Christopher Nolan is one of the most celebrated filmmakers of the modern age and it's no question as to why. One question that many fans and critics will debate time and time again is what will be his defining project to date. Is it "The Dark Knight"? "Memento"? "Interstellar"? Well, personally, I believe that his best film to date is one of his more mind-bending and original projects he has made so far in his career. Professional dream thief, Dominick Cobb, is a man with a tragic past and is exiled from his home country because of it. When he is given a job opportunity that will clear his criminal records by one of his latest targets, Cobb recruits a team and starts to plan the seemingly impossible task to influence the heir to a giant company to willingly dissolve in his own doing via the "inception" theory. This one last job however may prove too dangerous and potentially life-threatening if unprepared, something that Cobb and his team will be forced to deal with. Much like Nolan's other works, this film is stuffed with a complicated narrative and world-building that must be stated to the audience in precise doses with slow pace and long runtime of nearly two-and-a-half hours. While I feel that some exposition in the first half could have been placed in the second half for better pacing, it never drags the film or feel like filler. That's the best thing about the majority of Nolan's work, he rarely has filler in his films. The tone is as usual of Nolan's filmography as ever. It takes itself seriously where consequences are dire, yet there's still a touch of humour or levity to not feel like melodrama.
Leonardo DiCaprio as Cobb is one of the actor's better performances in his lengthy career. DiCaprio knows how to channel this wounded soul who is trying to save face to the people around him and act like he's on top of everything. His character arc is also brilliant in terms of embracing guilt and seeking redemption, especially with the characters of Mal and Saito. He can be both an action guy and a dramatic lead, which makes Cobb one of, if not, the most developed characters in any of Nolan's films. It's actually shocking that he wasn't even nominated that year for Best Actor. The rest of the ensemble cast are also nearly on par as DiCaprio. Joseph Gordan-Levitt as Arthur, Cobb's friend and partner-in-crime is great in being this stone-faced and calculative ally who feels the most critical in both executing the mission and Cobb's remorse. Elliot Page as Ariadne is a prime choice to not only be the connective link to Cobb and his character arc, but also as a character that acts as the viewpoint of the audience as she get pulled into the world and rules of dreaming. Tom Hardy as Eames provides some comic relief and awesome action moments as the calm under pressure impersonator, while Cillian Murphy is fantastic as Fischer, the son and heir to a energy corporation who is manipulated and thrust into the dream world by Cobb. Marion Cotillard as Mal, the deceased wife of Cobb who haunts his dreams is great at playing both a physical and emotional obstacle to Cobb, and Ken Watanabe as Saito is as brilliant as ever in playing the collective and down-to-business employer of Cobb and the team. There are a few characters I chose to leave out due to a lack of screentime or memorability, but I can assure that even these more minor characters are acted well and important in the story. The cast and characters deliver outstanding performances and likeable personalities, but it's DiCaprio that really makes the film his own.
Nolan's directing never seizes to underwhelm moviegoers as he knows how to make a one-of-a-kind cinematic experience. Even if you're not a fan of some of his work, there has to be at least one film that has blown your mind. With the case of "Inception", Nolan captivates the viewer by making you dive into a fantastical yet realistic concept of entering dreams. The dreams themselves are not goofy or over-the-top like dreams can be, but feel rather ordinary despite a factor of surrealism. The world-building is creative in how something so abstract like dreams can have a layer of grounded reality to them. Much like his other films, Nolan obsesses with muted and grey colours while still offering some visually outstanding and pleasing sequences. The Oscar-winning cinematography by Wally Pfister is perfectly edited and paced by how much the shot lingers on a subject or environment, offering a sense of scope and level of human connection to the characters. The score by Hans Zimmer, while not anywhere near his best work, fits the somber tone of the movie and remains memorable in the shifts between bombastic spectacle to emotional pieces. The Oscar-winning visual effects hold up well for the most part, mainly due to how Nolan tries to keep everything in camera. While the quality of the effects can range from time to time, the CGI is still visually interesting or surreal to not take your eyes off it. The action sequences are also a huge highlight, despite Nolan upping the action in every consecutive film. While the shootouts can feel oddly artificial or staged in regards to the weird way enemies get limped from one bullet, it actually helps both the action and film to achieve this dream-like feel. The use of practical effects also help out in making the action feel visceral such as Arthur's fight in the zero-gravity hallway, a train crashing through a LA street, and the climatic set-piece of a mountain fortress ripped from a "Call of Duty" game and an explosion achieved by miniatures. Overall, Nolan's filmmaking is simply excellent and it's surprising that he wasn't nominated for Best Director for his efforts.
"Inception" may have its quirks or motifs that will not be a film for everyone, but it is undeniably Nolan's best film to date. From a unique and original story, well-executed tone, DiCaprio's performance as Cobb, the rest of the ensemble cast being on par in their acting talents and ensuring you can have more than one favourite character, Pfister's Oscar-winning cinematography, Zimmer's epic and emotionally-packed score, CGI that holds up on a visual level, action sequences that are engaging and memorable thanks to the practical effects and pre-existing world-building, and Nolan's creative writing and direction to make dreams both visually surreal and narratively logical at the same time. While other Nolan films can potentially have better individual elements compared to that of "Inception", it doesn't take away how everything about the film is perfectly executed to some degree, not unlike the mission the characters endure.
Verdict: 10/10. Truly Nolan's one and only masterpiece as of late. Can't wait to see if any future projects can be on par of this modern classic.
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