Not everyone loves Christopher Nolan movies, in fact, there's an audience out there who hates them. I don't really know why, but it's true. At the same time, there are those who really love his movies. There are extremes at both ends and they often collide with each other. The problem with that is people against Christopher Nolan then feel more inclined to knock him and his movies than ever before because of all the fanboys who adamantly defend him.
So then you have people automatically going on the defensive when they give Inception a negative review. Insisting on lambasting Nolan and ALL of his movies to let everyone know that they think he's a hack. One reviewer actually said that the dreams in Inception are as if they were directed by Michael Bay. Are there really people who put Christopher Nolan on that level? Is he really THAT bad to some people?
This brings up a point that I would like to make about a word that people overuse these days. Well, not just these days, but since the dawn of the internet. The word in question is "overrated." There are so many goddamn people out there who think everything is "overrated." It gets to a point where the word overrated is used so much that you wonder if the film in question is really that overrated anymore. If there are a lot people that think a movie is overrated... doesn't that balance out the people who think the movie is great?
No. Because when someone claims a movie is overrated, they aren't saying a movie is bad or good. So when someone says Inception is overrated, it doesn't mean anything and it doesn't reflect their opinion on the movie. Sure, The Dark Knight might be overrated, but is it a bad film? Can you honestly say that The Dark Knight is a bad film? I can't, but apparently other people can. But most people substitute "bad film" for "overrated" as if it's the same word and it's a complete cop out. Once someone gets offended, the person then backs down: "Well, I didn't say it was a BAD film, I just think it's overrated." Ok, fine, but what do you THINK about the fucking movie?
This definitely applies to the way people feel about Christopher Nolan. Honestly, it shouldn't surprise people that there's an audience who thinks so highly of the man. Here's a guy who garnered instant critical success with "Memento" and managed to successfully transition to big budget movies. He revived the Batman franchise and made it respectable again. He then upped the ante with The Dark Knight which was definitely a much more entertaining, complex film than Batman Begins. There was so much hype for The Dark Knight and yet, ultimately, people got what they paid for. Unfortunately, there was the detractors who didn't really see what was great about the Dark Knight and because there was such a strong positive reaction toward the movie, those detractors reacted the same way, but negatively.
So now we come to Inception, a big budget movie completely conceived by Christopher Nolan. There are those who consider it a remarkable achievement, the rare original summer blockbuster that really makes the audience think. Plenty of people love the film, around 85% according to rottentomatoes. But those who don't love it, hate it. And I just have to wonder why that is. I will continue to wonder why that is until I see the movie at 10pm tonight. I won't make any secret that I think I'll love the film, but there's an equal chance that I might not. I can tell you one thing though, I definitely won't HATE it. How can I hate an original work by someone who has such a great track record already? And those who think that Christopher Nolan hasn't made a SINGLE good movie can kiss my ass. You don't have to think the guy's a genius, but please take that stick out of your ass.
Nolan filmography, rated:
Following, 1998: An interesting, very low-budget, black and white, indie affair. If you've seen his other films, you'll know right away that this is a Christopher Nolan film. All the elements from his other movies are there, albeit in premature form. Rating: 7/10
Memento, 2000: I've already wrote about this movie before so I won't go into too much detail about it. For those who complain about Nolan films not having an emotional core, I honestly feel that they should go back to Memento. Memento also demonstrates Nolan's sense of humor. The use of a backwards structure to tell the story is original, but it also sets up some pretty funny situtations. One of the decade's best, for sure. Rating: 10/10
Insomnia, 2002: I did not have this film on my 2000s list because I actually feel that this is a weaker effort from Nolan. While I dug the performances by Robin Williams and Al Pacino, I just never thought of this film as anything more than an above-average thriller. Rating: 7/10
Batman Begins, 2005: The movie that brought Batman back to respectability. The best thing about Batman Begins is how patient it is. It really wants you to know and understand how Batman became to be. For me, the film is even better now after the Dark Knight came out. Rating: 8.75/10
The Prestige, 2006: There's a lot of people who didn't really like the way The Prestige ends, but I'm not one of them. You know this is a twist-laden movie so why can't you just sit back and allow the twists to happen? Aside from that, it's also a well-crafted film. Rating: 9/10
The Dark Knight, 2008: Enough has been said about this movie so I'll keep this brief. It's easily the greatest superhero film ever made, it contains the best superhero villain, and the way everything comes together in this film is, in my opinion, brilliant. Rating: 9.5/10
Call me a Nolan fanboy, if you will. You've seen my top 100 lists, you know what I like. I can respect those who dismiss some of Nolan's films... just not those who dismiss all of them.
What did I think of Inception? Find out tomorrow.
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