Where to begin with a movie like Inception. Well for one thing it's worth pointing out that it's easily the best film of this year so far, and makes every other movie that's come out this summer pretty much look like crap. Inception has action, drama, romance, tragedy, a deeply complex plot, and most importantly, dreams. If you can say that about any other movie that's come out this year then please enlighten me, cause in my opinion no other film has even come up to par with those standards. Christopher Nolan (Director of The Dark Knight, Prestige, Memento, and Batman Begins) never fails to impress and has done it again. But what makes this movie so great? Read below to find out.
The main character in the film is Cobb (Played by Leonardo DiCaprio) whose job is pretty much to steal dreams from people's minds in basically a huge heist type mission. The movie begins with him and his coworker; Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), doing exactly that to a man named Saito (Ken Wantanabe). Do to lack of proper construction in the dream, their mission fails and they are caught by Saito who has realized he is in a dream. We then learn that Cobb has two children that he has left in the US, but he can't go there after being accused of doing a certain crime (That I will not spoil).
Saito presents Cobb with a preposition, offering him a return to the United States as an innocent man to live once again with his family, but in return he must do a specific job for Saito. This job is indeed Inception (Placing an idea in someones mind and making them believe that it's their own) to a business rival of his known as Robert Fischer Jr. (Cillian Murphy) Cobb is convinced, and him and Arthur set off to form a team to help them do the job.
They then set out to recruit a forger (Tom Hardy), sedative chemist (Dileep Rao), an architect (Ellen Page), and a subject their subject Robert Fischer Jr. Saito also goes with the team, so he can monitor them, and make sure they do the job right. But the stakes run high for the team while their in the dream as if you die in it, you will be trapped in Limbo (A deserted waste land of broken dreams) and never wake up. But unfortunately, the team runs into a few major problems along the way, including Cobb's deceased wife Mal (Marion Cotillard) who continues to haunt Cobb's dreams.
Inception is just the perfect movie 2010 needed. The story is just so creative and astonishing, that it's hard to believe Christopher Nolan managed to come up with such a compelling narrative just right after wowing audiences and critics alike with The Dark Knight two years ago. It asks so many brilliant questions, and can tap into the brains of even the must air headed movie goer. It just really challenges the realism of reality, which is a very intelligent subject, that hasn't been touched before. It's also very cool how Nolan portrays different levels of the dream and how what happens on the outside of each level physically to the people in the dream effects them inside too, such as the idea of the 'kick' to wake someone up from the dream.
Hans Zimmer's score for the movie was brilliant and memorable, and will have you humming it for weeks. It's used at just the right moments in the film, and really makes the experience all the more exciting. It adds all the needed suspense and anticipation to Nolan's already compelling scenes, and it doesn't draw any comparisons to Zimmer and James Newton Howard's Dark Knight score which helps the film feel much more original. The scores is amazing enough to give you goose bumps, and definitely proves why Hans Zimmer is the new John Williams (Performed the score for E.T., Superman, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Home Alone, etc.)
Now the acting was really just phenomenal. When I first saw the cast Nolan was going for, I thought he was insane choosing actors with completely different styles of film. But Ellen Page (Juno), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer), Tom Hardy (Bronson), Ken Wantanabe (The Last Samurai) Cillian Murphy (Sunshine), and who could forget, Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed), all nailed their roles, breathed life into their characters, and gave them personalities to make them memorable. They all did a tremendous job playing in their respective characters, especially DiCaprio in some very dramatic and emotional scenes.
The entire layout of the film is literally perfect. The way the plot is planned out from beginning to end was well thought out, and really is what has a lasting effect on the audience. The way you are introduced to the characters, and the way you slowly uncover the secrets behind them is what really keeps you on the edge of your seat, similar to what Nolan did with The Dark Knight.
Inception truly is a MUST see movie this summer, year, and in your life time. You will leave the theater or your couch thinking; who would've thought a dream could be so important? And the ending will automatically just cause your mouth to drop. This is one of those movies that you must have your eyes glued to the screen at all time. If you don't, then you'll be lost. It's a complicated film, but if you can follow the plot you can handle it. This isn't a movie to see with little ones (Because even some adults were lost through this one), but I highly recommend it for movie goers really look for a thought provoking film this summer as opposed to a mindless action film.
I give Inception 5 stars out of 5:
And here's the trailer for the film:
What did you think of Inception? Are you going to see it?
