9/10
I just got back from the screening here in Apple Valley, MN, at the Great Clips IMAX theater at the Minnesota Zoo. I'm a long-time lurker here (since at least Inception), but first time poster.
Background: I've been to the opening night of the last four Nolan movies (since TDK); he's my favorite director in Hollywood now.
In short: Interstellar is an excellent movie, and the most breath-taking thing I've witnessed in a theater (not my first IMAX movie by a stretch). Nolan crafts his world in the first and then allows the world to expand in the second and third act. There is absolutely nothing here, in my mind, that isn't earned in the third act. The mashup of humanism and sentimentality might come across a bit preachy, but it gives a heart to the movie that isn't as front-and-center as Nolan's other movies.
Characters: in short, the supporting characters are not nearly so one-dimensional as some early reviewers have said. For instance,
There is good development in the principle leads, and
McC and Anne obviously are front-and-center here, but Chastain appears to get undersold in some of the early reviews.
Some reviews have blasted the "schmaltzy" nature of some of the dialog. Two in particular are the poem that is used in the trailers and Hathaway's speech about love. But the characters that inhabit the world react to these dialogs as the audience might...
Plot: unlike TDKR, which I felt had wormhole-sized plot holes, there aren't any similar plot holes here. The plot moves forward, with the handful of obligatory Nolan twists (some of which are easier seen than others). I was surprised at how
Also, the exposition isn't so heavy that it leaves a dent in your furrowed brow, as it were. In Inception, the exposition was necessary, but was overdone at times. Here, there are several pieces in regards to gravity and relativity that just are a part of the world and don't get explained. The way that the Endurance
Cinematography: wow. Simply wow. The homage to 2001 is evident, but pushed so much farther here. The camera is normally steady, which allows the viewer to soak in the huge IMAX experience. Even in the up-close moments, where the camera slowly zooms during dialog or fixes on a person's face while otherworldly happenings take place around them, there is much lush detail to soak in.
Music: in IMAX, Zimmer's score is incredible. It's also overbearing a touch at times (in a couple of very tense scenes I had to hold my hands over my ears).
Conclusion: go see it, and don't import your notions as to what the world is. Let Nolan craft the world and be immersed in it. And then ask the questions on the other side that beg asking: is the transcendent only worth thinking about, or also worth grasping for? Is the human spirit so indomitable after all?
And go hug your children, if you have them. Seriously.