I can't stop you from watching it....

Rating: 5/10 (5 August 2010)

The Not-Too-Revealing-Summary: Inception is a thought-provoking action movie that is best tagged with keywords like "con-men," "corporate espionage," "psychological thriller" or even "philosophy."
The-Not-Too-Revealing-Review: Inception takes a very simple - and very traditional - genre and fashions it around a complicated idea. The movie is truly a work of art - in a positive sense as much as in a pejorative sense. Director Christopher Nolan takes a fairly complicated notion and unravels it for the audience in such a way as to entertain visually and provoke thoughtfully. The movie was, however, art for art's sake. It was a demonstration: the goal was not to amaze, thrill, or surprise but to bewilder. It was a presentation of a mental knot and then the step-by-step exhibition of how one would disentangle it. In this regard the movie was a success. Some of my many grievances (and they were many) against the film: The action scenes were quite obviously padding for the core of the film. Most of the scenes were shot in indoor, extremely confined situations - and though stylish - they were not the strikingly visual scenes I had hoped for. The big, outdoor, scenes where this big budget film had a chance to truly impress failed completely. The fight scenes where the movie had the opportunity to provide some iconic segment - looked like men hoisted in the air with wires. Between two of Nolan's other works - Memento and the Dark Knight - Inception was more Memento. The attention to detail present in the Dark Knight made it into Inception - but only into the unraveling of Nolan's idea. The many filler scenes lacked this consideration and left the film with a duality of wonderfully thought-through details interspersed with inanity.
Some other odds and ends: Tip of the hat to Nolan for leaving some things unexplained. It is unclear if this is truly present day or some time in the future and the director rightly leaves that for the audience to decide for themselves. Explanations for the mechanisms of the technology are left alone - and for the better. I could not have told you who Tom Hardy was before this film but after this performance I look forward to whatever it is he may do next. I hope Nolan credits a certain 1999 film (whose title I shall not mention so I do not spoil this movie for anyone else). The relationship goes far beyond similarity or inspiration. Nolan took it further (with a budget of over $130 million more) but it is bothersome to see Inception heralded for "originality." Overall I cannot recommend this film. It was neither enjoyable nor entertaining to watch. I can respect the skill it takes for someone to make a house of cards but in the end I have no real desire to stare at a house of cards.