Inception (2010)
The last time Christopher Nolan helmed a major film was 2008 when Dark Knight (which he co-wrote) was on our silver screens. It’s now two years later and Nolan has earned the reputation he needed in order to secure the initial $100 mil required to kick-start the project. Based upon an idea he has entertained since he was 16 and some nine years in the writing, polishing and editing, you begin to realize that if Inception does not blow your mind then nothing is likely to either.
Like most films destined for Classic stardom it works on several levels at once and engages the viewer with just about every sense they possess. If you’re in it for the spills and thrills the final $160 mill budget of the film ensures that they rarely come any more dramatic or seat-gripping than they do in Inception where the ubiquitous car chase is spiced with the added knowledge of several different outcomes depending on it being resolved in favor of the heroes of the film. If you’re into celluloid perfection you can revel in a creation which hums and rolls along in high-octane action and a storyline so engaging that the signature Nolan fragmented story telling approach is so seamless as to be invisible. And if you want your films to engage your mind as well as you gut and eyeballs then rest assured that Inception falls squarely into Philip K. Dick territory where the real and the unreal become so readily interchangeable that in the end, as the screen credits roll, you are left feeling torn, trying to make sense of the possible endings of a film which has fully gripped you.
By now you know that Inception is slick, clever, fast, powerful and very 21st century. Nolan says he does not use CGI in his films unless he absolutely has to and in Inception he has made judicious use of special effects to create a sense of unreality which is entirely in keeping with the dreamworld his subjects enter. Like in the Dark Knight and Batman Begins and just about every film he has made the male lead battles with his own flaws and duality, seeking justice and redemption in the same breath and, quite possibly, getting neither.
To tell you more is to spoil a great film you need to see with fresh eyes and a totally open mind. I can guarantee, however, that when you do see it, you will want to see it again and in the second viewing everything you saw before will make even more sense than it did the first time round.
The only drawback here is that Inception is so good that it kinda spoils us. The rest of the year’s offerings will need to work extra hard to make us feel as engaged in a film as this one does.