Christopher Nolan's Ambitious Epic Is Messy, Flawed -- And Unquestionably Great ​

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This is gonna sound like a pretty damning way to start a pretty good review, but this is one of the more flawed great films of maybe the entirety of the 2020s so far. Its flaws are pretty glaring, but its heights are so nuts that it feels petty to knock the movie too hard. 

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But it’s fascinating because the flaws are very glaring. And it’s almost flawed in every regard. Some actors show up way less than others (Tom Holland); some dialogue was written with the focus of a teenager; some of the editing is stilted or abrupt and seems to end scenes before they can make a real impact.

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But damn if the rest of this just isn’t completely excellent. A majority of the cast knocks it so far out of the park; some of the dialogue is some of Nolan’s most poetic and lyrical; the nonlinear plot is super engaging; and the overall spectacle is, of course, astounding. This might be Nolan’s most beautiful and visually incredible movie.

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What I think really swings this one for me, though, is how he actually, somehow, manages to enhance the source material. He turns this story of dedication into one about morality and humanism and compassion and the nature of man, and manages to balance all of that with his most effective emotional through line of any of his films ever. I got weepier than I’ve ever gotten watching a Nolan movie. 

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So he breaks some eggs, that’s for damn sure, but god, what a glorious cinematic omelet this is.