Man, I am really stoned, so it will be difficult to collect my thoughts on Inception. I will go with the random, jerky amateur review that is becoming my specialty.
First off, I think the solid B rating it has gotten basically across the board is correct. I think it is amazingly shot, logistically marvelous, and wonferully mechanical. The set pieces are incredible, all the architecture is great, the cast is pitch-perfect. I like almost everything. But the thing with Nolan is, the things he excels at are astounding, so the things he has trouble with stand out like a red stain on a white suit. Chief among these things is his lack of talent for editing. Some people may say they enjoy his editing style for its circumvention of direct, chronological sequencing, and that is fine, that is not what the problem is. That whole thing has kind of become his signature, having gotten its test run in indie debut Following, then being perfected in the now-classic Memento, and I like it. The problem is the "flow" or "feel" of his cut-to-cut, line-by-line in-scene editing. There is never a moment's pause between dialogue and it does not feel naturalistic once you become aware of it. The cuts happen constantly, and super-quickly, and if you find yourself dwelling on the "feeling" of the moment-to-moment editing, it begins to detract heavily from the performances. These performances, good as they may otherwise be, have absolutely no room to breath at all. This is one subtle aspect of his film technique that could lead someone to accuse his films of being "too mechanical", or "souless". I mostly believe that is bullshit, but it is at least half-true in the sense that only Heath Ledger's Joker has really had the breathing room to blossom on the screen, being knowingly displayed by his director.
I like to think of Nolan as being Hitchcock-y in his deliberation. I think of Dark Knight as being his Psycho, with its superbly iconic villian performance. Well, this is his North By Northwest. Classicly grandiose, risky Hollywood. Among the director's very best. But you just don't love it the way you love Psycho. It's missing that intangible thing a grand screen performance and unforgettable character bring to a film. Rear Window had it. Vertigo had it. North By Northwest feels less warmly characteristic. It is somewhat characteristic of espionage film.
What we got is still a new classic American film, proof that Nolan can create a buzz in the middle of the summer even without the pop culture advantage of a beloved franchise (given a $160,000,000 budget), and it brings him closer to attaining the smartly obsessive auteur status of his great hero Stanley Kubrick. However, it is simply not The Dark Knight.
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Off of the record, and having only seen it once, I find myself questioning whether DiCaprio's character was even remotely deserving of redemption (Why in the hell was he putting his wife at danger with this crap? And how did they get trapped there? He knowingly sedated her beforehand? Did I miss something huge somewhere?) And I also feel very sorry for the guy from 28 Days Later/Red Eye/the Scarecrow in Batman Begins. I guess you are supposed to think it is a happy ending because he is tricked into believing his father loved him even though he actually didn't? Fuck that, I would want my business back. The guy basically seems like a nice dude and gets totally fucked over by the supposed protagonist. And then of course is the fact that we are more or less told that planting an idea in someone's head, being done even SLIGHTLY inefficiently, will eventually make them batnuts crazy and completely change the type of person they are. I really feel bad for the dude.
I'm losing my high and my gf is bored so I am outtie. Hope you liked my Inception review.
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