Christopher Nolan continues his climb to the top... of the most overrated directors list

Rating: 7/10 (8 December 2010)

If there was ever a film to label as "overrated", it would be The Dark Knight. If there was ever another film to label as "overrated", it would be Inception. I just don't understand what it is about Christopher Nolan's films but they have the tendency to receive large amounts of unwarranted and undeserved praise.
While they are very well-made films, they are for the most part nothing more than entertaining popcorn flicks (Memento being the one exception). Popcorn flicks of the up-most quality but nothing truly memorable or deep. Now that I have gotten that out of the way, lets get on with the review.
Now, basically, Inception is a heist film with a twist. The heists take place inside of a dream, thus allowing for some creative and tricky special effects to be pulled off. These effects are pretty amusing to watch, most notably a scene where the gravity of a hallway is shifting and the two actors are duking it out amidst the gravity shifts, and this makes for some impressive-looking chaos.
The story while somewhat original, wasn't pulled off as smoothly as it could have been in my opinion. There were just far too many plot holes that you could drive a tank through. Now with a certain proper ending, these plot holes would diminish, but Nolan has yet to confirm just what the ending means so the plot holes are left intact. If you want a better idea of what I mean by that, PM me.
Acting for the most part is good and gets the job done. Just don't expect anything Oscar-caliber here. If there was one stand-out performance in Inception, I would definitely say it's from Leo Dicaprio. The guy proves time and time again that he's one of the better young actors working right now. The rest of the cast gives passable performances, but nothing special. Michael Caine is wasted, and I feel the only reason he was hired was to get his name on the box.
Not much needs to be said about the special effects. They're some of the best yet, and at times even creative. Possibly the strongest aspect of the film, next to the effects, is the musical score. Inception has one of the best scores in recent memory. My hat is off to Hans Zimmer. The effects, score, and flawed but intriguing story come together in making Inception a very enjoyable and entertaining film. It's definitely smarter than your average popcorn flick, but at the end of the day it's still just a popcorn flick. Nothing more, nothing less. It lacks the emotional punch and attention to detail that made District 9 so great (now that's a true masterpiece, and one of the greatest sci fi films ever made).
I give Inception 7.5/10 and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun film that will also make them think a little bit.