The Hollywood Reporter: ” A devilishly complicated,
fiendishly enjoyable sci-fi voyage across a dreamscape that is
thoroughly compelling.” … “”Inception” puts him not only at the top of
the heap of sci-fi all-stars, but it also should put this Warner Bros.
release near or at the top of the summer movies. It’s very hard to see
how a film that plays so winningly to so many demographics would not be a
worldwide hit.” … “Sometimes originality comes at a cost though: At the
end, you may find yourself utterly exhausted.”
Variety: “If movies are shared dreams, then
Christopher Nolan is surely one of Hollywood’s most inventive dreamers,
given the evidence of his commandingly clever “Inception.” Applying a
vivid sense of procedural detail to a fiendishly intricate yarn set in
the labyrinth of the subconscious, the writer-director has devised a
heist thriller for surrealists, a Jungian’s “Rififi,” that challenges
viewers to sift through multiple layers of (un)reality. As such, it’s a
conceptual tour de force unlikely to rank with Batman at the B.O.,
though post-”Dark Knight” anticipation and Leonardo DiCaprio should
still position it as one of the summer’s hottest, classiest tickets.” …
“If “Inception” is a metaphysical puzzle, it’s also a metaphorical one:
It’s hard not to draw connections between Cobb’s dream-weaving and
Nolan’s filmmaking — an activity devoted to constructing a simulacrum of
reality, intended to seduce us, mess with our heads and leave a lasting
impression. Mission accomplished.”
Cinematical: “Nolan, working with the sort of
confidence (not to mention free financial reign) that comes from making a
studio a mint on one’s previous picture, crafts an amazingly
sophisticated, subversive, thoughtful, and even occasionally confusing
(albeit in only good ways) tale about the layers of reality in the mind
that calcify and crumble when constructed from the raw materials of
memory and emotion. At the same time, he’s made an utter crowd pleaser,
an epic piece of entertainment that ultimately feels so simple precisely
because of all of its complexity, and one that rouses and inspires and
excites in the same way as blockbusters comprised of pure spectacle.” …
“Watching the film, there’s a palpable sort of glee that Nolan takes in
setting up the rules for his mental universe and then betraying them,
contradicting them, or destroying them outright.” … “Ultimately, Nolan’s
is probably not the kind of movie that should be written about after
just one viewing, and shouldn’t be viewed even once with any
preconceptions or expectations, sky-high as I may have made them for
folks who read this far. ”
Empire Magazine: “Like The Matrix
mated with Synecdoche, New York — or a Charlie Kaufman 007. To
paraphrase Casino Royale’s Vesper Lynd, it’s a meaningful pursuit in a
summer of disposable entertainments. With physics-defying, thunderous
action, heart-wringing emotion and an astonishing performance from
DiCaprio, Nolan delivers another true original: welcome to an
undiscovered country.”
Awards
Daily: “Inception is a journey into the unseen rooms of the mind. It
is also a slightly uncomfortably intimate look inside the mind of Nolan
himself. It’s a frightening place to be, as it would be to enter
anyone’s mind – dwelling in the various levels of consciousness, weaving
in and out of the fears, desires and behaviors. As much as we know,
as far as we’ve come, as many places as we’ve been, there is still a lot
about our minds and our dreams that we dare not discover. How might
your darkest fears and impulses manifest themselves in your dreams?
What monsters are lurking there? What memories? Do you face them or
run from them?”
InContention:
“In reviewing 2008’s “The Dark Knight,” I wrote that director
Christopher Nolan “has made a brief career of exploring characters built
upon their somber, in some instances twisted pasts, however distant or
immediate.” The theme continues with “Inception,” a film like nothing
you have ever seen before that plays out like a two-hour therapy
session, wrapped in the accoutrement of a heist film and bathed in the
panache of an entirely immersive cinematic experience.” … “Every single
moment of “Inception” is more gripping than the last. It’s the kind of
film Freud, or more likely Jung, would have delighted in
deconstructing. Nolan takes a leap of faith with his audience, trusting
them to keep up with the screenplay’s labyrinthine structure while at
the same time conjuring enough cerebral hocus pocus to avert attention
from its weaknesses.”
HitFix: “Suffice it to say that “Inception” is an
exhilarating cinematic experience that suggests there is still room,
even in the blockbuster world, for big ideas and dangerous emotions, and
that may be the single most thrilling thing about it.”
Film School Rejects: “I will say this now, without
reservation and fully confident that many will agree; Inception is
easily the best big budget film of the year thus far. I’ll go further
and say that it’s one of the most beautiful, well written, and fully
realized high dollar films of the last five years. Inception, is close
to perfection.” … “nception has a very cerebral plot, big on emotion and
deeply connected to the exploration of the subconscious — but it’s an
action film, and a beautiful one. Wally Pfister’s cinematography is
second to none, and the digital effects work is seamless.” … “Parts of
Inception are like watching an Escher lithograph come to life, which,
you know — is awesome. Coupled with Hans Zimmer’s masterful score,
Inception is not only a treat visually, but matched by the music from
the first scene on. Inception is what The Wachowskis wish the rest of
The Matrix films after the first could have been; a head trip with
outrageous action sequences and a strong emotional attachment to the
story.”
CHUD: “Inception is a masterpiece. Making a huge
film with big ambitions, Christopher Nolan never missteps and manages to
create a movie that, at times, feels like a miracle. And sometimes it
doesn’t even feel like a movie; while presented in woefully retro 2D,
Inception creates a complete sense of immersion in another world. The
screen before you is just another layer of the dream.” … “I don’t even
know what’s the most remarkable aspect of Inception. It’s huge-budget
filmmaking harnessed to tell a personal story that’s smart and
uncompromising. That’s certainly remarkable in this age of Hollywood. ” …
“I loved every moment of the waking dream, every frame of the celluloid
reality. Cinema is dreaming, and Nolan understands this implicitly and
completely. ”
JoBlo:
“Nolan has truly created his magnum opus; an achievement of such
grandeur, it’s remarkable a film of this scale was made in this day and
age” … “The film stars DiCaprio, in a career-best performance,” … “It’s
tempting to compare this film to some amalgam of THE MATRIX, James Bond
movies, THE STING and the 1984 thriller DREAMSCAPE, and while there are
certainly similarities, INCEPTION defies comparison to live as a movie
all its own. Intelligent without being impenetrable, INCEPTION is like
few films that come before it. The film has no shortage of thrilling
action sequences yet none feel arbitrary. The action, for once, serves
the story instead of the other way around. But this doesn’t mean that
the visuals are anything short of breathtaking. ”
ComingSoon: “In a great many ways, “Inception” is an
exceptional film. It boasts a larger than life cast, a virtually
unrestricted budget and a director at the top of his game both
commercially and artistically. Action scenes feature mountain ski
chases, zero-gravity fights and flawless special effect dreamscapes. So
how is it that “Inception” comes together as such a bore? “Inception’s”
problems stem completely from the screenplay. While we’re meant to
believe that the world Nolan has created is of the utmost complexity, it
is nowhere near the level that the exposition affords it. “Inception”
is a monstrous, all-consuming exposition that seems to devour character
and emotion to the point that, on the whole, the film feels like the
origin story for a much more interesting tale. That is, the
dream-espionage set-up is wonderfully original and clearly
well-researched, but far too much time is spent establishing the rules
of the world and far too little twisting those rules into anything other
than face value.”
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
