Review of Inception (2010) by Wxwax — 24 Nov 2010

Inception a bladderful of a movie. It's long. As befits a film written and directed by the guy who made Batman cool again, it's heavy on the action and visual arts. As befits a film written and directed by the guy behind Memento, it has a mind-bending plot.

What's the movie about? The most basic of questions: what is reality? It plays with us by sending its characters into ever-deeper layers of dream states in search of a MacGuffin. And while the film ostensibly delivers the obvious enigmatic ending, it's scattered with hints that suggest a further hidden layer.

How clever. By the time my bladder had insistently declared its presence, I was bored with the spectacle. For the film is indeed a spectacular, the sort of thing Hollywood does well. It's also an example of what Hollywood spectaculars often don't do well; it fails to connect with the emotions, with our sense of empathy.

This, despite a plot in which the love interest is a central device. Ellen Page is terrific as the spunky, wisecracking, rule-breaking girl who gets pregan.... wait, let me start over; Ellen Page is terrific as the spunky, wisecracking, rule-breaking sidekick.

She's also at risk of getting typecast as a spunky, wise.. well, you get the idea. Leonardo DiCaprio is excellent as the thinking man's tortured action hero. He looks great. Everyone else is a cipher, including the aforementioned love interest.

I'm sure that Inception is a visually stunning, intellectually intriguing movie. I'm not sure it earned the right to test my bladder's breaking point.