Inception vs. The Dark Knight

Hey all,

So I assume that everyone that likes movies has seen Inception. And let me just say this before I continue: at the end of the movie when the top is spinning and you don't know if it is going to fall over or keep spinning: it falls over. The reason why I know this is that when Cobb is in a dream the top spins without any change in gravity whereas at the end when it keeps on spinning, it wobbles enough to where there would have to be a change in gravity for it to wobble in the dream. And there wasn't a change in gravity because the rest of the room was still.

But anyways, Christopher Nolan has recently directed 2 of the best movies ever in The Dark Knight and Inception. They are really 2 very different movies. One is about the moral philosophy that humans make between doing what is right vs. what is good in the Dark Knight and the other is about the philosophy of how our subconscious can describe us better than we can. But there is enough ground to compare the two and at the end, WHICH WAS BETTER?

The first issue is Character Development.

As we see in the Dark Knight, the entire movie is based upon character development especially that of Batman and Bruce Wayne. At first, we see Batman trying to mold the Joker into his own game with rules and good cop bad cop when they are trying to find Harvey Dent. But clearly by the end, Batman has evolved into "The Dark Knight" by playing down to the Jokers level. While this isn't considered a good choice for Batman's publicity, it is the right choice for the city of Gothem. Bruce Wayne at the beginning is a determined to get Rachel from Harvey but also he KNOWS he will get her eventually. When Rachel dies, he no longer felt that it would have happened. Obviously the biggest change was Harvey Dent changing from "Gothem's last hope" to a half man- half monster.

As we see in Inception, the ONLY character that EVER changes in the movie is Cobb. But before we start let me point out something that I found quite interesting about character development. Fisher in the movie has a huge development by wanting to split up his fathers empire, but that was planned by the inceptionists (cobb, arthur, etc.) Character Development is a UNEXPECTED development in a characters mood or actions. Cobb's change was letting go of his wife and having to comfront her in his dream. And while this is huge, it would have been nice to see some other focus' like that of the Dark Knight.

So, Character Development goes to: THE DARK KNIGHT

Next is Special Effects.

The Dark Knight has some pretty awesome effects in the movie. Everything from buildings blowing up to car chases makes this movie one of the best action movies of all time. Most notably, when Batman captures Lao from his office, it was a great combination of suspense, action and plot. There was NOTHING that this movie could have done better in terms of special effects.

Inception has some pretty awesome special effects as well. They had car chases and buildings blowing up but they had the added extra as well that has to be taken into account. The idea of designing dreams and all of the different structures of a dream amazed me while watching this movie. One of the coolest things I have ever seen in any movie is when Ariadne (ellen page), decides to put the streets on top of each other.

So, Special Effects goes to INCEPTION.

Finally, and most importantly, is Plot.

The Dark Knight is so in depth that I have seen the movie 6 times and still feel that there are parts of the movie I have yet to fully understand. The intricacies of the plot are incredible. There is the main plot of corse with Batman and Bruce Wayne trying to stop the Joker. Then there is the triangle of love between Rachel, Harvey Dent and Bruce Wayne. There is the in depth analysis of Lt. Gordon and his battle against the mob including the Joker. Then there is a whole other plot about the Joker's life story and yet another about how long Bruce Wayne will continue being Batman and who Gothem's next hero will be. So overall, there is a lot of Plot development in The Dark Knight.

Inception has one very in depth story that it tells well. The levels of the dreams and how to convince Fisher to destroy his father's empire. The other part of that story is Cobb's life and his wife but that to me is more character development rather than actual Plot. But really that is it. Every other characetr is pretty meaningless in terms of background and in depth analysis maybe besides Saito and Fisher. That doesn't make this movie any worse but I wish I could see into lives of more of these characters.

So Plot goes to The Dark Knight.

These may easily be the 2 best movies I have ever seen and both are very well made. But in terms of which is better, I would have to go with The Dark Knight. But in terms of uniqueness, I would have to go with Inception. Please feel MORE THAN FREE to comment on this post if you agree or disagree.