-bending opera of space and time with a soul wrapped up in all the science.
Interstellar reaches for the stars and has its share of magical moments but, unfortunately, does disappear repeatedly up its own black hole.
What remains is style, and Nolan has got plenty of that. He gives us more of his signature universe-manipulations, in which the ground or sea will turn up 90 degrees, like a surreal cliff-face: huge, dreamlike and wrong. It’s exhilarating. But Interstellar’s deep space turns out to be shallower than we expected.
It’s too ornate, too intricate, too concerned with dazzling you with its own cleverness.
Interstellar is not without its flaws and does run close to three hours but in its finest moments it is a spectacular and wondrous journey to infinity and beyond that deserves to be seen on the biggest imax screen you can find.
Verdict: Simply stellar
Nolan’s a master of his own universe and, in pushing beyond his comfort zone with Interstellar, he’s really proved it.
An unsatisfying blend of Gravity, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Solaris and The Collected Poems Of Dylan Thomas.
A second viewing may fill in many of the black holes in the plot and the grandiosity of the whole thing may appeal to others. Sadly, what is Nolan’s most overtly emotional epic left me cold.
Despite a plot full of holes of various kinds, Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi epic remains enthralling and amazing.
'This is the biggest film I have ever been a part of.'
The science of Interstellar: astrophysics, but not as we know it
Interstellar epic tests brain and stamina
Interview: Christopher Nolan on Interstellar
General release. Check local listings for show times.
RSS feed of Cinema reviews