With only four films to his credit leading up to Inception, including of course The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan has become almost unanimously acclaimed and touted as one of this generation's finest directors. He has continuously broken cinematic ground, and the Comic Book Movie genre owes him their own debt of gratitude for creating, arguably it's crown jewel (TDK), and demonstrating the genre's potential for generating critical acclaim and even Academy Awards. With this much said, it's no wonder Inception is one of the year's most anticipated films.
There are certainly exceptions to the rule, but usually when anticipation has been built to such ridiculous heights, things fall somewhat short. We have an exception with Inception - considering it was written, produced, and directed by Nolan himself it is a monumental achievement indeed. It is not often, in this day and age that you see, hear, or read any form of media that has much originality or innovation. This is one of the most clever, original, well constructed scripts, and well executed productions I've ever seen.
There are Greek philosophical undertones with Ariadne the Architect, and at every turn Nolan has crammed in as wide a scope as is psychologically and visually possible, bringing to life vistas reminiscent of M.C. Escher, sacred geometry, referencing Roger Penrose's work, and his reverence for Eastern designs, and dazzling displays of architecture in general. From the opening frames, the movie seems to be saying "open your eyes and look around"... and eventually applying that message to reality itself. Without a doubt, this is a movie that demands multiple viewings, careful scrutiny, and definitely seems worthy of the term "instant" or "modern classic". I expect it's going to end up being analyzed and over analyzed to death, but it is plausible Nolan's using geometric patterns, such as "the golden ratio", and an historical mythic or literary basis for the arrangement of the story and characters. And he ends up summing it up in the most elegant way possible - "continuing the circle" if you will.
Some people may find off-putting some of the initial dialogue - it's very dense and dry, and comes at you fast - it's like a textbook. I found myself transported back to The Matrix. The fast and furious intro becomes a lesson in dream theory combined with Nolan's extremely well thought out fictional parameters to introduce you to what can and can't happen in the infinitely complex world of "shared dreaming" as Inception defines it. He's effectively setting up the boundaries for the rest of the film and what could turn into a very successful franchise.
I'm not going to spoil the story, because I think certain elements of it are meant to be subjective. But let's just say: a technology's been invented to share dreams, and a rogue group sets out to conduct morally and ethically questionable behaviors within the dreams. The subconscious controls all, inside time slows down, and you run the risk of being stuck there forever with your "skeletons in the closet"; and you might just want to be stuck there too. It's based around a truly haunting and beautifully realized love story that, as you can imagine, causes all sorts of complexities. 5 out of 5
The setpieces will literally have your head spinning and your eyes bulging (in a good way) - without a doubt there is the most original fight scene since
The Matrix.
One thing everyone should find a little humerous and insightful is that DiCaprio looks very similar in appearance to Nolan, without the slight ponch and "imperfect" facial features - he essentially seems to be "Nolan done Hollywood", and if I had to take a guess, I'd put my money on Cobb being an exagurated "dream" version of Nolan himself. Christopher Nolan has, afterall, become the man implanting his dreams and ideas inside our minds on a regular basis now.
Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) - "The Boss"... a right unsavory hypocritical screw up; really a typical jaded corporate executive type who's compromised his morals to get what he wants, but is at the same time greatly suffering due to an awful tragedy. Leo gives one of the best performances I've ever seen - he's usually a bit inconsistent and seems to "fall out" of character sometimes. I didn't see that here.
4.5 out of 5 Mal (Marion Cotillard) - The Frenchie of every red blooded guy's dreams. She is gorgeous in this role, and she'd have you crying doing whatever she wanted you to do too. It's probably the most complex role, and she pulls it off unbelievably so. I believe this character's name may be a tribute to the French film innovator Mallier
5 out of 5 If Catwoman shows up in Batman 3, you guys (and gals) can all buy me a drink if she ends up being portrayed by this actress Ariadne (Ellen Page) - "The Architect" It's Juno the architect, tromping about with her bottle of Sunny D, going "yo B, build me a fluted colum with an octagonal capital right there". No, she has an intelligence to her, and the dialogue is complex... she pulls it off.
4 out of 5 Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) - He's basically Cobb's assistant. A couple of stilted scenes, but all in all he pulled it off well.
4 out of 5 Saito (Ken Watanabe) - He's sometimes fairly inaudible as his English isn't that great, but as we all know he's a very wise looking man and has amazing facial gestures. Pulls it off great in this role
4 out of 5 Robert Fischer Jr. (Cilian Murphy) - Very sympathetic character, and a great performance. Solid as a rock, and really demonstrates his versatility.
4.5 out of 5 everyone is solid It is my opinion that
Inception has placed Christopher Nolan upon the pedestal beside Lucas, Spielberg, Cameron, and Jackson.
Inception should take its place beside
Avatar, and do what
Star Wars,
Star Trek (the tv show), and
Avatar did for popularizing their niche of outer space sci-fi, for the "inner space" sci-fi genre - second only to maybe
The Matrix, and there is an undeniable resemblence to
Minority Report. If Nolan had reached somewhere near the pinnacle or apex of the Comic Book Movie genre with his reinvention of Batman, he has now made his brilliantly blazing mark on the entire genre of sci-fi.
Considering that
Inception is based upon the ultimate subject matter: the human mind and its dreams, and that the technology has just now become so readily available and inexpensive enough to create whatever our imaginations can dream up - Christopher Nolan has managed to forge and plant himself a tentpole deep enough for at least a trilogy and decade's worth of movies.
With Nolan set to "Godfather" the return of Superman and
Batman 3, I think we can all rest easy knowing these beloved characters are left in the hands of such a masterful and competent genius.
This film literally left the hairs on the back of my neck on end and my jaw agape.
5 out of 5