Movie Review: Inception

Christopher Nolan’s latest film, “Inception”, happens to be the movie I watched yesterday and I must say that it is probably his best work yet and we all know how difficult an accomplishment that is considering just how amazing Dark Knight was. The fact that it was in the works for a whole decade most definitely had something to do with that.

Inception is about a man who goes by the name of Dom Cobb who is in the business of stealing information from various people of various backgrounds while they sleep. The catch is that they do it in their dreams. Our protagonist is on the run from the law enforcers of the U.S. and presumably Interpol as well for a crime that he didn’t actually commit. He left his family behind to stay out of prison and is now looking for a way to return home without getting arrested the second he steps foot on American soil. He is offered a chance to do so through a job offer that is the exact opposite of what he does for a living. Instead of stealing an idea from an unsuspecting victim, he has to implant one that would lead to a major life decision – an act that has been known to be “impossible”. Fortunately for Mr. Cobb, he’s done the “impossible” before. This is where the ball really gets rolling.

The premise is certainly intriguing but Nolan actually goes beyond the initial concept and plays with the usual workings of a heist plot taking the movie to a whole new level of originality. Then there’s the way he goes about introducing the concept to us bit by bit through one revelation after another. He manages to use fantastic highly packed action sequences to establish how this dream larceny idea works while building up the audience expectations towards the actual caper they’ll be pulling off. The visual effects were simply mind-blowing in this film and though I wish I could say the same for the music, Hans Zimmer’s tracks did do the job they were supposed to, which is actually a bit of letdown since he usually comes up with at least one really catchy song per movie.

The story itself actually has a great deal of heart in it. This isn’t like one of those ocean’s numbers movies where the main point was to be flashy and clever. It’s about one man’s attempts to deal with the issues he has with having lost his family and his attempt to get over the baggage that came with that and move on with his life. The main character isn’t the only one to draw in the sympathy either since his crew’s target is actually quite likeable himself since his position as the Xanatos Sucker with daddy issues sets him up for a good deal of heartwarming scenes. In fact, I actually liked the target more than the DiCaprio’s character even though he had fewer scenes than him.

And like I mentioned earlier, the movie actually does have a lot good action scenes in this one. Just because this film had brains behind it doesn’t mean it ignores brawns in favor of appealing to just the eggheads. No, no. Nolan did what so very few movies even bother to try and do, combine the workings of his abstract dreamscape business with gun fights, car chases, brawls, natural disasters and various degrees of combustion. My favorite scene was the brawl in the hotel that for certain reasons kept shifting its gravity that it takes place on the floor, walls and ceiling of the corridor they were fighting in. Sure, tearing things up in a hotel corridor has been done thousands of times before but in this movie, watching the scene is actually a lot of fun to watch.

Despite the fact that pacing, action and climax being nowhere near the levels of Dark Knight, I still consider this to be the better Nolan movie. It’s the kind of movie that’s just as much fun to watch on the first time as it is on the eleventh. Dark Knight kept you on the edge of your seat with its escalating plot but Inception reels you into the dream with everything it has. Every moment stays just as strong even after you find out what exactly what happened and how things end up. Rather, it’s because you know what happened that makes you want to watch over and over since the movie actually does pull its own “Inception” on you. It puts this one single idea in your head with its beginning and reinforces throughout the rest of the movie. Unless you’re that dense a person, you’re going to have some trouble shaking off the effect the movie has on you. Chances are, reading this review will also back up that idea Nolan put in your head. Try not to let the mindscrewiness of the movie get to you and just appreciate how good a movie “Inception” is.