"You're waiting for a train; a train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you can't be sure. But it doesn't matter - because we'll be together."The hype surrounding Christopher Nolan's followup to "The Dark Knight" is so monumental that it's almost impossible for the film to be as big as it promises. But then again, people also said it would be impossible for a superhero movie to gain the respect of a true film masterpiece. So who better to make the impossible possible than a proven miracle worker?
To call "Inception" big would be an understatement. To call it the film of our generation would be an understatement. To call it mind blowing would be an understatement. And don't throw garbage at these comments, "Inception" haters, because you hating the movie just adds truth to them.
Whether you love or hate "Inception", it is without a doubt the movie you're talking about. It's no longer a film that everyone is seeing strictly because they want to; it's a movie people are seeing just to be a part of the dinner conversation. To be a part of the discussion phenomenon that, dare I say it, is even bigger than that accompanying the huge ending to "Lost", and I am a hardcore fan of the show. So all you haters, keep pouring it out. Because your obsession with panning this film just proves its importance even more.
So, it has been established that this movie is big - no, MONSTROUS. But is it any good?
In my opinion, after seeing the film twice and being able to fully grasp its multiple concepts, I will firmly say - and yes, I know I'm making a big statement here - that Christopher Nolan's "Inception" is not just the film of our generation. It is the best film of our generation.
Boom. I said it. Big statement, huh? Well I stand by it fully, and I have analyzed the film to no end - this is not just some reactionary first impression after getting my mind melted from the first time I saw it. If there's any advice I can give you, it's to not base your need to see "Inception" off of a comment made by someone who has seen the film once. Because to "see" "Inception" is actually to see it twice. There are hardcore fanboys who will rave the movie to no end, fresh off their excitement. There are hardcore antagonists who will pan the movie for being "too confusing" after only seeing it once. Both of these reactions are completely misinformed and equally as despicable. It's okay to say you loved "Inception" after seeing it once - I definitely did - but anybody who tells you they fully understood it the first time is, and please excuse my language, completely full of shit.
"Inception" is a movie so complex, so well thought out, so powerful, that literally almost every single line of dialogue is imperative - almost every single moment is important to the ending and overall effect of the film, and this is something you will not notice until repeated viewings. Now, how freaking cool is that? Here is a movie that will spin you around like a top (no pun intended for those who've seen it), shake your mind up in a jar, pour you out into pieces, and leave you either praising the movie, or absolutely despising your experience? Whether you loved or hated "Inception", you can't deny its significance.
For those of you that actually still haven't seen it or if you live in a cave and know nothing about it, the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Dom Cobb, a man skilled in the art of extracting secrets from people's minds through their dreams. An outlaw, Cobb is given the chance to return to his children in the States, if he can pull of what is thought to be impossible - "inception" itself - PLANTING an idea in someone's subconscious, instead of stealing one. That is all you need to know, because to reveal more of the plot would tarnish the overall experience - one that is better with you going in blind.
Christopher Nolan has already established himself as one of the greatest directors of all time with the way he creates movies that rush you with theatrical excitement and boggle your mind at the same time, and this may be the pinnacle of his work. The performances are executed almost perfectly, with DiCaprio pulling off his best and most emotionally powerful performance to date.
The real star in my opinion though is "(500) Days of Summer" leading man Joseph Gordon Levitt. After pulling off perhaps the most physically challenging setpiece in recent film history (a zero gravity fist fight in which little CGI was used - instead, JGL and stuntmen were held up on wires in a rotating set), the young actor must continue his mid-air extravaganza while tying his sleeping friends up and guiding them through the air to safety. This is a performance that has an ever so slightly similar effect that Javier Bardem's performance in "No Country For Old Men" did (and I'm not saying they were as good, Bardem definitely has the upper hand); both actors prove that you don't have to talk to act the hell out of a scene. And that's not to say Levitt can't deliver his lines - he's perfectly suave, and holds his own in a loud confrontation with DiCaprio when things go awry - but he really steals the show when given the stage. The concentration on his face; the stress, the anxiety, and ultimately the forced cool that his character must retrieve to successfully complete his task is so incredible to watch that it gives you chills. As for this hotel scene overall - it ranks up with the best in cinematic history. I don't care how incredible the computerized graphics in James Cameron's "Avatar" are - it cannot even remotely touch the real, physical filmmaking put into this scene.
Another noticeably brilliant performance comes from Cillian Murphy, perhaps one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood. While DiCaprio definitely holds the tragic centerpiece to the movie that worked for me much better the second time, without giving anything away, I will confidently say that Murphy's story is even more emotionally powerful, and is one that will truly break your heart.
I can't tell you whether or not you will like "Inception". It is a movie that has a different effect on everybody. But I can tell you with 100% certainty that if you have yet to see the film, you must do so immediately. It's terrifying. It's tragic. It's visually stunning. It's exciting. It's just about everything you want from a film, and it flies through it's 2 and a half hour running time at lightning speed. Inception pulls its influences from many different movies - Blade Runner, The Matrix, and many of the Bond flicks - but at the same time, you've never seen anything quite like it. It will blow your mind. The movie itself is almost a dream, and thankfully Christopher Nolan has come and reminded us that it's never a mistake to "dream a little bigger, darling..."
10 /10 (Classic)
-The Scale-
0: Failure
1: Horrendous
2: Awful
3: Terrible
4: Bad
5: Average
6: Passable
7: Good
8: Great
9: Excellent
9.5: Incredible
10: Classic
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