Inception
The dream is true, reads one of the by lines of the movie. So true, so
true.
Those who have watched the Dark Knight will know what to expect from this
one. Nolan exceeds my expectations. Clearly better than The Memento and
Dark Knight. Both of which I feel were great movies on their own.
The plot of the movie is simple. so to say. One person creating situations
and beliefs in another one's mind to ensure that decisions he/she takes is
beneficial to the person manipulating. Confusing, ought to be.
Inception centers on a team of individuals led by an "extractor" named Cobb
(Leonardo DiCaprio) who, through the use of a special device, construct the
dreams of a target and use those dreams to implant an idea so that the
target will make a decision beneficial to the individual who hired the
team.
The film layers dreams on top of dreams to the point where a unique
keepsake called a "totem" is required in order to inform a character as to
whether or not he or she is still dreaming. Then you have people in
particular roles like "The Architect", "The Forger", and "The Chemist" in
order to pull off the job. These dreams have rules: dying in a dream
forces the dreamer to wake up, delving too deeply into a mind can cause an
eternal slumber called "Limbo", using memories to construct dreams is
dangerous because it can blur the line between dreams and reality. In
addition, intruding in the dreams of another will cause the dreamer's
"projections" (human representations created by the dreamer) to attack the
intruders like white blood cells going after an infection. And these
explanations only represent a fraction of the terminology, rules,
exceptions, or details that are necessary for creating the world of
Inception.
The film deserves repeat viewings, but from your first viewing you can
grasp the events on screen and how they interact with each other as long as
you force yourself to be an active viewer. But with set pieces so
intricate, so jaw-dropping, and so breathtaking, you'll find that there's
no exertion needed to stay focused. You'll already be swept up in the
whirlwind.
Inception features one of the best fight scenes of all-time. Take a moment
to consider that: in the entire history of cinema, of every fight scene
that has ever taken place, the one in this movie is among the best.
Watching a fight without gravity is incredible. It's not like in The
Matrix where a character can defy gravity if they choose. The fight scene
in Inception has no gravity to defy and Arthur (played by Joseph
Gordon-Levitt), the team's point man, has to figure out how to achieve his
objective while fending off projections. I can only hope that someday in
the distant future, when people with free time are on a space station in
zero-gravity, they will re-enact this scene. In the meantime, Nolan's
spectacular visual effects will have to suffice.
The action scenes in Inception are spectacular. Visually lush and
imaginative, Nolan transforms car chases into countdowns, fistfights into
puzzles, and shootouts into…well, shootouts. There's a mission on a snowy
mountainside that doesn't work as well as the other set pieces because
there's a poor sense of location, a lack of visual diversity, and sloppy
editing. But that doesn't really halt or hurt the film because Nolan
brilliantly placed the car chase, the fistfight, and the shootout on top of
each other. You would think this would cause action fatigue, but by
cutting between three set pieces and having what happens in one set piece
affect the others, the action climax of Inception isn't exhausting—it's
exhilarating.
"If you're going to perform inception, you need imagination."
With Inception, every character not only has a particular skill and task,
but has a personality that mirrors their job description.
The physical scope of this movie is astounding. Worlds fall on top of each
other, a freight train can burst onto a city street, hotels can lose all
gravity, and everything that we know is impossible appears completely
natural. It's not enough to say that the cinematography is gorgeous, or
that the sound design is sensational, or that this is one of composer Hans
Zimmer's all-time best scores. There aren't "supporting" elements in
Inception. Just as the film layers its narrative structure and thematic
subtext, so it does with its technical elements. You will notice the
cinematography and the art direction and the sounds and the score. It's
like hearing beautiful solos mixed together in a glorious anthem.
"Dreams feel real while we're in them. It's only when we wake up that we
realize something was actually strange."
The comparison between Matrix and Inception are inevitable. Both movies
deal with the nature of reality combined with pulse-pounding set pieces
that will be included in any action-scene highlight reel. But The Matrix
is a freshman level course compared to the doctorate held by Inception, and
it has nothing to do with how far special effects have come in ten years.
It's about taking multiple genres, settings, ideas, emotions, and questions
and weaving them into a rich tapestry that will have folks talking long
after the credits roll. But then you throw in those advanced special
effects and you have a summer blockbuster that will blow your mind.
You've never seen anything like Inception, and you'll want to see it again
and again.
