Inception Rejection: It Should have Been a Better Movie

Inception (c) 2010

When it comes to hype, Christopher Nolan’s Summer Blockbuster “Inception” had a more than ample supply. In the weeks and months before the movie was released, quotes were being banded around like “will literally blow your mind”, and “The next Matrix”.  That was back in May and June of 2010. Now, in December, the movie is receiving practically 90% positive critical ratings, with review quotes like “A wildly ingenious chess game”. I disagree.

I have watched the movie twice now, both at the cinema and at home. I have given it ample chance, but in my opinion the movie fails to deliver on its promise. But rather than give the typical internet-user ‘trolling rant’, I’d like to take the time to acknowledge what this movie does well, but what I feel it fails to do.

The characters in this movie are solid. Good performances are turned in by all the cast members; there’s no overacting or under-enthusiastically delivered dialogue. The writing is of a very high quality too, you feel ‘in the loop’ at all times, without feeling like the movie is trying too hard to explain things to you. And the overall story is enjoyable, more than ample enough to keep your interest for the full (if not long) 148 minutes.

The movie premise is as follows:

“In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a highly skilled thief is given a final chance at redemption which involves executing his toughest job to date: Inception”

In the broadest way possible, the movie does do exactly that. In fact, that synopsis is possibly too accurate, as that’s all the movie does. There are no twists, no turns, no real surprises. So points should be awarded to Mr Nolan for achieving the promise of the movie plot-wise. However, in terms of imagination and ingenuity, the movie does not consistently deliver a memorable experience.

This movie should be a cross between The Matrix and Oceans Eleven;  an ingenious heist pulled off in a world where anything is possible. Unfortunately, it does not do either. Let’s have a look at why:

The ‘Matrixy’ bit

So, this is a world where dreams can be accessed, shared and manipulated. And we all know that anything is possible in dreams. So why does barely anything interesting happen? There are two cool dream-moments in the entire movie: the ‘folding city’ near the beginning, and the ‘zero-gravity’ fight scene. But both are fleeting, and have little impact beyond the initial visual impressiveness. 

The Matrix set the bar for 'bending' reality

I’m not saying that these scenes are bad, however for a film that had a huge budget, and the ability to make literally anything happen on screen, it could have done so much more!  Probably 95% if the time spent in dreams was just in a ‘generic city/bar’, walking around debating architecture and quirks of the subconscious, with nothing visually interesting happening on-screen. 

Even 'sandcastle city' at the end felt bland, and under-explored.

If I had to score the ‘dream’ aspect of the movie alone, in terms of its creativity, diversity and impact on the story and direction of the movie, I would give it 6/10.

The ‘Oceans Eleveny ‘bit

Your immediate reaction may be “Well this movie is about a great story revolving around an ingenious heist.” You are correct, and for that reason the movie fails on another level. See, we are introduced to the idea of dream-based thefts right from the first scene of the movie. Only problem is that the theft you witness in that opening sequence is unsuccessful. And that’s a problem, because it stops you from building confidence, or gaining intrigue in the main characters abilities as a dream-theif.

On to the main heist. The plan is simple; in order to plant an idea in the targets head, the must head to the deepest possible level of his subconscious to plant it. They decide that this requires a dream, within a dream, within a dream. After the usual “That’s not possible!, No, I can do it!” discussion, they proceed to...well...do it.

And that was my problem. It just happened. No twists, no turns, no huge revelation or complication to the plan. It never felt like there was anything at stake, therefore I never felt like I was gripped as much as I should have been.

When compared to other heist-based experiences, like Oceans, Hustle, or the Italian Job, this really does not stand out as an amazing experience. Again, If I had to rate it I would find it hard to give it anything above a 7/10.

Verdict

Scoring a 6 on dream sequences and a 7 on the heist, the rest of the film is fairly average. It isn’t bad, it just isn’t great. Therefore the afore mentioned good acting, directing and writing fail to push it up above an overall score of: 

7/10.

With promo images this epic, how did the movie fail to deliver such mind-bending action?

It’s a good movie, but the hype suggested I would be watching a 10/10 stunner. Unfortunately, Inception just never reaches that level.