One of the first terms that comes to mind when describing Inception is 'mind-blowing.' Yes, it sounds cliched, but it's really one of the only comments that perfectly compliments the experience of watching it for the first time. Director Christopher Nolan's film deserves nothing less than this type of praise, seeing as it delivers on all accounts: story, cast, visual effects, and most important, brilliance. Inception offers a vastly original look at the world of dreams, one that is as intriguing as it is striking. Nolan's vision is a marvel to explore, as we navigate a whole new world he has created with it's own unique detail and complexing rules.
Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a hired thief in the area of corporate espionage who is able to extract information from the subconscious of people as they sleep. His services are valuable to many, but he plans on quitting the business in order to return home to his children. In order to have his wish granted, he must accept one last mission from a business mogul (Ken Watanabe). Rather than taking out ideas, Dom and his team will have to place one in the mind of a rival business heir (Cillian Murphy), a process known as inception. Dom then puts a team together to fulfill their mission. Included in this round-up are Dom's dream-invading partner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), an architect (Ellen Page), and a "forger" (Tom Hardy). All the while, Dom is continually burdened by memories of his wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard), memories that he's not at all ready to part with.
Deciphering Nolan's dreamworld is not only a challenge, it's a fun challenge. The film contains an instruction booklet collection of theories, logic, and rules of the subconscious that provide us with an innovative perspective of dreaming. The director offers a fresh concept in the film, that of dreams within dreams, and dreams within dreams within dreams. Like David Lynch's Mulholland Drive, the movie wants the audience to contemplate what is a dream and what is reality. Not only is it fun, it makes for great conversation afterwards.
There isn't a single bad performance in the film. Seeing as most of the cast consists of Oscar nominees, that's a given. The two standouts are DiCaprio and Cotillard. The romance between Dom and Mal manages to be compassionate and haunting all at once, and serves as the emotional focus of the film.
The visual effects are every bit as alive as the cast. They don't bombard the audience with in-your-face explosions one after the other. They serve the story with a purpose, and that is to move it foward. The action scenes and fights are expertly choreographed. One of the showstoppers is a fight that takes place in a hotel hallway with zero gravity. Lee Smith flawlessly edits these sequences, all while cutting through each dream level, always letting us know what is happening to each character.
Christopher Nolan has become a new master of the sophisticated blockbuster. He dared to present fresh ideas to the world, and was not hesitant to have us use our heads while watching an action picture. Inception is not as difficult to follow as you would think. All it does is beg you to pay attention, and hand yourself over to the puzzle. In fact, it's a film worth seeing more than once, even if you understood it the first time. Each viewing will present something different, and might or might not change your interpretation of the film's open-ended conclusion. Despite it's 2.5 hour running time, the momentum keeps building, leaving your heart pounding as you wait to see what happens next. Inception is like a dream you don't want to wake-up from.
Final grade: A
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