Inception

I’ve technically “seen” Inception before, but I was like 7 or something the first time... which in this case basically means I have forgotten a lot. Most of what I watched between 6 and 8 years old is either completely gone from my brain... or just exists as a few disconnected images. So... This might be the closest thing I could get to watching it for the first time... again. I completely understand why people are obsessed with this movie. I am kind of severely lost for words after finishing it. I actually went in expecting something more like a big epic sci-fi action movie, just a really "smart" one… but it ended up being way more emotional and personal than I thought it would be. It’s not just about dream heists and cool visuals; it’s far more than that... it is extremely emotional towards the end, and it hit way harder than I expected. What really messes with me is that I do have small criticisms. There are definitely moments where the exposition is heavy, or where the characters outside of Cobb and Mal feel more like pieces on a chessboard than fully fleshed-out people. And I could see basically every twist coming from a mile away… but after that ending... none of it matters. When the twists actually happened they still felt impactful, probably because I had these vague childhood memories floating around in the back of my head that made everything feel both familiar and new at the same time... it kind of felt like Deja vu. I don’t even know how to explain what the ending did to me. It didn’t just confuse my mind; it is rare that a movie just leaves me sitting there not knowing what I was feeling physically. It’s one of those endings where you just stare at the screen as the credits roll because your brain is still trying to process whether you just watched a happy ending, a tragic one, or something in between. And again, all the little issues I thought about during the movie just kind of disappeared the second the camera moved back to the top spinning. Visually, I have really mixed but interesting thoughts. On one hand, I genuinely love how realistic everything looks at all times. The dreams don’t have that typical dreamy filter or surreal glow… they look almost completely like real life, just with impossible things happening inside them. And I get why Nolan did that, because the whole point is that the characters can’t tell they’re dreaming. Making the world look normal is what makes the bending cities, the folding streets, and the zero-gravity feel so insane when they do happen. But at the same time… a part of me wonders what it would have looked like if he had stylized it just a little more... even if it was for the entire movie and not just the dreams. Like, not in a way that would break the logic of the story, just something slightly more artistic. But I then immediately talk myself out of that thought, because changing that would also change the entire feeling of the movie. This is one of those rare cases where you can imagine alternatives, but you can also see why the director chose exactly what we got, because it doesn't feel like there are any other options than what we got. The writing is honestly spectacular. The fact that a movie with this many rules, layers, and moving parts is still understandable on a first proper watch is kind of insane. Nolan is juggling dream levels, time dilation, emotional backstory, and a full heist structure all at once, and it somehow never collapses in on itself. It’s complicated, but it never feels messy… just dense. And I can’t talk about this movie without mentioning the sound and music. Hans Zimmer’s score is basically half the reason the movie is as good as it is... haha. Nothing beats that deep, almost horn-like sound that keeps repeating throughout the film makes every scene feel like it has weight behind it, like something massive is slowly building in the background. By the time you get to the final sequence where all the dream layers are happening at once, the music is doing just as much storytelling as the editing. Another thing I didn’t expect was how engaging it was the entire time. I was literally sitting in my room with my computer ON right next to me... and not once did I touch it... No pausing, no checking anything, nothing... The movie just completely locked me in, and 2 and a half hours just ran by. I also really like Leonardo DiCaprio here. Cobb is not a typical action hero or even a typical Nolan protagonist. He’s exhausted, and emotionally unstable... and kind of selfish too. His entire motivation is built around getting back to his kids, but he’s also the reason he can’t see them in the first place, which makes his arc feel a lot more tragic than triumphant. On a final note, though... this is still not my favorite Nolan Movie... I will always give that spot to The Prestige... because I love MAGIC. But also i kind of want a Spinning top right now...