Inception (2010)
This is one of those films I have had on my shelf for a few years and have been waiting for the perfect time to finally check it out. I remember seeing the advertisements for this movie when it first came out back in the summer of 2010 and being blown away by what I was seeing, it is crazy to think how hard it was to comprehend visual effects like a city folding in on itself back then as it was unlike anything else at the time especially for the quality it was at in this movie. That memory of first seeing this trailer has stuck with me all these years later and finally, this series gave me the excuse to pop in the Blu-Ray and finally sit down and experience this movie and it did not disappoint. Throughout the runtime, I was in awe at what I was experiencing and it easily could have been my #1 film of the year if I was making top 10 of the year lists when it first came out.
And I the thing that really makes this film stand out from the outside are those visual effects. Even compared to what we get today they no longer are so mind-blowing at the idea of what they are but they still not only hold up but feel creative and unique. Despite the scale of these effects being so big, they all feel needed and useful which is such a hard line to walk. So many movies that use huge visual effects feel brainless and dumb as they are just trying to show off and get the biggest set pieces that they can but this movie thinks before it does something huge. Taking place in these characters minds each bit has to make sense coming from that character and work as a piece in these films very complicated puzzle. Weirdly it's the story and how complicated it is that is a huge reason this movie doesn't lose itself that often. Through the screenplay to make sure everything makes sense in this complicated dream within a dream within a dream movie every piece has to be so well thought out that it can't just throw in extra unneeded elements without threatening the entire plot, though having Christopher Nolan directing would probably stop this anyway. It is also really impressive how easy this film is to grasp.
Sure it is complicated and has so many moving elements but I rarely found myself confused by what was going on and thought they did a great job explaining the situations and logic as it develops. Yet that's not saying this movie explains everything, it gives you enough to understand the world and grasp its concepts but there still are questions and situations left to speculation and debate as seen in the now iconic ending. Without giving anything away about the ending in case you haven't seen it for yourself yet but the audience understands the consequences that the situation depending on how you view it and the film gives you enough evidence to form different opinions on the ending without needing to explain it further. It is so smart and effective and I see why so many fell in love with the story and world.
Sure it is complicated and has so many moving elements but I rarely found myself confused by what was going on and thought they did a great job explaining the situations and logic as it develops. Yet that's not saying this movie explains everything, it gives you enough to understand the world and grasp its concepts but there still are questions and situations left to speculation and debate as seen in the now iconic ending. Without giving anything away about the ending in case you haven't seen it for yourself yet but the audience understands the consequences that the situation depending on how you view it and the film gives you enough evidence to form different opinions on the ending without needing to explain it further. It is so smart and effective and I see why so many fell in love with the story and world.
The acting is also phenomenal which really is no surprise when you look at this cast. Actors like Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Tom Hardy all are proven actors who of course will stand out no matter what they are given but the person who surprised me was Ellen Page. This was very early in her career and easily was the biggest showing for her with the only real competition being Juno and X-Men: The Last Stand. Not that she wasn't good in those films but to be able to stand next to the amazing and well-established actors in this movie takes someone special and she nearly steals the show. Specifically, her chemistry with DiCaprio is incredible and I would love to see them back together in the future. The only real issue I have with the film is a minor complaint with the layout of the film and the issues DiCaprio's character brings. This is a character with a ton of past trauma and they make it clear from the beginning that he will have to deal with that sometime in this film which I think is a misstep when it comes to the layout of this movie due to its length. When you have a longer movie like this at nearly two and a half hours when you set up something like this makes the film feel longer than it is. You are waiting for that to eventually come into play and until it does (which is towards the end) you know that you will have a 10-20 minute bit dealing with that which at least for me is distracting and takes me out of the story at times. This could just be a personal thing but especially for longer movies, that period of waiting hurts the momentum of the movie knowing that no matter what happens that is still going to need to be dealt with before the film concludes.
Still, though that is more of a small complaint and overall I get why Inception became so iconic. This is a groundbreaking film that is one of the smartest and most well thought out films I have ever seen. It is engaging and is a film I could easily watch again and again despite the longer runtime. This easily is one of if not the best film of 2010 and could easily be one of the best films of the entire decade.