Inception (2010)
Finally watched Inception. I won’t say if I thought it was good or bad, but I definitely did not like it. I’m clearly in the minority and I hate to be ‘That Guy’, but hear me out.
(It’s easy to point out the good things about this film, so let’s just skip that part for now)
My biggest gripe with Inception is that it lacks imagination. Since when did dreams become so ordinary and uninspired? I know it’s easy to be enamored by the visual spectacle, but take a few seconds to replay the dream sequences in your head. Was it really that mind-blowing? And they weren’t just regular dreams; we’re talking about LEVEL FOUR DREAMS here (dream within a dream within a dream within a dream). I’m sure that you have crazier dreams than that. I know I do—and the furthest I ever get is level two (dream within a dream).
All jokes aside (even though I was being serious), Inception is a timid ambition at best. The New York Times’ A.O. Scott says it so perfectly:
“Though there is a lot to see in Inception, there is nothing that counts as genuine vision. Mr. Nolan’s idea of the mind is too literal, too logical, too rule-bound to allow the full measure of madness — the risk of real confusion, of delirium, of ineffable ambiguity — that this subject requires.”
Word. My thoughts exactly.
My next and final criticism (though there are more) is that Inception is too easy. Before your eyes start rolling to the back of your head, let me take you down recent-memory lane one more time. If you reaaally think about it, is the story even that complicated? Throughout the entire film, Ariadne effortlessly describes every single detail to us. And even if director/writer Christopher Nolan cut the ridiculous amount of glib expository dialogue in half (did Ellen Page’s character serve any other purpose?), there would still be enough information to connect the dots and fully understand the intricacies of this film. But instead we have another unfortunate Hollywood product catered to ADD America (not necessarily Nolan’s fault) and everything is spoon fed to us. Too easy.
The purpose of this post was not to bash Inception or belittle anyone’s taste in movies, but it was to (hopefully) challenge, stretch and inspire people’s thoughts and perceptions—or at the very least, just share my two sense. Heh.. heh…
If you want something genuinely complicated, intelligent and completely mind-bending, check out 8 1/2 (1963), Mulholland Dr. (2001) and Synecdoche, New York (2008).
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