transcendent

Rating: 8/10 (23 February 2016)

Inception constantly invites you to marvel in expertise, both that of the characters and the filmmakers themselves-- Wally Pfister's camera work, Hans Zimmer's score, Chris Corbould's visual effects are all unparalleled and utilized beautifully. But for all its cleverness Inception lets down its characters from time to time, denying nearly every character save Dom a meaningful character arc, and revealing much of Dom's mysterious back story-- which whispers its way provocatively through the film's first half-- in a chunky expositional monologue. His story has tremendous emotional payoff near the end, and there is great satisfaction in merely watching the team come together as equals, but it's hard not to wish for something more from the smaller characters.