Jaws, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, E.T., The Dark Knight, Inception. What do these films have in common? A release date. What is this release date, you idiotic mammal? Summer. The summer blockbuster has been a traditional movie-going experience that brings in the dough and brings together film lovers and non-film lovers alike since 1975 when Jaws was released. But there’s more than just a release date that make these films so cohesive. They’re also films that shook the world of cinema. By no means are they all equal when it comes to quality, but they’re equal in the sense that they forever (or will forever) be studied and discussed, but most of all remembered. If you’re a summer blockbuster, word of mouth is key. You’ll gain or lose big bucks depending on the feedback your film gets. In this case, I think it’s safe to say Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending masterpiece will live among the ranks of these big money-makers.
Beginning with a complicated triple narrative that delicately explains the method of which subconscious security works, this is enough to show what type of film the audience will be watching. Writer and director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Memento) takes the first twenty minutes to give a demonstration of the “dream team’s” skill and job description, which includes going in and stealing secrets from someone’s own mind. We’re also given a brief glimpse into Dominic Cobb’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) struggle with his own subconscious, which continues to be the film’s central antagonist.
This is a lot to place on an audience within the first twenty minutes, and without any blatant explanation whatsoever, but Nolan’s direction proves that there is no explanation necessary. This is, however, just a demonstration-before-explanation scenario.
Once Cobb and his partner, Arthur (played stylishly by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) – who mostly does a lot of the menial tasks – complete their work with the head of an oil company, Saito (Ken Watanabe), Saito then offers Cobb an opportunity to go home; a final job. This job involves infiltrating the dreams of an heir (Cillian Murphy) to a rival oil company of Saito’s in order to crush the competition, so to speak. But it’s no ordinary nor legal procedure, it’s “inception” – which means planting an idea, a seed, deep into the mind of another person. In order to pull off this job though, Cobb and Arthur need to assemble their expert “dream team” which include an architect (Ellen Page), a forger (Tom Hardy), and a chemist (Dileep Rao).
I won’t reveal anything else about the plot, but I will say this – Nolan indeed has created a masterpiece. It’s not perfect, but it’s near-perfect and it’s a thousand times more entertaining than a 2 and a half hour Michael Bay explosion film. Original ideas are hard to come by, and this one triumphs over all other movies out this year or will be out this year in terms of originality. Being in the works for ten years and working without his brother Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan was able to create a script and a completely original idea that will change the way we view dreams forever. Some compare it to Mulholland Dr. and others compare it to The Matrix, but this film is in a realm entirely of its own.
While it’s not per se an actor’s film, it is indeed a vehicle that showcases the aptitude of every actor in this film. Nearly every actor in this film is talented and has outshone in many films before this one, but not all of them are either legendary or perfect actors yet (with the exception of Michael Caine, Pete Posthelwaite, and Tom Berenger, who are all kind of wasted talent here, but friendly faces indeed). I’ll take it one by one, starting from the bottom of the pack. Dileep Rao (Drag Me to Hell) once again, in only his third feature film, shows that he has some acting chops and a hell of a lot of charm. Ken Watanabe (Letters from Iwo Jima, The Last Samurai) is good, but doesn’t do much after the first half hour. Tom Hardy, whose performance in last year’s Bronson I still have yet to see, adds some nice comic relief and a lot of badassery throughout the film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt ((500) Days of Summer, Brick), becoming an instant favorite of mine, puts on his sunglasses and plays cool in this one and also adds some nice comic relief as well as partaking in the coolest fight scene since The Matrix's lobby gunfight scene eleven years ago. Marion Cotillard, whose Oscar-winning and nominated performances in 2006's La Vie en Rose and last year's Nine - respectively - I still have yet to see, shows some nice, insane acting chops here, but still feels a little forced at times – especially from an actress I always hear such good things about. Nonetheless, she does well in her more subtle scenes. Cillian Murphy is quickly becoming Nolan’s new Mark Boone Junior (the equivalent of John Ratzenberger & Pixar), and in the screen time he has does more than the script calls for in showing a lot of emotion and depth to his character. And those eyes… are unforgettable (in a no homo way). Ellen Page comes out of her Juno shell and shows the audience she has more to offer than playing vulnerable, quirky teenage girls. She feels very natural and very mature in her role and is a perfect foil to Dom Cobb. Finally, Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed, Shutter Island) gives another remarkable turn as the troubled, emotional core of the film, Dominic Cobb. The only issue I have with the acting is that none of the actors get their chance to shine with the questionable exception of DiCaprio, but they do well with how much they're given and there’s not a single bad performance in the film. There’s plenty of room for these actors to grow though, and this film is a big stepping stone for a lot of them.
To get into the technical achievements now, I must say that I feel Nolan has done what a lot of directors fail to do when it comes to visual effects – properly incorporate them into the film. The visual effects are not here to show off any masterful artistic talents Nolan or his visual effects team may have (*cough*James Cameron*cough*), but rather he makes the visual effects part of the story. This doesn’t go without saying that these are truly some amazing and unique visual effects that Nolan has utilized, because they are. The editing is well-done too, making the two and a half hour film fast-paced, fun, and never feel long at any point in the film. The sound effects, too, are wonderfully edited and created, the cinematography by Wally Pfister (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) is once again astounding and fits the tone of the film perfectly (in ALL of its diverse settings), the score by Hans Zimmer (The Thin Red Line, Sherlock Holmes) is brilliantly composed and it makes your heart pound to the beat of the drum in its intense moments and feel your heart flutter in the sweet ones. The only issue with the score is that it bangs a little too heavy and overflows into the next scene without any sort of reason for it – but this isn’t Zimmer’s fault more than it is Nolan’s.
All in all, this film isn’t perfect, but by God it’s close. There’s no way Nolan could ever dethrone Stanley Kubrick as the king of mindfuck films, but he’s certainly created a strong impact on filmmakers and film-goers. The entire experience of the film is ethereal, making the audience feel like they’re in a dream (but not in a What Dreams May Come way) and it’s all about putting the audience on a two and a half hour thrill ride. Some may view this film as a well-directed, successful, and fun summer blockbuster, but most will view this as a mind-bending and mind-infiltrating masterpiece. No matter what their opinion of it is, one thing is for sure: this film will be remembered for many years to come.
9.5/10
