Inception

I thought this was going to be another Tenet situation where I had no idea what was going on, but to my surprise, this was actually quite easy to follow - which I really appreciated. The concept is both original and engaging, exploring the idea of dreams within dreams. However, Nolan’s grand, booming scores are starting to feel a bit repetitive. They tend to dominate scenes and force the emotional tone, rather than support it. Once again, the emotional core didn’t quite land for me, with Dom Cobb’s story feeling a little hollow. The guilt-ridden male protagonist trope, which is consistent in a lot of Nolan’s work, comes off as melodramatic here too. The pain is treated like world-ending trauma, but it’s mostly conveyed through stiff dialogue instead of genuine emotional depth. The practical effects are incredible though - the hallway fight in the hotel was especially impressive. Also, the skiing gun-fight scene was very cool, the whole snow fortress (level 3) act reminded me of Bond or Mission Impossible. Low 7/10. Nolan Ranked: (preference)1. The Dark Knight 2. Memento 3. Dunkirk4. Inception 5. The Dark Knight Rises 6. Tenet7. Interstellar 8. The Prestige 9. Batman Begins