Christopher Nolan is a genius. There, I said it. If The Dark Knight wasn’t enough proof, then his new film, Inception, will certainly confirm it. They’ll be no tip-toeing around in this review, this movie is literally mind-blowing. I’m guessing there are a lot of directors in Hollywood cursing Christopher Nolan right now. They have an awful lot to live up to.
Christopher Nolan is a genius. There, I said it. If The Dark Knight wasn’t enough proof, then his new film, Inception, will certainly confirm it. They’ll be no tip-toeing around in this review, this movie is literally mind-blowing. I’m guessing there are a lot of directors in Hollywood cursing Christopher Nolan right now. They have an awful lot to live up to. You know how Lost raised the bar for TV? Well, Inception will hopefully do that for film.
Inception is about Cobb, a man that, with a small team, can enter a person’s dream, or even create it, and retrieve information, for a price. This premise allows for a nearly inexhaustable supply of eye-fucking imagery, and Nolan knows it. But thankfully, he doesn’t over-do it. He sticks to his script and gives us characaters to know and care about. The story never gets over-looked.
Cobb can’t go back to the United States because he’s been accused of a crime he didn’t commit. He had to leave his wife and kids behind and he misses them. He wants to clear his name so he can go home. It’s ALL he wants now. This last dream he has to enter is the way there.
This is one of the most richly layered films I’ve seen in a while. Safe to say you really need to pay attention to this one. The premise is such that these people can construct a dream and enter them, while one of them’s subconscience populates the dream with people. Then you can make those people dream and enter that. You can do that a third time, but it’s seriously dangerous. So, you can see how there is a LOT of room for plotholes. And yet, we’re working with dreams here, so…there’s a lot of wiggle room, too. The very nature of the subject matter creates a movie that keeps you guessing as to how it will end.
Inception is complicated so you’ll need to concentrate. You could spend endless hours trying to figure out if there are any mistakes, or what the end result is. It’s such a mind-bending maze of remarkable story-telling that I simply marveled at it’s execution. I know, that’s saying a lot. Really, just see it for yourself. It really is its own reward.
The cast is just great. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Cobb, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt is Arthur, Cobb’s partner in this dream business. Ellen Page plays Ariadne, a promising new recruit that is the architect of the dreamscape. Marion Cotillard is Mal, Cobb’s wife. Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, and Tom Berenger round out the cast. There’s even a small part as Cobb’s father played by Michael Caine (Yay, Alfred!).
And in particular, I’d like to say that once upon a time, I wasn’t so sure of what to make of this DiCaprio kid. But he has become quite the actor and I’m rather impressed. That kid is gonna go places in this business.
The visual effects in this film are chock full of Wow Factor. This stuff really works your brain – just like dreams do. I am profoundly (Is that too much?) impressed how everything in this film relates to the overall subject matter of the premise. This film is amazing on so many levels. Science fiction just got a huge shot in the arm with this one.
–Neil T. Weakley, your average movie-goer, really blown away after seeing this completely above average film.
