Inception

Release Year: 2010

Director: Christopher Nolan

Review: Christopher Nolan is becoming one of the most respected working filmmakers, and for good reason. He has yet to make a film that wasn't good.  He has a knack for making high quality, thought provoking, films which are easily accessible and entertaining.  So when his latest film was announced to be about people who enter other people's dreams to steal information, I was interested.  Nolan is great at making complex plots manageable, and 'Inception' certainly has a complex plot.

The concept is fantastic and the possibilities of what one could do with this concept are endless.  Nolan takes great care to set up the rules of this world where people can enter other peoples dreams.  As such, there is quite a bit of exposition, particularly in the first half of the film.  This is necessary, however, in order to have any idea of what is going on, and to really get to the main plot of the film.  The explanations aren't tedious.  It almost felt like the training level in a video game.  It's necessary setup, but Nolan is still doing interesting things while constructing the base on which the rest of the film will rely on.

olan could have went a lot of different ways with the subject matter, but treats it completely straight forward.  He could have went a Lynch-eque direction of creating a surreal dream state environment, but instead stays literal, rooted in reality.  This serves the film well, as a lot of what the film is about is discerning between dreams and reality.  If the dream world was too fantastic, this element would be lost.  Instead he creates an alternate world, where impossible things can happen, but its still a mirror of reality.  I believe that this is the central theme.  What is reality and what is not.  So much has been said on what is a dream and what is not in the film, and I think this was Nolan's goal.  This is the commentary he wanted to instigate.  I don't think Nolan wanted to say either way.  In the film a similar question is brought up, and its answered by asking back, "who is to say what is reality".  This is the question to ask yourself while watching this, and is what is so enthralling about experiencing this film.

Nolan succeeds once again at making a genuinely great, richly imagined, and utterly entertaining action thriller.  It's not often that a film in this genre is so complete.  There are many levels to 'Inception', and while its a fun ride, it also makes you think.  Complete with a fantastic cast, and amazing visuals, it is the full package.  Nolan proves once again he is one of the very best, and continues to push the expectations of modern cinema.

Rating: 4.5/5