Inception proves one fact beyond dispute: God does listen to film critics. Sometimes.
If you'll recall, I closed my previous review with something of a wish, or perhaps a prayer. I prayed and prayed with all my might that I might have the priveldge of reviewing a standout. A film that was different both in terms of its actual content and its implications for the art and industry of filmmaking. I'd be lying if I didn't say that Inception was in my mind when I wrote that bit, but all the same I was not prepared for it. Inception truly is a standout, but more than that, it's one of those films. Yes, one of those. You know the ones. One of those Dark Cities. One of those 2001's. One of those Citizen Kanes. Most people would call such a film a "classic." I think that's an accurate description, but there's more to it than that. Inception is a particular kind of classic. It's an entrancing, challenging film, and not just based on the whole "what's a dream and what's real," idea, but it's challenging in that it demands you as an audience member to not just pay attention, but to keep up, and it assumes that you are and will leave you behind if you're not up to speed. Classics such as these are like that; they take some getting used to, and aren't as accessable as the average flick. To some the appeal lies mostly in that, in its exclusivity; in the fact that this is a film that people like me- who live and breath movies- beg for, and that people who only go to see movies like Sorcerer's Apprentice probably won't see, or at least won't appreciate. This is what we like to call snob appeal, and Inception has a fair bit of it to be sure, but what truly puts it in the category of the classic movies previously mentioned is that it transcends that: it's not afraid to have action scenes and explosions and clever one-liners, and it trusts the intelligence of people who enjoy those sort of things. It's a film that doesn't beg for mainstream attention, but doesn't shun it either. A film that's completely honest with itself, and is an absolute gem judged on its own merits.
I'm neither good at plot summary, nor do I enjoy it, so another reason I love Inception is that I don't have to do it. It truly is a film that it's best to just jump right into, no hype required. Like diving head first into the ocean, at first you'll need a moment to adjust, but once you do, you be completely immersed. All you need to know about this film is detailed in the trailer, so here it is if you really need to know what the deal is (it won't spoil anything of course, but it really is best to go in with as little information as possible).
The only bit of plot information I'd like to discuss is that whole dreams bussiness; the point of the whole movie as it were. The film revolves around the concept of intiating shared dreams which one can- if properly trained and equiped- enter and rob, stealing valuable information or implanting a desired idea. Lots of heavy concepts are thrown around in the picture and all of them are well explored or result in some form of clever pay off... all of them but one, and unfortunately it's a big one. Never in the entire film is it explained how this works, how these brief cases with wires are able to connect people together into shared dreams. I would imagine this is due to a combination of the concept's imposibility and writer/director Christopher Nolan's desire to get on with the story he wants to tell, so it's ultimately forgivable, but it would've been nice to revceive some sort of information on the subject.
The only other consistent flaw I can think of is the characters. They're not bad persay, some of them are quite envolving, but they all seem unreal, and not in the way the movie wants them to. For the most part, you can't see them existing beyond the borders of the storyline. Classic characters like Indiana Jones or Batman, we know them not just as heroes but as people. On their down time, they teach at a college or read ancient texts or bang super models or engage in philanthropy. The characters of Inception all have their key roles to play and these roles are filled to near perfection, but other than the last of the main cast- who is either the villain, victim, or objective, depending on how you look at him- it's pretty hard to see any of these characters doing anything but playing bank robbers in a dream world. However, this film has reinforced a notion that I've been struggling with for a while: that as long as your characters are good, and in some cases even just ok, you can still have a good story. For the longest time I thought that while non-traditional stories had proven themselves, that films could not succeed without great chracters. I had forgotten what purpose characters serve: to allow audience members to become emotionally involved in what is transpiring on screen. Inception knows what I know now, that the key to filmmaking, as well as art in general, is emotion. There were moments in the film where I literally was on the edge of my seat, coming dangerously close to screaming: "Hold on! You can make it!" The characters may not have been people I look up to, or people who truly fascinated me, but they were people I wanted to see through every fascinating twist, every mind breaking revelation, and every image that was so powerful I almost swore there way Nolan could've come up with this by himself; that someone- in all liklihood a team up of Jesus, Syd Barret, and Hari Krishna- must have entered his mind and implanted at least some of these ideas. The only way that Inception seems possible is through the process of Inception (as the film explains, putting an idea into someone else's mind).
Inception does have one major flaw that actually does remove some enjoyment from an otherwise peerless work, and this will be the subject of my next entry. But for now, you've spent more than enough time reading this review. Stand up, and go. You know what to do. Don't wait until you're an old man with a large DVD collection and a lot of regrets, go see it now. Inception may not be deemed the greatest film ever made, hell, I don't think it'll even end up in my personal top 25 ultimately, but it's one of those movies. One of those movies that you have to see. Now.
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