Could Inception change Blockbuster cinema forever?

"It's the Blockbuster movie that will set the bar for all the others to come," I said in my review of Christopher Nolan's latest release Inception some days ago.

Over the last decade Blockbuster cinema, in my opinion, has hit an all time low. Most of these movies, from Transformers and Pirates Of The Caribbean to 2012 and Valentines Day, have treated the audience like idiots and have continued to do so because they've made a profit.

Transformers, for example, which didn't even have any kind of story line and simply tried to entertain its viewers through special effects, immature gags and Megan Fox in skimpy clothes, made £300,000,000. The Pirates Of The Caribbean saga, with the exception of the first movie which wasn't terrible, ran along the same lines with convoluted and faulty story lines disguised beneath pointless special effect scenes, childish humour and Johnny Depp's swaggering, quirky Jack Sparrow character. Nevertheless, seeing as it also made £300,000,000, who cares if the film didn't make any sense or didn't have any story? Clearly, people don't care about about a story, they just want to see a spectacle and just want to be entertained.

But, now, Inception has come along. A complex, thought-provoking, intelligent story that is also hugely entertaining. Most of all, however, it treats the audience as smart people who are able to listen, are able to use their brains, and are able to connect the pieces of Nolan's puzzle together. And so far, within just two weeks of its release, it's already made a third of what both of the movies above have grossed, Also, it has received incredible reviews and an outstanding reaction from its audience. On Twitter, it's been high on the 'recent trends' list ever since it hit cinemas. On IMDB, it stands in the top 5 highest rated movies of all time. And, wherever I have done over the last 2 weeks, I've been asked by friends and family alike: "Have you seen Inception yet?"

Therefore, movie producers will have to ask some serious questions from an industry point of view now: Do we carry on making the same old spectacle movies that have nothing new or intelligent about them yet draw in enough money regardless? Are the audience dumb enough to keep coming back for more of this kind of stuff? Or do we start making films that will make people think now that Inception has become a huge international hit? Do audiences actually want something that will both excite and puzzle? Will these kinds of stories make more money?

Moreover, it will beg the question about whether original stories should be more frequent in the summer Blockbuster season. After all, for the last decade, it has been mainly populated by comic book adaptations, sequels, reboots, TV show adaptations and novel adaptations such as Sex And The City, Iron Man, The A-Team, Die Hard, etc. All of which, although they made a lot of money, could well be overshadowed by the success of Inception, a story conceived in the mind of Christopher Nolan, if its audience appeal carries on. So do producers, therefore, find more original stories for this blockbuster season? Do people actually want to see something new instead of the tired old sequels and adaptations that we all know what to expect from?

What I'm trying to say here is this: Inception has the potential to show studio bosses that they are wrong; that people don't want dumb movies. Inception also has the potential to kill off the tired old excuse that many filmmakers have used this decade of 'we had to dumb it down to get a mainstream audience'. Because, if this film goes on to be one of the highest grossing movies of all time, it will show that people are able to keep up, and be hugely entertained, by a complex, intelligent and original movie.

After all, it's so intelligent and thought-provoking that the pay off is more rewarding than any Blockbuster that's been released in the last 10 years.

By Daniel Sarath with 3 comments