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InceptionMovie Review

Inception

July 17, 2010

If you

’

ve ever wanted to get paid for sleeping on the job, then

Inception

isthe movie for you. Not only is your job to sleep and dream all day, but youdo it in other people

’

s dreams. How cool is that? The final kicker is thatyou get to keep anything you find in these other minds, all the ideas floatingaround in dreamland and you sell these ideas to the highest bidder. Hmm,sound a bit like Hollywood

’

s business model, doesn

’

t it?One Word Movie Review: Unbelievable

All great movies start with an idea.

Inception

is about an idea,planted in a mind like a virus and left to grow into a defining or destructive force, depending on the person being contaminated.Like most alternative reality movies, reality is what we perceive itto be as viewed from our subconscious and conscious brains.Director/writer Christopher Nolan has crafted a Cartesian theater tale

from the point of view of Descartes and his “inner

observ

er”,

who in this case looks exactly like Leonardo DiCaprio.Leonardo plays Cobb, a man with the ability to invade dreams

and plant or steal a person’s innermost thoughts and ideas.

This manipulation of ideas for profit is

Hollywood’s business

model. With

Inception

, the ability to plant a new idea into thebrain of an executive is pure fiction but skillfully done.

Inception

is a

Matrix

dual-reality film where characters exist in several places, both physicaland mental, the duality of Descartes personified by Cobb who is struggling with dreams of his

dead wife. In Cobb’s view, an idea is a parasite liv

ing off your mental energy, growing andabsorbing your consciousness until you either embrace it fully or reject it completely. Thisinner struggle viewed from the observer perspective is the main conceit of the film; that wecreate and destroy ourselves based on our ability to master our idea parasites feeding on our sanity.This is not to imply that

Inception

is an intellectual study of the “veil of perception” betweenreality and our imaginations. The manipulation of ideas within a person’s

mind is thebackdrop to battle scenes within the brain, where the laws of physics are repealed andbullets fly by the bucketful. Nolan has assembled a sparkling group of actors includingseveral from his

Batman

films, all supporting another tortured inner-demon performance byDiCaprio, reminiscent of his

Teddy Daniels

character from his last movie,

Shutter Island

Inception

is a movie where you have to pay atte

ntion or you’ll get lost in the many

locations, alternate realities and character variations. The audience let out a collectivemoan of delighted relief at the end of this movie, after concentrating for two hours tryingto figure out just what the hell wa

s going on. This doesn’t happen often and I applaud

Nolan both for attempting this story and making it work so well.

Each character uses a

“

token

”

to maintain their sanity between locations, one uniqueobject that only exists in the real world and known only to them. The audience needs atoken as well to hang onto as they watch this film. I suggest a bag of popcorn as your token. Get it early before the show starts and hang on to it until the end to make sure

you’re leaving a real theater and not a Cartes

ian dream world where you

’

re theentertainment for your inner observer.

The Story

The story starts with an angry ocean slamming waves against rock, washing DiCaprioashore into the grip of thugs who drag him up the beach to confront an old Japanese

lord who’s having dinner. These two men appear to know each other bu

t we cut away

from them and do not return until very late in the story. Like DiCaprio’s token, a

spinning top that eventually tips over, the story takes off into the world of dreammanipulations. We learn about

deception

where you discover the thoughts of othersand

inception

where you plant new ideas into the core of a person’s imagination.

Apparently deception pays well but inception pays really well.DiCaprio obtains a new contract to plant an idea into a mega-magnate named Fisher

who’s well on the wa

y to world energy domination. DiCaprio starts assembling histeam, staring with an architect. For this role, to build the many locations in the mindwhere the idea business takes place, a real architect is needed. In this case, EllenPage plays Ariadne, a young architect with a sensitive curiosity about Leonardo and itis a good thing she does, as it turns out.The crew plans an elaborate storyline, dreams within dreams within dreams, alltriggered to end with music cues, a sense of falling which (as we all know) usuallywakes us up before we hit bottom and die.At the same time, Leonardo reflects on his relationship with his dead wife and two

children; separated from them due to the fact that he’s the prime suspect in her death.

By the end, DiCaprio must save himself by confronting the old man eating dinner.

The Genre

The action/adventure sci-fi thriller genre has a long and influential record at the box office.Audiences like to escape to new worlds and alternative realities where the rules aredifferent and the unexpected bites you on the ass.

Inception

follows many successfultales like the

Matrix

series and

Avatar

, where people exist simultaneously in two places,or two levels of consciousness.The great attraction of these movies is the experience of visiting places audiencesdo not understand and yet relate to on a fantasy level that is both satisfying andsurprising. You will find yourself wondering just where the hell you are during partsof this movie and suspending your rules of order when people suddenly defy gravityor move in super-slow motion.

Inception

does such a great job of realizing these mind-bending worlds, making

each visually unique that you’ll be comfortable leaping from ice fortress to city

streets to sandy beach. It is a great ride. You may be confused once in a while, but

you’ll never be bored watching

Inception

. This should translate into great word of mouth and solid box office business.