Greetings from Too Fat Headquarters. I'm holed up here all weekend recovering from arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in my left knee. With ample amounts of DVD/couch time (doctor's orders), expect to see a couple blog posts.
Welcome to a new series here on Too Fat 4 Skinny Jeans. I'm calling this "Play It Again, Sam," where I will revisit movies that I originally disliked (and people love) to see if my initial feelings were misguided. First up, is the 2014 Christopher Nolan space adventure, Interestellar. I was not a fan of this film (I think my initial review was a not-so witty Facebook post that said "Interstellar? More like Inter-No-So-Stellar...") I remember being extremely excited about this film when it was first announced and intrigued by its initial trailer. Christopher Nolan has established himself as one of the premier action/adventure movie directors of his generation. His films (like Tarantino & Fincher) are must-see events to me. He's managed to exist in the modern Hollywood blockbuster universe, while maintaining an aura of independent film maker credit. He makes superhero movies with heart and smarts, and his ventures outside the DC universe are some of the best received, both by audiences and critics alike, in modern movies.
Needless to say, my expectations were high for this film. And after my initial viewing, I felt a little bit let down. I thought this film was all over the place. I thought it didn't know what type of film it wanted to be. It tried to be smart, and action packed, and suspenseful, but (I thought) it didn't succeed. I think my biggest problem was, that at the end of the day, you had Wooderson (You know what I like about high school girls? I get older and they stay the same age) from Dazed & Confused spouting Quantum Theory. It was a big distraction for me (and judging by the snickering of the theater crowd, them too). I felt that the film fell off a cliff in its third act and never recovered.
Upon second viewing, I can say that I was wrong. Interstellar is a wonderful (but far from perfect) film. The science makes more sense when I gave it a chance, and the Wooderson effect is far less of a distraction. It is a film that requires a second viewing. When you know what happens at the end, it allows you the opportunity to pay attention to the nuance. It's a smart film that works for us less-physics inclined mortals. There's also some genuinely thrilling moments in this film. The first planet they land on, essentially a world made entirely of water, is a delight. And the planet with a marooned (SPOILER ALERT!!!) Matt Damon, which is (to me) the peak of this film. The aesthetics of each planet are gorgeous, and Hans Zimmer's score presents a driving yet ominous tone that paces the film appropriately.
This is still a film with faults (for example, how are they still drinking beer years after wheat is able to be grown?) I still feel like the movie peaks 2/3rds of the way in. The payoff with Matthew Mconaughey and his daughter seems a tad anti-climactic. However, I think the beauty of the film outweighs the flaws and it is worth repeated viewings. Christopher Nolan makes big movies with big ideas, and I'll take a flawed original idea over an endless series of pointless remakes and reboots (unless said reboots are directed by Christopher Nolan) any day.
Final verdict: Interstellar is definitely worth checking out (multiple times), and it's a better film than I originally gave it credit for.
Next up: Jurassic World
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