Nolan delivers a memorable sci-fi thriller

Rating: 1/10 (21 July 2010)

Inception is certainly ambitious. And once again Nolan succeeds at doing exactly what you would expect him to do; delivering sleek, thought provoking entertainment. At it's core, however, this film is missing a few vital pieces that leave a certain something to be desired. The emotional crux of Inception is clear; It's about Leonardo DiCaprio's character and his ultimate reconciliation with the regrets he has regarding his wife. That element of the film is spelled out crystal clear and is effective. The problem comes in that there's a great deal of other subject matter that seems to exist only as thin props in Leo's quest.
After a relatively pointless setup in which the two main characters garner his wrath, Ken Watanabe's character offers them an incredibly simplistic and convenient ultimatum, and from then on out the rest of Leo's merry band seems to jump on board with the operation for no discernible reasons. Ellen Page? Seeking college credit, apparently. Tom Hardy? Well, his character has nothing better to do. JG Levitt? He's Leo's buddy, you'll have to take our word for it. Oh, and Michael Caine...he's about as useful as John Voight in National Treasure. The trouble with this, then, is that the action-based objective has no real power and urgency other than the promise of seeing Leo hug his kids... and seeing the incredibly sketchy Cillian Murphy character hug his dying, old, tycoon father. Neither of which are sufficient emotional investments. A lot of this can be attributed to the simple fact that there is NO antagonist in the movie. None. No one is evil, not even Leo's subconscious. Nothing is pushing back other than a vague threat of "projections" and the main character accidentally sabotaging the mission. In summary...where's Agent Smith? It's basic rules of drama and storytelling that have been around since Aristotle; tension is created through opposition. Sure, there's a time limit to the group's escape from the various dream states, but no one is trying to stop them. Therefore, why should I really care what happens?
The supporting characters in this group live and die for a man they hardly know, for a goal that isn't even (at the very least) of monetary consequence. Yet, instead of defining these elements that matter more, the film instead spends a gratuitous amount time explaining arbitrary "rules" of the dreamworld, even though it simply glosses over the basics. If we can completely take for granted that these people are able to somehow connect their minds through their bloodstreams, then I'm sure we can suspend our disbelief for a great many other details. And my final gripe; the dream world is surprisingly tame. I usually dream about throwing eggs from hot-air balloons, and showing up naked to classes I forgot I was supposed to be in. The people in inception seem to dream only about swanky, north side cityscapes, posh hotels and ski lodges. So...they're dreaming previous Nolan films?
Alright, *breathes deep*. And now for the good things... honestly, there are a lot of spectacular moments in this film, more than enough to warrant a recommendation. The fluidity of many of the action sequences are truly remarkable in their own right and the actors do a fine job in selling the atmosphere...so, go see it. Just take note of the fact that Inception ultimately lacks a great, suspenseful, emotional hook. The concept is rich and sexy, but not exceptionally unheralded. We've had our minds "bended" before, now show us why we should be invested in this particular iteration. In the end, for as complexly orchestrated as the plot of Inception is there are, unfortunately, a great deal of dull edges that result in hindsight being less than 20/20.