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Kaylie Lively
ENG 101
Professor Alicia Bolton
22 September 2014
A Futuristic and Exhilarating Film
In 2010, movie-goers flocked theaters everywhere to watch the movie

Inception, a futuristic science fiction film infused with enough excitement to rival a
toddler in a toy store. Dominick Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a thief who
doesnt steal jewelry or money; he steals ideas from peoples dreams through a
process known as extraction. Cobb is the best at what he does, so its no
surprise when he is approached by a wealthy business man by the name of Saito,
who offers Cobb a deal. If Cobb manages to perform inception (planting an
idea in someones mind) on one of Saitos business rivals, then Saito will clear
Cobb of the alleged murder charges that are keeping him out of the United States
and away from his children. Seeing he has no other choice if he ever wants to see
his children again, Cobb and his partner, Arthur, pull together an exceptional team
to dive into the mind of the business rival, Robert Fischer. However, once they get
there, the team realizes that the near-impossible task before them would be even
more difficult than they anticipated, thanks to the violent memory of Mal (Cobbs
dead wife) threatening to topple the entire mission. The team trudges on anyway,
and, after going through much hardship, they manage to perform the task of

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inception on Robert Fischer. Although complex, Inception is an excellent movie
because it possesses skillful actors and loveable, dynamic characters.
The actors behind the characters in Inception prove their talent as they bring
their characters to life. One of the biggest challenges these actors face is playing
their role in making these futuristic characters believable. For example, through his
character Cobb, DiCaprio is tasked to explain much of the films technological
innovation and grandeur to the audience. Though the setting of the movie is
complicated and far out, DiCaprio does an outstanding job in playing the braveheart extractor that viewers cant help but believe in. DiCaprio isnt only good with
the technicalities though, he has the juice to play the emotional scenes to their
climax. He isnt the only one either, the actor behind Cobbs dead wife Mal
(Marion Cotillard) show off her abilities to play emotionally-charged scenes so well
that some moviegoers will find themselves reaching for a box of tissues. An
example of such scene would be when Ariadne (a member of the team) ventures
into Cobbs subconscious. There, she finds a prison of memories where Cobb still
holds his deceased wife, Mal. However, the Mal in Cobbs memories isnt the
loving wife and mother envisioned; shes unstable and dangerous. Shes a
haunting memory that Cobb built a prison for, in a futile effort to contain her. In
this dream-based prison, Ariadne meets Mal and is shocked by the ferocity behind
the beautiful, dead woman and Cobbs counterproductive ways of controlling his

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grief. Cotillard plays Mal with such intensity that the maddened memory version of
Mal seems liable to claw her way out of Cobbs mind and into the waking world.
DiCaprio and Cotillard are just two examples of the excellent actors in Inception.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Inception is its characters, starting
with the main character, Dominick Cobb. At the beginning of the film, Cobb
comes off with an almost James Bond vibeguns blazing, black suites, and
beautiful women. Spectators are immediately introduced to a man who has been
through Hell and knows how to handle himself. Hes made of steel. As the movie
continues and the plot thickens, however, that doesnt prove to be the whole truth.
Behind his cool exterior, Cobb reveals a grieving husband and a loving father whos
just trying to get back to his kids while wrestling with his guilt over the suicide of his
wife, Mal. However, as the movie progresses, Cobb learns to conquer his fears
and confront his guilt regarding his wifes death, which leads him to accepting it
and letting Mal go instead of keeping her pent up inside him. Through this, Cobb
shows how much he has developed throughout the course of movie. The next
most intriguing character is Saito. Looking at Saito, its hard not to think
something along the lines of mobster. Well-dressed and equipped with an airily
important personality, it is easy to believe that Saito is the type of man who prefers
to keep his hands clean and pay men like Cobb to do the dirty work. Shortly into
the film, Saito begins to prove that he is quite the contradiction to this impression.

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Firstly, he does so by requesting to go with the team into Fischers subconscious,
volunteering himself for a dangerous task; not only that, during their time in
Fischers mind, Saito shows that he is brave and resilient. After the team returns
to reality, Saito once again surprises by keeping his word and clearing the charges
against Cobb, granting Cobb his freedom. These two characters are prime
examples of how loveably dynamic Inceptions characters are and how they
develop throughout the course of the film.
All in all, Inception is a mind-blowing film because of its talented actors and
extraordinary characters. Not only that, Inception draws attention to the sheer
power of the subconscious mind, leaving viewers to mull over what theyre really
thinking about whenever they close their eyes.

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Works Cited

Inception. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt,

Ellen Page, and Tom Hardy. Warner Bros, 2010. DVD.