“Inception” Bends Minds, Entertains, and Lives Up to Nolan’s “Dark Knight” Past

Movie Title:	Inception
Studio:	Warner Bros.
Director:	Christopher Nolan
Genre(s):	Psychological/Action/Drama
Release Date:	July 16th, 2010
Rating:	PG-13

There are loads of director’s who have been given $100 million+ production budgets to spend- and so many waste the money in its entirety. Case in point, The Last Airbender’s $150 million budget. Inception cost $160 million to produce, an unusually high sum for a totally original vehicle, but the result is fascinatingly great. I wouldn’t say that the film is better than The Dark Knight, which was a tad more expensive with a $185 million dollar price tag, but had batman to fuel sales.

It is conceivable that someday I could very well come to that conclusion, but that was, indeed The Dark Knight’s weakness – your first viewing was the best viewing – filled with large set pieces and very few subtleties, multiple viewings were great but got less-so every time. It also climaxed with a good 45 minutes to go, so the third act felt like a bore the second or third time through. Well, if you had the same issues with The Dark Knight that I did, issues that have made my viewings of the film on DVD limited, problem solved because Inception may do just the opposite.

Don’t get me wrong, Christopher Nolan has not lost his ambitious touch. Inception is a film of massive proportions, but one with a central character who is a real person, not a super-hero. He has a real story, and made one haunting mistake that is explained throughout the film. Thus Inception’s complex interweaving plot is simplified by this central character, and this key story-line. You might think the film is about a team of dream crashers trying to plant an idea inside a rich guys mind, but you’re wrong. That is merely a driver for the center-piece of the story, Dom Cobb (Leo DiCaprio) wrestling with his past.

During the first 45 minutes of the film, I will admit, I was not completely impressed. The dream sequences are more off-putting than entertaining, and it takes some time to settle into the film’s plot. When things begin to pick up, and the final two acts ensue, that is when Inception starts many of those expectations that I had heading into the theater, and that so many of you have right now. As the film continues, it’s safe to say that it completely satisfies those expectations, and it treats the audience with an unusual respect that unfortunately may not be deserved.

In Inception’s final hour and a half, which oddly feels longer considering the nature of the film, and the exhaustive dream jumping (four dreams are taking place at one time in the finale), you will not be looking at your watch or wanting to pee. You are very much into the film and seeing whether the team pulls it off and if Cobb figures out the key to his psychological trauma.

Unlike The Dark Knight, Inception does not try to be as perfect, as spotless. It seems that it isn’t totally in love with itself, and has some soul behind its mechanical writing and sci-fi backdrop. One of my big worries is that its strange treatment of dreams, a very literal treatment unlike other films that are more surreal like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, could bog it down as time goes on and people think about how weird their dreams are compared to the action filled encounters on display here.

Christopher Nolan is a very good writer, but his real strength is his unbelievable direction. The film may start a little strangely, but repeat viewings might make it more interesting. The final 2/3rds of Inception are paced perfectly as the film builds and builds until you can’t hardly stand it anymore.

It has been said before in other reviews, but I don’t see how Lee Smith will not win the best film editing Academy Award for the superbly interwoven storylines that Inception contains. This film could have been a confusing mess, and instead the dream, within a dream, within a dream, within a dream, third act makes perfect sense. The transition from one dream to the next are smooth as can be, unnoticeable even. The story is always clear. That’s an incredible accomplishment in itself.

Nolan and cinematographer Wally Pfister manage to make things look natural and handsome at the same time. Nolan’s films are always nice looking, but Inception works particularly well as each dream has its own lighting style that varies significantly, yet all somehow work.

While a second viewing seems like a must, I wouldn’t say it’s because you won’t understand what is happening in the story. Multiple viewings may be necessary to digest the full scope of this ambitious project. You simply cannot digest all the information in one viewing, but Nolan makes it perfectly possible for someone to feel as though they did, even though they probably didn’t.

So here it is, Inception has arrived, and it does not disappoint. It bends minds, entertains, and lives up to the daunting Dark Knight in scope and quality. Perhaps at some point it will surpass it, but not after it has proven itself several times over. The best part, the part that makes the film a brilliant metaphor – a meditation on life even, has to be its ending. The very end of the film will have you thinking for a while and has many conceivable meanings. Lets just say, it is one of the best endings to a film I have ever seen, and the perfect one for this film. If you are looking forward to Inception with glee and excitement, you may just get exactly what you wished for.

If you liked this post, check out a few of our other reviews.

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Adam G.