Hello guys and here I am with an all new throwback review! This time I will actually be reviewing what many consider one of the very best films of the 2010s and an iconic venture from acclaimed director, Christopher Nolan, whose newest feature, Tenet, has been the talk of many films fans this summer as WB, and Nolan have been insistent in making it the first big movie to welcome people back to theaters (personally I just don’t understand why they can’t just move it to next year where it’s chances of success are greater in a hopefully safer environment, and it really would make more sense to start releasing smaller films to get things running again instead of expensive tent-poles but that’s a whole other conversation). Now with Tenet set to get released in a number of overseas territories before opening in a limited capacity here in the states and Inception itself getting a theatrical re release very soon I thought it would be appropriate to talk about what of the most influential films of the past decade. I actually had never seen this one before until back earlier this year so I was really curious to see if all of the hype was worth it (even if I admittedly knew certain things that happened before hand). I am a big fan of Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy yet I strangely have only seen parts of the rest of his output so this was his first original movie I would see in it’s entirety. Fortunately though I can gladly say that it was a great first impression and I can definitely see why a lot of people think highly of it. Now let’s go deep into the world of dreams and find the source to how Nolan was able to pull this off!
Dominic “Dom” Cobb, and Arthur are professional “extractors” who use military technology in order to head into a target’s subconscious in order to extract information from what is known as the dream world. We learn in an action packed prologue that their target, a Japanese businessman named Saito, was testing them for a mission he has in mind for them, one that may prove to be easier said than done. The objective is to go into the mind of his competitor, Maurice Fisher’s son, Robert, and convince him to shut the company down, essentially implanting an idea into someone’s subconscious AKA “Inception” which has never been attempted nor done before and is deemed by the two to be impossible. But Saito is willing to help Cobb out in clearing his status as a criminal so that he could go home and see his two kids again so after much consideration he agrees to take on the job. But their going to need to assemble a team fit for the task first. So they get Eames, an identity forger, Yusuf, a chemist who has a sedative that will help with their “dream inside a dream” plan, and Ariadne, an architecture student who will be responsible with designing the dream labyrinth. So on the dream heist is on as they get prepared to try and accomplish the impossible. Yet with Cobb not being able to let go of his tragic past, and with that affecting the entire mission as well it is uncertain whether they will be able to do the impossible as they dive deeper than anyone has gone into the subconscious.
This is such a cool concept for a movie (a heist movie taking place in a dream) that has so much potential and can be explored in so many different ways, yet can also be difficult to pull off at the same time with so many complex ideas on display. Thankfully though I feel that Nolan did a very good job in introducing the rules of going into a dream (or a dream inside a dream) work and how it works and the specifics of what can happen while in a dream state and what happens when you spend too much time in a dream world and how you lose track of whats real. It’s a lot to take in but the screenplay is written in a way in which you really have to pay attention to what the characters are saying to grasp the context and for the most part I was able to follow it fine while also grasping the concepts as well. Granted there are times where characters would just stand around saying a lot of exposition that explains everything to the audience. Usually this would be a big issue for me but A) their actually showing what their explaining B) for a movie like this that was inevitable and C) it mostly works largely due to the pacing. The film starts off right in the thick of things as we see Cobb, and Arthur doing their jobs and it then spends just the right amount of time setting things up and there is never a scene that fells unnecessary or out of place at any given moment throughout. Once we get into the dream though it’s off to the races from there and the movie moves at such a breakneck pace as I always felt on the edge of my seat as the team races against time to accomplish the heist. It’s just such an exciting thrill-ride with nary a dull moment present in it’s 148 minute runtime. There are also plenty of thought provoking themes, and ideas at the center of it all like how deep, and complex the human mind can be, how powerful (potentially beyond control) our subconscious really is, and how we interpret the dreams we have and what they truly mean, that make this a fascinating movie to look at in a thematic sense. As for that famous ending with an iconic final shot, well I really love it as it leaves it up for you to interpret and I don’t feel like any other ending would have been nearly as impactful or worked as well (Plus I am a sucker for mysterious endings like that). It’s an ambitious story for sure, one that Nolan was able to pull off excellently and it is certain to get people talking.
A premise like this also means the potential to do some neat things visually and that is exactly what cinematographer, Wally Pfister , and the team of visual effects artists did here! This is just a gorgeous movie to look at as Pfister’s cinematography is just breath taking at times. What’s also impressive is how seamlessly the CGI fits in the movie as it doesn’t look like CGI at all and I couldn’t tell where it was being used at times so I really have to hand it to the VFX crew on this movie as they did a superb job. The production design done by Guy Hendrix Dyas is similarly done very well as it does manage to capture each different stage of the dream heist with there being a rainy city, a hotel, and a snowy military base and is used in creative ways in the action sequences. Speaking of which that is indeed a big highlight of the film as they help make the movie into the non stop thrill ride it is in thanks to Nolan’s slick direction which makes them very intense to watch (especially when things don’t go quite according to plan like when a freaking freight train appears in the city streets mowing down cars). They also take take advantage of the dream setting where so much could happen and that makes for some truly knock out moments such as the aforementioned opening, the whole snow-base sequence, and of course, the famous rotating hallway fight which is even more impressive when you consider how much practical effects work was used. Heck there’s even a chase in Mombasa that while not taking place in a dream is still incredibly well crafted, and full of some nice tension just like the others. Then there’s Han Zimmer’s score which does an excellent job of upping up the tension and is a really intense, and makes good use of the song Non, Je Ne Regrette, in certain parts. It can also be quite somber, and powerful in the more emotional scenes and adds a lot to them as well. Just great work from Zimmer once again and one of my personal favorite compositions of his. In general though the movie is just one heck of a technical marvel and is sure to hole up in the years to come.
I’d say a good reason why this movie did as well as it did financially (aside from goodwill from the Dark Knight trilogy, a buzzy marketing campaign, and a lot of the summer movies of 2010 disappointing critically, and/or financially) was due to the stacked cast that was brought on board with the biggest arguably being Leonardo DiCaprio who is really great here. He’s great in both the more showier moments and in the more subtly impactful ones as well as showing how versatile of an actor he is helping make Cobb into a very compelling character with a tragic past that serves as the emotional backbone of the story that shows how much guilt can really affect a person after a huge loss which in this case Cobb struggles to let go of his wife’s (Marion Cottilard who shows a lot of range and leaves an impression) suicide. Despite his faults he’s written in a way in which it’s easy to root for him and want to see him reunite with his kids again and on the whole it was a very satisfying character arc. Meanwhile Ellen Page does solid work as Ariadne and she works well as an audience surrogate as we are learning, and seeing all of these things for the first time just like her while Joseph Gordon Levitt is also great in a role that really shot him into the mainstream as Cobb’s more level headed partner (I find it funny how he played Cobra Commander out of all characters in G.I. Joe the Rise of Cobra the year before given completely different this role is). The other participants of the team also get a substantial amount to do with Tom Hardy (who I had no I idea was in this before I watched it) being responsible for some of the more humorous lines and is just really cool as Eames, Dileep Rao having quite a bit of fun as the chemist, Yusuf, and Ken Watanabe being a really cool presence as always and I like how his character never turned out to be a bad guy type business man with no remorse for others and even goes through an interesting progression as the film goes on. I’d also say Cillian Murphy is pretty overlooked here in his role Robert Fischer as he is pretty great and since the character himself is a large focus of the story he does go through an arc as the team goes through the process of getting the idea into his head and we learn more about his complicated relationship with his father. Oh and of course Michael Caine makes an obligatory cameo appearance in a Nolan picture, this time as the Professor who recommends for Ariadne to join the mission. Just like in some of his other movies, Nolan sure does like to cast a lot of up and coming talent in his features and this is no different and of course they nail it and the characters themselves are able to earn our interest.
At the end of the day I found Inception to be a consistently thrilling experience that contains all that I’d want from a big blockbuster. It’s smart, has big ideas, and themes, is paced expertly, is engaging throughout, has astounding special effects, has intense action, and is well acted all around. I think it does deserve the praise that it gets as it really is a great movie that has gone on to inspire a lot of forms of media this past decade. If you haven’t checked it out yet and are curious about it I would absolutely recommend checking it out especially if you are intrigued by Tenet’s marketing. As for if there will ever be a sequel I hope not mainly because I want to see Nolan focusing on original features and I felt things wrapped up perfectly at the end (but if Nolan really wants to do it then go for it as long as its good). Not much else to say except that I really need to get to seeing his other original works soon and that I really do hope that one day we’ll get another big budget original movie like this that makes the same impact that this one did all the way back in 2010 (although 2013’s Gravity could count).
Rating: A
Please leave your thoughts down below in the comments and see you guys later!
Review Time 