Inception: Standard Action Film

Rating: 7/10 (21 July 2010)

Reaping money like there's no tomorrow and rocketing to the top of IMDb to contend with even The Godfather and Shawshank, Inception has had nothing but success since its release. An incredible sceptic toward all things popular, especially in their earliest days, I fully expected this to be quite poor and overrated.
Working as an independent dream-thief, Dom Cobb is tasked with the more difficult job of implanting a thought within the mind of a subject, the promise of reunion with the family from which he is estranged his motivation to do so. Forging a team of assorted talents, he plans an intricate network of dreams and deceit whilst simultaneously coping with increasingly realistic memories of the past.
When a film garners almost universal acclaim and high rankings all around, discussion turns quickly away from the work itself, and more towards its accolades. Such is certainly the case with Inception, its current spot at number 3 on the top 250 as much the subject of discussion boards as the (soi-disant) intricacies of its plot. Like its predecessor in Nolan's filmography, The Dark Knight, Inception is now praised variously as genius, brilliant, revolutionary, and "the greatest film ever". Yet almost for every fanboy who screams the wonders of this sci-fi epic is a cynic, tutting with disapproval and angrily muttering about the decline of modern civilisation. What we're currently seeing is a replay of Nolan's fortunes just two years ago. Some call him the new Kubrick, others dismiss him as a glorified Michael Bay. The arguments between these two camps have been the subject of more discussion than the film's merits, or lack thereof; indeed such is the content of this "review" so far. My point: people feel compelled by such acclaim to either love the film, or to hate it, leaving a disturbing imbalance in its ratings. Unless you take a stand and proclaim it ludicrous garbage, anything other than unending praise will see you labelled a thoughtless moron, incapable of artistic appreciation or sagacious thought. Those who rate it a 1 out of 10 are making a point, refusing to stand for overrating. The simple fact is that Inception is a good film: entertaining; interesting; superb looking; well-acted; well-directed. Is it a masterpiece? No, absolutely not. Its flaws are many, both logically and cinematically; its moments of brilliance few. Aside from excellent effects and anti-gravitational fight sequences, it holds insufficient emotional impact to transcend the general mediocrity of its genre: the heist thriller in essence. And that is it. The film is perfectly entertaining, but at no stage is it anything special. I enjoyed myself, but certainly see nothing within it to warrant such vigorous fanaticism. And the ending was silly, overused, and lazy.
A key example of the way in which people forget what they really should be discussing, Inception has become naturally presumed as a deep and thoughtful movie, probing far into recondite things and leaving us to formulate our own theories and opinions. In truth it is a standard action film, delivering a solid chunk of appealing-to-the-eye entertainment (some of the best for a while), but little more. Its plot is complex rather than its meaning, a key mistake audiences will continue to make as they argue and bicker. I just wish people could sit back and enjoy the film, rather than messing their pants at every halfway decent movie that hits the screen.