Unmitigated Pretentious Claptrap

Rating: 1/10 (2 December 2018)

I had the misfortune of choosing to squander both time and money on seeing this turgid, overblown, and overrated mess at the cinemas upon its release. Now, I don't mind some of Christopher Nolan's movies. The first I ever saw was 'Memento' shortly after its home release on DVD. I recalling really enjoying and liking that movie. I haven't seen it in a while, so it's probably due another viewing. I think his oeuvre is pretty good, but nowhere near as good as his fan base would have you believe. He has some good films ('Memento', 'Insomnia', 'Batman/Dark Knight Trilogy' - haven't seen 'Dunkirk' so cannot yet comment), some okay films ('The Prestige', 'Interstellar' - sorry, I just can't get on board for that so called space 'epic' - it has moments of greatness, but plenty of drek too), and then there's 'Inception' - which is in a league of its own; one so far down, one has yet to be invented for it. Anyway, it really is just a total mess. Yeah, I know, it's a movie about dreams. And some wise-guy will probably be thinking or saying, "But, that's exactly what dreams are like; they're messy!". So yeah, maybe Nolan was clever enough to have the entire premise of the movie excuse how convoluted and nonsensical the entire plot is, because you know, that's how dreams work, stupid! Except, if wanted this sort of messy entertainment free of charge (and with some actual mental benefits) then I'd have just taken a nap instead of going to watch 'Inception'. Now, I won't spoil the movie here, because to be frank, Nolan did a pretty good job of that all on his own. Obviously he thought he could pass off a load of claptrap as genius (lapped up without much resistance by his fan base and other easily satisfied punters) because of aforementioned dream-state premise of the story. But there are other issues here as well. Like, a total absence of character development, decent script, or even passable action sequences, or pacing. There was one critic at the time of its cinematic release, whose name I don't recall, but who perfectly encapsulated 'Inception' in a nutshell, by penning something along the lines of, "Inception may be directed by Christopher Nolan; but it would appear that Nolan's dreams are directed by Michael Bay". Oooommph!!! There's a metaphor to describe that very telling remark, but all I remember is it has something to with hitting the head of a nail. Watch 'Inception' at your peril, but preferably with concrete spectacles and ear plugs.