Exactly What the Dr. Ordered…
“Inception” (4 stars out of 5)
**SPOILER ALERT!!**
I do my best here to explain to you exactly what “Inception” is about. Though I don’t give away the end, if you’re the type who wants to be COMPLETELY surprised- then please stop reading now! You have been warned.
During the opening sequence of “Inception” after the audience realizes that Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Ken Wantanabe are in dreamscape, it quickly became apparent that director Christopher Nolan’s latest film is a masterpiece. Nolan mixes in a ton of influences in his latest work. All the best parts of originality from his cult-fave “Memento”are mixed with “Matrix” style action, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” type mind-bends and even a bit of M.C. Escher’s influence, all form together to create one of the most interesting films to be released to date. In fact, the only thing that movie-goers might be turned off by is the fact that the movie is (to say the least) difficult to describe and comprehend upon watching it only one time through.
But- gasp! – oh no! Not a movie you have to watch again and again!! Say it ain’t so!!! You mean there’s a film Hollywood’s released that actually makes you think? Come on!!!
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Cobb, a master thief who hooks up to your dreams via intravenous drugs that get slipped to his victims while they sleep. Cobb’s main goal is to steal from his victims that which they hold most secret. In Saito’s case (Wantanabe) it’s some kind of confidential document that he keeps locked in a safe in his mind. There are those however, who have been trained to fight dream invaders and Saito happens to be one of them. Once the dream starts to crumble (aka the victim wakes up) it’s time for the dream thieves to wake themselves up either with a ‘kick’ or by getting themselves killed within the dream.
Saito grows wise to Cobb’s scheme and quickly turns the tables. In fact, even after Cobb and his team escape, Saito follows them around in real life, and abducts their architect. He’s the man responsible for building the victims’ worlds in their fake dreams. Cobb is given a choice, continue to run forever pulling jobs, or pull one more job to get his criminal record expunged for good and be able to return to the United States to be with his estranged children.
See. Cobb’s got a side tale. He’s haunted by the memory of his dead wife, whom he’s wanted for murdering. His story is that she killed herself. Since he’s not allowed to step foot in the United States, the authorities seem to disagree with Cobb. Saito makes it simple, instead of stealing somebody’s thoughts, he wants Cobb to give somebody an idea. A person’s mind can be dangerous, and a good idea is the most dangerous weapon that it can contain. The only problem with an idea, is that the person has to think that they thought it up by themselves. If they remember that a stranger told them to do it in a dream, the idea might lose its power. Cobb thinks he can do it correctly, because he’s done it before, to who we don’t know (until later). All he needs to do is assemble a team that can get him to a dream within a dream within a dream.
Yea, are you paying attention? Because even my review is tripping me out.
His team manager is Arthur, played uncannily by Joseph Gordon-Levitt who does nothing but continue to impress me in everything he’s in (aside from “GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra”…). Arthur is a suave, smooth talker and snazzy dresser who helps Cobb keep his eye on the prize. The new architect is Ariadne, played by “Juno” star Ellen Page. Page holds her own during the film, but of all the characters hers is the least likable. Eames is played by Tom Hardy, and he is a forger. Eames can take existing memories from victims and insert himself into their dreams wearing the guise of somebody else that they remember, a nice trick especially if Cobb and the others need to information fast. Remember, the name of the game is deception, and anything that might be out of the ordinary might make their victims realize that they’re dreaming. Finally there’s Yusuf, played by Dileep Roa. Yusuf is tasked with making a strong enough drug that will keep the others sleeping deep enough to penetrate layers upon layers of dreamscape. An idea has to be planted as deep as possible so it can grow like a seed and burst to life on the surface.
Their mark is Robert Fischer Jr. played by Cillian Murphy (Scarecrow from the Batman movies, or even better, the guy from “28 Days Later”). Fischer is the son of one of Saito’s key rivals. Saito’s adversary is dying. He would like Cobb to enter into Jr’s mind and force him to disband his father’s empire. The problem is, once they get close enough to hook up to Fischer, it turns out he has been trained to fight dream invaders too. Their complex plan quickly goes south as Fischer’s mind immediately fights back. When the mind recognizes a threat, the dream becomes a veritable war zone, guns a-blazing and high-speed car chases abound.
In the mean time, there’s the opening scene of the film, Cobb wakes up on a beach, washed to shore all alone. Director Nolan, in “Memento” fashion has actually shown us the end of the movie right at the beginning. Where is Cobb? How did he end up there? What is his main reason for being there? To answer any of these is to give away the end of the film.
Also, there’s the whole idea of Limbo, the place people go when they’re actually too deep into dreams, they die and their bodies can’t wake up. If you die in a dream, and your body is unable to wake up, you can be stuck in Limbo for what seems like years. In fact, Cobb and his ex-wife were stuck in Limbo together for something like fifty years. They built an entire fake society for themselves while they were there.
Additionally, there’s the three layers of Fischer’s dream. You need to keep careful track as to what characters are where. As stated, you have to go deep to insert a believable idea into somebody’s mind. The first layer of Fisher’s dream is a parking garage where he’s taken to after he’s been kidnapped. The second layer of his dream is a hotel where a strange man has approached him and told him he’s dreaming, in the third layer, Fischer fights alongside a troupe of individuals who seem to be helping him overtake an army bunker in a snowy terrain.
There’s a ton here and Nolan makes it all work. His actors are stellar and the absolute best thing about it, is that there’s too much to explain and there’s too much to digest in one sitting. The special effects are perfect, and there are some absolutely phenomenal scenes. Great too, is the fact that the special effects make sense. Are there guys bouncing off walls and punching each other ala “The Matrix”? Sure! Are there staircases that appear and reappear as if from nowhere? Sure. Are there slow-motion action shots? Yea- but they’re cool too.
If you can’t even understand this review, then maybe “Inception” might not be the movie for you. It’s not the type to see late at night and it’s not a popcorn movie you’ll watch once and never need to see again. “Inception” needs to be seen more than once. It wants to be seen more than once. In the last few years where most movies are the type that can be seen once and then never again, it’s good to see that DiCaprio and Nolan are willing to break the mold. Though be warned, “Inception” might not be for everybody- then again, neither was “the Godfather”.
Best movie of 2010 so far!
