5/5
For the uninitiated, Inception tells the story of Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) a corporate spy. Cobb takes people hostage, enters their dreams and extracts valuable information from them. Presumably Cobb has been doing this for quite some time along with a team of a very specifically skilled players. As a result of some of the work he has done in the past he is no longer able to be with is family, against his choice. However, Cobb is given the opportunity to be reunited with his family by Saito (Ken Watanabe) if he is able to complete one final job, inception. Instead of stealing information, Cobb and his team must plant a thought in a business competitor's son's mind. So Cobb assembles a team made up of Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) the dream coordinator of sorts, Ariadne (Ellen Page) the dream architect who recreates the world of dream to convince the dreamer it's all real, Eames (Tom Hardy) a forger who can appear as other people within the dreamers reality and Yusuf (Dileep Rao) the chemist who provides the drugs to induce a coma like sleep to continue the dreamer's sleep. The man whose dreams set the stage for most of the movie is Robert Fischer, Jr. (Cillian Murphy)
The movie delivered on every level. The script, the direction, the casting, the cinematography, the special effects, the acting were all in perfect sync to help bring this mind blowing and mind numbing movie to life. This movie, as was discussed by the director Christopher Nolan, will require a second dose in order to completely absorb all the inner complexities of this film.
At it's core the story is one of redemption. The constant somersaults the plot continually throws you into while moving towards the end of the film is as exhilarating and delightful as your first rollercoaster ride. I have never before heard an entire theater respond in unison the way that our showing did. After we had all been white knuckle gripping our seats or loved ones we all threw up our hands and let out a "OH MY... WHAT THE???" It was not a twist ending, as we have become familiar with thanks to film makers like M. Night Shyamalan, but was an emotion laden final moment that left our parched pallets thirsting for more.
The special effects are top notch and never once cause the created reality to seem less than possible. Although this movie in another film maker's hands may have been a movie painted on a canvas of special effects, instead Nolan only used the special effects as an accent to a beautifully intricate story. They provide just the right amount of surreal and impossible trickery to remind you that for most of the movie you are in a person's dream, but never let you disconnect from the action or miss a single line. In a strange decision, during one of the later dreamscapes all of the characters are wearing nearly the same outfit, which made it difficult to distinguish good guys from bad guys or even good guys from other good guys.
The entire cast of this film help keep you grounded in humanity and simplicity of the truths presented in the otherwise extraordinary and complex plot. I have never thought much of Ellen Page, who plays Ariadne the youngest and newest member of their team, but maybe this character will help her expand her future role possibilities. She is an instrumental tool in giving insight into DiCaprio's character and drives a number of plot points forward with strength. Another actress may have given more depth to the character, but Page does more than I expected with the role. Leonardo DiCaprio draws us into a man struggling and unwilling to let go of his past. It continues to amaze me that an actor of DiCaprio's star power can continue to shed layers of himself and reveal something new. I nearly instantly lose sight of the fact that I am watching Leonardo DiCaprio, acting Super Star, and instead drawn into Cobb, complex anti-hero.
Pros:
Script. Direction. Cinematography. Musical Score. Special Effects. The movie.
Cons:
The end, but not really. Having to make time to go see it again. My dreams don't have rules and are never so grounded in reality... But this is after all a movie...
Bottom Line:
YOU MUST SEE THIS MOVIE!!! This is the first movie since The Matrix that has truly wowed me. Leonardo DiCaprio delivers yet another movie worthy of praise and continues to deliver performance after performance of memorable characters. It's a story that is complex enough, yet simple. It's wonderfully acted. It's beautifully shot. And is seamlessly filled out with special effects and music.
