Exceptional, but flawed

Rating: 6/10 (8 August 2013)

Inception is often criticized for being not quite as deep or intelligent as it tries to be. I disagree, but think that it is hugely flawed in two ways:
1. It tries to be an action movie, but the action doesn't work. Why does it try to be an action movie?
a. because obviously, action movies draw audiences
b. because Nolan seems to believe that the highest achievement in movie-making would be to turn the action genre into something deep and meaningful
2. It is overly long and many portions of it are just boring and not entertaining at all
In depths: While the Mombasa chase sequence was somehow acceptable considering the moment it occurred and its rather low importance, serious doubt came up with the Level-1 shoot-outs; nothing here ever felt really threatening, and the almost exclusive use of real-world submachine guns felt totally out of place. But the snow fortress was an insult. The action was lifeless and unintendedly (of course) comical. Did Nolan actually believe shooting good action here? In fact, the sequence was cocky in the sense that Nolan seemed to believe that even the most trivial, anachronistic action would, in the context of this ingenious movie and helped by some magic notes courtesy of Hans Zimmer, somehow blossom into something cool... whatever that would be. But unfortunately, he overestimates himself and his collaborators here and at the same time underestimates the audience as well as the current status quo and the rich universe of action cinema culture as a whole.
With 148 minutes, Inception runs way too long, and considering the altogether failed action pieces, this is where a strong and confident editor would have been much welcomed. However, the problem goes deeper into the structuring and the actual writing of the film, as simply cutting away the action would complicate the obvious intention to make us experience everything as happening simultaneously. In other words: A lot of the action is just filler so we have something we can cross-cut to. Take this away and we have a problem. A problem with the weighty concept of synchronicity. The only real solution here is rewriting. So, after all, tinkering with the screenplay for 10 years might still haven't been enough, so finally, Nolan made an unripe movie.
A couple more negative aspects of the film: Most of the cast feels out of place and gives presence to the fourth wall. Gordon-Levitt looks very generic and pimped up, and somehow his casting never pays off. His face is so clean and smooth that you're actually waiting for something deep to happen with or because of him... but there isn't anything. He doesn't really do anything in the movie, he's a mere squire. Tom Hardy, with his confidence and physical impressiveness, faces a similar pitfall, since as long as nothing deep happens to or because of him, he feels like a guy waiting for his shot on a lead role, again somewhat damaging the fourth wall. Michael Caine and Ken Watanabe are not only totally wasted in this movie, but every single time he's in the frame, Caine's dressing and hairdo bring up one question: Where is Batman?
It seems quite obvious that Nolan deliberately chose to make every character but Cobb explicitly one- dimensional. Whatever meaning this implies (dream or reality; what is mainplot, what is subplot etc.) or function is strengthens, it could have been achieved by casting much less known actors thereby leaving the fourth wall more intact, pulling us more into the story and at the same time maybe giving an interesting new face a chance on the silver screen.
Now the positive: Inception is one of those movies that can make you think about it for a long time after seeing it. It has a unique atmosphere, a very strong mood and a masterpiece score. The score, in fact, has been haunting me for days and gets some heavy rotation on my home stereo. DiCaprio and Murphy turn in great performances and are a joy to watch. Effects and CGI are done to a very high standard and are woven into the story well.
6 out of 10 stars. If the movie was overall as bad as the action sequences, it would be 1 star. If the action was as good as the overall film, it would be 9 or 10 stars. Everything as-is, it's somewhere in the middle, since the awful fighting scenes, especially in the snow fortress setting, really taint this movie. However, my overall feeling is rather positive, so it's 6 stars at the end.
The strength of the movie, what will stick with you, is its themes. Dreaming, reality, non-reality, guilt, ideas, originality, obsession, forgetting, forgiveness. If this sounds exciting to you, chances are you will like Inception.