Thursday night at midnight, I went to see it. Friday, I found people to talk about it with. Saturday, more people came out of the woodwork, and the talks were more intense. Sunday, I saw it again. Monday, more people, more talk. Tuesday, it’s time to finally start writing again.
Not since ’Avatar‘ have I found this many people that start conversations with, “Have you seen it yet?” Only with ‘Avatar,’ they were waiting with baited breath to talk about how “cool” this looked, or how “awesome” that scene was. With ‘Inception,’ it’s different. It looks amazing. Christopher Nolan has already proven that he can make a visually spectacular action-adventure. (See: ‘Batman Begins‘ and ‘The Dark Knight.’) Nolan has also proved time and time again that he can challenge you and entertain you at the same time (see ‘Following‘ and ‘Memento‘). With ‘Insomnia,’ he showed his finesse for storytelling without hand holding, and his ability to corral big names into a movie with more mood than ego.
With ‘Memento,’ especially, he showed that complexities don’t have to be trivialized for the sake of gripping entertainment. ‘Inception’ takes every single one of those strengths to the next level and combines them into one, spectacular film. When people have been talking about ‘Inception,’ “how it looks” is a given (read: cool), people talk about what resonated with them and left them thinking. Hearing people talk about different interpretations and meanings of storytelling tidbits, scares me in a “the psycho ‘Lost‘ fans have a new fix” way, but it is awe-inspiring to say the least.
I think I’m done gushing about Nolan here, but I haven’t even started with the rest of the cast. Ever since Scorcese, I’ve accepted that Leo is more than just a star; he’s great at what he does, and he does it again. I can’t express how happy I am to see Tom Hardy in something high profile. ‘Layer Cake‘ on your resume is a gold star in my books, but Hardy’s portrayal of ‘Bronson‘ blew me away, and I’m excited to see him in ‘Mad Max: Fury Road‘ (or anything else for that matter). His “Forger” in ‘Inception’ was one of the most entertaining characters in a group of heavy hitters. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is no slouch either, often playing the straight man when Leo is at his most emotional. The rumour mill suggests possibilities of JGL playing The Riddler in Nolan’s next Batman adventure, and I have no complaints at all about that one. If ‘Inception’ didn’t confirm that he’s officially broken away from his ‘3rd Rock‘ beginnings, see ‘Manic,’ ‘Brick,’ ‘The Lookout‘ and ‘(500) Days of Summer.’ By the pure definition of acting and character growth, realization and discovery, Cillian Murphy acts the hell out of this movie. Rounding out the cast is the ever convincing wizened Ken Watanabe, the hypnotizing Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine-Nolan (after this many consecutive collaborations they have to be related) and Ellen Page who is great as usual…… and 12 years old as usual. For her sake, I really hope she starts to at least look like she’s aging.
I really don’t want to spoil the movie by giving away anything, but rest assured, unlike Spielberg and Lucas, Nolan is as good a writer as he is a director. Not since La Haine’s parable about the man falling off the skyscraper (look it up, forget that. Watch ‘La Haine!’) has a tactfully repeated piece of prose been used so effectively as Nolan’s … Sorry. I’m not going to ruin it. You’ll know it when you hear it.
I’ve been in hiding for quite some time, but I’m poking my head out to say, “See ‘Inception!’ ” I dare you to see it, and not talk about it with someone.In fact, I double pig dare you.
– Pig
