Nolan misses the mark.

Rating: Null/10 (12 December 2010)

First off I think it's important to state one thing. I am a fan of Christoper Nolan's work. I think "The Dark Knight" is one the best films of the decade. His follow up however while visually exciting wastes a lot of potential. The ideas is very intriguing but Nolan doesn't explore it to it's full potential. I mean we are talking about manipulating dreams here! They could have had bullets flying out of their eyeballs or fingertips. For that matter why use bullets at all? This is the same problem I had with the vastly overrated Matrix. The world of dreams is by its very nature illusory and vague. People say something feels dreamlike but the only thing that is ever truly dreamlike is a dream. Hitchcock's "Spellbound" with it's brilliant sets by Salvador Dali and Wes Craven's original "Nightmare on Elm street" are in my opinion the best portrayals of the world of the subconscious. Craven in particular with the lighting and camera angles really gave it a dreamlike feel. Nolan is a visually interesting filmmaker but here he misses the mark. However one misfire doesn't mean the end of him or his career. All good directors have had the occasional dud. Does anyone remember Spielberg's "1941" Nolan is a good director who has made good films in the past. One film does not define him. People who rate this as a masterpiece are looking at it through the haze of fanboy admiration for Nolan's earlier work. Judge it independently as you must with every film. Nolan has made good movies in the past and will do so again. This one however while visually dynamic falls short on story. And the surprise ending hardly original. Bottom line=fast paced action but not nearly as visually interesting as it could be