I just saw Inception and it was as good as, and in fact better than, people made it out to be. Read my thoughts below.
OBLIGATORY SPOILER WARNING OBLIGATORY SPOILER WARNING
To begin with, it was a well executed movie on every level that you could ask for. It was scripted, cast, and edited to perfection. The acting was excellent and the music was typical for Hans Zimmer: explosive and powerful and dark. Wally Pfister should be acclaimed as well because the movie looks amazing. It would be hard to argue that this is the kind of technically accomplished movie that is so deft that it’s a rarity. It’s also purely entertaining. The explosions and gun play and car chases and fight scenes are more hard-hitting and visceral than in movies that have nothing going for them EXCEPT for explosions, much less ambitious auteur projects like this. The whole thing is a wall-to-wall refutation of the popular stereotype that intelligent movies are quiet and stark and that densely-packed summer blockbusters are stupid and largely without merit. I should add that this movie works as a pure heist film, in addition to all the other things it excels at. Anyone who’s seen the opening sequence of The Dark Knight, which was the best heist sequence since Heat, might have guessed that Chris Nolan had this picture in him.
Speaking of ways that this movie stands apart from lesser summer action movies (there are countless), I think it’s kind of remarkable that an original movie, not an adaptation, a sequel, or a remake is able to launch and fly strictly on its own merit. That’s not common enough lately. And everything this movie does, it does well. It’s a stunning movie to look at and not in the cartoonish, absurd way that Avatar was. This picture carries itself with tremendous élan: every shot is handsome, every line of dialogue perfectly intended and delivered, every visual flourish is pure class. This is a movie where nothing feels slapdash. Inception intends to sit at the big boy table and does.
Among the ocean of deserved praise, this movie got a couple bad marks here and there but I found that they vanished as soon as the movie was allowed to unfold on its own terms. The first complaint was that it was just TOO HARD to get into and I disagree. The film’s eerie dream logic is actually very well explained, unlike in a David Lynch movie, where the vast majority of the creepiness comes from the fact that you are never entirely sure what you’re looking at. Here, things are very well-constructed and well-plotted, provided the audience is paying attention. It’s a very cerebral film and complex but it’s perfectly understandable if you’re truly watching. The second criticism I noticed was that the movie lacks a solid emotional core. Again, I have to disagree. I found Mal’s death to be horribly tragic, to the point of my being nearly choked up. Cobb is remarkably human because he has a remarkably human flaw: He wanted everything to be perfect. It’s easy to see yourself in his shoes… his greatest sin was wanting a better world.
Which brings me to another point, and possibly the ultimate reason to consider Inception such a remarkable film: It’s a “big picture” movie that contemplates issues much larger than itself. It is an examination of the nature of reality versus fantasy and a questioning of the moral dilemma of suicide. It doesn’t handle either of these issues lightly or with condescension and never preaches. Moreover, the central theme of the film is one Nolan has touched on before, in Memento, and that is the ethical implications of deliberate self-delusion. Would you lie to yourself if lying meant a better life? Could you lie to yourself for love?
Nolan obviously has an affinity for film noir as his “man with a mysterious and damaged past” is a recurring theme (again, see Memento). In this film, Cobb’s past is fraught with mistakes and bad decisions but he did them with sincere intentions, which makes him remarkably knowable. His only redemption is to make the hard choice. I’m sure there were people wondering if finishing the mission and going back to reality would be the right thing to do. I found the ending tragic but also extremely optimistic. Oddly, a science-fiction fantasy film seems to be arguing the point that maybe reality is better just because we can be sure that it’s real. James Cameron suggested he wanted viewers to become lost in Avatar… a more immersive fantasy seems to be the goal of most big-budget filmmakers. In an era drenched in escapism, I think it’s remarkably brave for a movie like this to choose realism just because it’s the right thing to do. The last shot of the film is a perfect symbolic encapsulation: the top stops spinning and Cobb is much better for it.
