Top 250-Inception

*May Contain SPOILERS

With the very first image from this movie I thought "Oh A Sequel to Titanic". Obviously its far from it but the sight of Leo Dicaprio face down in the surf looking half dead its easy to see why the connection came up.

Inception is currently Number 3 in the Top 250 and I'm sorry to say its not the 3rd best film of all time. (That would be The Big Lebowski, Planet of The Apes(1968) or Fight Club depending on my mood.) Its a new release though and any connoisseur of the top 250 knows that many films burst into the Top 250 only to disappear once more than just the fanboys have seen it. I think this one will hang in there but only time will tell.

I doubt you really want to read my ramblings about the figures and trends of the Top 250 and would prefer to read an actual review of the film. So where to begin.

In this world that Christopher Nolan, Cinematic Genius. has created its possible to get inside peoples dreams and to share them as a group. This has led to a group of thieves using it to steal secrets by constructing dreams which the target then populates with their sub conscious and their secrets. Even just writing that had increased my awe for this film. I've made it sound complex and confusing whereas the film manages to introduce the idea naturally and smoothly The intricacies of the plot get complicated later but the blocks that are used to construct the plot are not. You'll need to pay attention to keep up with what is going on and the way I found to do this was to concentrate on what had just happened and what was the current objective. This prevented me getting caught up in knots about everything else that was in play at the same time. The filmmaking skill would remind you of what was important and you needed to know as you went along.

The visuals were amazing and I've heard complaints that the dreamworld wasn't surreal enough. I thought this was a good move. Dream Logic is not narrative logic. If a dream logic had been adhered to then causes and consequences go out the window. So by keeping the dreams based in reality even if it is the hyper reality of a crime caper. It even explains why this creative decision was made via an inworld explanation.

Again I've heard that some saw it as overly expositional, too much tell not enough show. I didn't find this so. This was because of the strength of the actors doing the telling and how gripped I was by what was going on. It does show as well with some great action sequences like the corridor fight and some stunning imagery as dreams collapse.

My only critique would be that I wasn't emotionally enough invested in the characters. I did care but as one detached. Other films drag you in a make you empathise with the characters. You feel what they feel. With this one you know what they are feeling but it never impacts on you. Without this flaw I'd have given it a 10. It does for now get a 9.

Image found here