As his career evolves, Christopher Nolan is establishing himself as multiple things—among them, a director who’s willing to push the envelope and doesn’t shy away from challenges, a man with an incredibly creative mind, and someone who’s more interested in technical wizardry than generating sheer emotion through traditional means. This last point is true in multiple ways: sure, Nolan loves using extravagant cinematic techniques (which is not to suggest that he’s a gimmicky filmmaker), as illustrated by Memento‘s (2000) wildly imaginative editing. But he’s also drawn to trickery and mind games as topic matter: from his unique debut, Following (1999), about a writer who follows strangers to spark his creative process, to The Prestige (2006), which zeros in on dueling magicians trying to one-up the other. And his Batman duo—Batman Begins (2005), and The Dark Knight (2008)—focus heavily on psychology, especially The Dark Knight‘s epic battle between the Caped Crusader and The Joker. So it’s no surprise that he’d eventually be drawn to a literal examination of the mind and, to a lesser extent, our current obsession with technology and gaming with his latest, Inception, which has been talked up to crazy heights and showcases the best, as well as the most problematic, aspects of Nolan’s directorial chops.

Set in a world where dreams can be entered and manipulated, Inception focuses on Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a former “architect” whose personal tragedies and demons have forced him to find others to help him on his quest for closure and inner peace. He’s helped along on this quest by a star-studded gaggle of assistants, including the smooth, stoic Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the at-first naive genius Ariadne (Ellen Page), who’s Cobb’s ‘successor,’ and the wily Eames (Tom Hardy of Bronson fame). And let’s not sell the rest of the cast short: we have Tom Berenger, Marion Cottilard (as the tortured Cobb’s former flame, Mal), Ken Watanabe, and Cillian Murphy as the ‘target’ business executive as well, among others! The acting is surprisingly average for such a bevy of big names, though: only Murphy and Gordon-Levitt really stand out. The rest range from good (Page, Hardy) to so-so (DiCaprio, Watanabe). The emotional side of Inception—i.e. Cobb’s search for internal redemption—mostly falls flat, due to Nolan’s focus on shock-and-awe visuals and scope. There aren’t any small moments in building Cobb & Mal’s relationship and past up, so the dramatic, family-based scenes feel too sudden and isolated. And the first half of the film is too expository, with seemingly every other sequence involving Cobb or Arthur waxing philosophically about the process of entering dreams, how it works, and what happens, and can happen, in various scenarios. In a sense, this is unsurprising: Nolan is always about cool over intimacy. Once Robert Fischer (Murphy) enters the fray, though, Inception really steps it up. Its examination of the ‘levels’ of the mind, which can be viewed both as a study of psychology and an allegory for our obsession with gaming in this hyper-computer age (the “levels” of video games), isn’t exactly brilliant, but really entertaining and strongly executed. Coupled with Nolan’s keen eye and flair, multiple stretches of Inception‘s final hour+ are electrifying, especially a sequence in a hotel elevator shaft where Gordon-Levitt puts on a show, helped along by Nolan’s expert framing of human bodies levitating in the air. The concept behind the van-hitting-the-water is also pretty awesome (you’ll see; can’t spoil). It’s a shame that Inception is as mechanical as it is at times, because there’s enough strong stuff here to tease at a great picture. Unfortunately, we’re left instead with a good movie that falls victim to the hype machine, leading to false expectations: this is a smart, exciting blockbuster, not a masterpiece for the ages. With that in mind, break out the popcorn, enjoy it, and keep waiting for Nolan to truly craft his masterpiece.

65/100