Viewed in
2010, 2011
Formats
IMAX, HDTV
Premise
Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a dream thief, sent to implant an idea in a victim's dreams.
Loved
Trippy action sequences, the multiple layers of synchronized action.
Disliked
The formulaic plot.
Thoughts
I went in with very high expectations, and Inception almost met it.
As a fan of trippy movies, there were some imagination-tickling visuals. I absolutely loved the free-falling hotel fight scene, including a fist-fight that I had never seen before involving shifting gravity. Director Christopher Nolan's refusal to use CGI shortcuts was mind-boggling at times. I feared the trailers gave away too much of the unique action sequences, but thankfully there was much more that left me slack-jawed. The IMAX screen and sound system definitely made the extra cost worth paying for.
My favorite part was the complexity of the action. Just like the characters, the film makers upped the degree of difficulty exponentially in each phase of the task. I thought Nolan did a wonderful job of keeping the parallel actions/subplots easily comprehensible. While occasionally I would miss a detail, I was never lost in the madness, in fact, I was pretty much in awe at the coherency. The film explained the rules of its universe in entertaining methods, so the audience was engrossed by the complexity. My inner director was inspired by how well paced and arranged the last hour was.
In addition to the style, there was substance. Christopher Nolan created an intriguing universe, in which you can share and participate in each others dreams. I was engrossed with trying to separate dreams from reality, memories from dreams, and dreams from dreams. It definitely had my friends and I debating plot points and ideas hours afterward. Speaking of debating, I loved the teasing, ambiguous ending.
The cast was solid, full of names and faces that I've known and loved. Ellen Page proved that she can do drama as the new recruit who questions DiCaprio's character's leadership. I was happy to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt get a chance at a blockbuster movie. Hailing from the Nolan stable were Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy, and Ken Watanabe. Marion Cotillard was absolutely riveting as DiCaprio's wife.
What prevented it from being great was the predictable plot. While the visuals were inventive, I found the plot formulaic, like the "this is my last job" line. These thieves/assassins always retire one job too late. For such an ambiguous world, the fate of each complication/character was surprisingly easy to guess. The story did not suck, it just lacked some creativity in the heist genre. Given my high expectations for a Nolan film, I was definitely disappointed by this.
Overall, I highly recommend this visually stunning and perfectly executed film. It will make you think without giving you a headache, and most importantly, you will be entertained.
Given his strong record of inventive, thoughtful action movies (Prestige, Batman Begins, Dark Knight, Memento) that appealed to mass audiences and those who demand more, is Christopher Nolan this generation's Steven Spielberg?
What I would change
Worked on Ken Watanabe's English. It was distractingly indecipherable at times.
Spoiler!
My interpretation was that the totem does not stop. In fact, maybe he lost it in the bathroom when he didn't get a chance to test the totem. Then again, that "leap of faith" line is quoted by Saito and Mal... so many red herrings!
