I was a bit late seeing this film, well over a year late to be honest. So, after seeing the success of this film at the Oscars and hearing great reviews from friends and professional critics alike, I was expecting a masterpiece. But this was not the case. Inception let me down on multiple levels for many reasons which ill outline shortly. Before I go any further I would like to say that Inception is a very good film, with some great action shots and impressive special effects. Also the acting was impeccable with a great role played Leonardo DiCaprio. So then why did this film let me down.
Firstly, I was expecting more than just an action film. I was hoping that Inception would be able to cleverly use the action sequences to compliment the imaginative plot. However this was not the case. The plot actually acted as a medium for the action and thus the impressive narrative was hidden behind a wall of special effects. This in turn, transformed Inception into ‘The day after tomorrow’ with much better acting, no offence to Dennis Quaid. The concept of a dream within a dream was very interesting and was expertly carried out from start to end. The only problem I had with this was the diversity of shot locations used to denote the different levels of a dream. I felt that the director, Christopher Nolan, was not able to mark the different dream levels more subtlety and this is why such contrasting locations were used. Also at one point, on the snow-covered mountain, the film became almost James Bond like with the central characters being pursued by a gang of identical henchmen on snowmobile’s.
I personally rate Nolan highly as a director. His success with the rebranding of the batman franchise along with the highly impressive ‘The Prestige’ are powerful accolades which support his status as a top director. However after watching Inception I began to question the ‘greatness’ of Christopher Nolan. It was quiet clear to me that Inception is Nolan’s Matrix. By this I mean that Inception has a large amount of borrowed ideology and bares a strong resemblance to ‘The Matrix’. I am not insinuating that Nolan copied the matrix. The point that I am making is that this is Nolan’s attempt at creating a film as mind-blowing as The Matrix. And prehaps this is why I am disappointed with Inception. Although the ideas of inception are interesting and encourage some thought, they are not as captivating or perspective altering as The Matrix.
To conclude, Inception is an interesting film which is quiet enjoyable to watch, with very impressive visuals and great acting. The plot and the concept is fascinating but the overall film does not deliver or live up to its full potential.
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