A heist movie where the vault is your mind and your crew mess with dreams?
This is my kind of movie.
When it first came out, I remember going into the cinema not knowing what it was about. I just remember that it had an awesome cast and they looked suitably gangster. Like, Mafia gangster.
This movie has been out for five years and one of the biggest challenges that has been around since the inception (hehe) of film is to make sure it stands the test of time.
Has it aged well? Or will it pass into obscurity so that the hipsters of the future will talk about it in the same tone as film students talk about Un Chien Andalou?
That's the point of this review today.
Story/Dialogue: We have Cobb, our gentleman dream thief, assembling a team in order to infiltrate the dreams of a corporate heir to bring down his empire so that he can go home.
Like most heist movies, it takes precision, delicacy and a great understanding of the layout. Unlike most heist movies, the layouts are created by the people that infiltrate it.
It tends to deal more with the psychology of the subject than your regular heist movies. Which makes sense, given that you're literally inside someone's head.
In typical Nolan style, the story is out of order like its predecessor Memento. The best thing about telling the story this way is that it's like living a half remembered dream. You come into things half way through and yet somehow you never really figure out how you got to the beginning in the first place. It's all in fragments like a film just before editing. Shot out of order and chaotic.
The only real downside to this film is that Nolan has this awful habit of holding you by the hand and explaining EVERYTHING to you. As Pixar's Mr. Stanton once said, "Don't give them 4. Give them 2 plus 2 and let them figure it out." The audience are not stupid. Give them some credit and let them figure it all out.It kind of takes the fun out of the movie when it feels as though the film maker is taking the mickey out of you. The only film maker I can tolerate trolling me is Luc Besson.
Slight note: I loved how Nolan chose the name Ariadne. Way to make use of your Greek Mythology, dude.
Cinematography: Visually, this movie is excellent. The lighting makes use of the yellows, blues and greys and utilises them to their maximum potential. From the scene we are introduced to Cobb and Arthur with the golden Japanese decor to the rainy New York streets in Yousef's mind, it is visually relaxing to watch. You are not blinded by the intensity of the shots and it allows you to take in the details. It's not heavily saturated in colour so that you are overwhelmed by everything that's going on.
The framing was excellent, especially in the hotel corridor fight scene where they flipped the room about so that the people rolled with it. Watching them try and get their footing right was both funny and tense, like watching armless MMA fighters kick each other's butts.
Plus the visuals in the beginning with Ariadne were delightful to watch. As a general fan of physics, watching it being defied was awesome.
Of all the things about this film, the cinematography was my favourite. It was easy on the eyes and wasn't cut so quickly that you couldn't keep up with the action. Watching rooms shift and architecture move about was riveting to see.
Audio: Ahh, Hans Zimmer. Kung Fu Panda, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Last Samurai...this man injects class and tension into films and gives them a sense of atmosphere that a lot of films lack. Music and audio hit me on a personal level. I'm a guy who loves music and believes that though film is a visual medium, without sound, it lacks dimension. You can create dreamscapes by closing your eyes and listening to music and I believe that's what Zimmer has brought to the table. The rising crescendos of tension during infiltration drag you to the edge of your seat and tape your eyes open so you don't want to miss anything.
But, like all of Nolan's films, the sound mixing is often skewed and volumes are raised and lowered erratically. This is especially frustrating when characters are talking. Missing dialogue is fine when your visuals tell a story, but if you're going to hand feed us information, at least make sure we can hear it.
Overall: I loved this movie after coming out of the cinema. It made me question a lot of things and at the time, I couldn't work out why I liked it.
But as I said, the point of this review is to determine whether or not this film will stand the test of time.
As there was no real use of phones, old school instant messaging systems or anything of that function, I'd say that it'd age really well. It captures the aesthetic of the 30's while giving it a modern twist and has potential to be a sci-fi classic.
However, the way the director leads us around and the music bother me immensely.
4 stars.
Thus concludes this review.
Feel free to make recommendations, comments and tell your friends, so they can make recommendations, too!
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