Inception | 100 Movies Bucket List

 

This was a re-watch, and I'll be honest, it wasn't one I was particularly looking forward to.

I watched this film for the first time a couple of years ago, and while I didn't dislike it, I'm okay with admitting that I didn't understand it at all, and it wasn't one I was particularly interested in trying to decipher once the credits rolled. So when I saw it on the list, I was intrigued to see it again, but I didn't think I'd understand it any more than I did the first time.

And I was right, I didn't understand it any better this time around.

Though as with the first time, I did enjoy it.

The cast is phenomenal. Of course, that's a given for a Nolan movie, but even so. Everyone was fully committed to the idea, they played their characters really well and made it so that even if you don't understand what's happening, you don't care because you're invested in the characters.

There are some really interesting ideas here, mostly surrounding the themes of memory and grief. It's an interesting exploration of the thread between dreams and reality, and how this can be used to dive deeper into trauma.

As stated, this is a Nolan movie, so of course the writing and direction are going to be on point, that's standard. But the writing in this one had a different feel to a lot of the other Nolan movies I've seen. Maybe because this film is so focused on dreams and dream-states, but the writing doesn't seem as grounded or authentic as it has in previous movies, particularly the dialogue. None of the characters feel like real people.

In fact, watching this almost feels like being in a dream itself!

After a while, for me at least, I had to stop trying to understand the film and just enjoy it for what it was. It's not the kind of film that will give you all the answers at the end, so there's no point looking for them.

So while this isn't my favourite Nolan film, it's an enjoyable one that's definitely still worth a watch.