Review: Inception (2010)

Wow. Where do I start? Inception, Christopher Nolan's latest project, takes us on a ride we may not have been prepared for. First of all, I personally gathered from the trailers and advertisements that Nolan intended on the viewer knowing very little as they stroll into the cinema. So for those who would enjoy going in blind I wouldn't recommend reading any further until viewing the film. In this Sci-Fi action flick, the viewer is introduced to a professional thief named Cobb (Dicaprio) who specializes in the extraction of information and ideas from targets' minds at their weakest point: dreams. The film takes an early sharp turn when their original mark (Ken Watanabe) agrees to give them what they want under one condition. Rather than extract an idea, they must plant an idea in the mind of a mark (Cillian Murphy) that will lead to the fall of his father's empire. Cobb (the extracter) is accompanied by a team of specialists: an architect (Ellen Page) who's aim is to create an environment so real that the mark confuses it with reality; a forger (Tom Hardy) who's goal is to impersonate someone close to the mark to create a source of comfort; and the tourist (Watanabe), the man ordering the mission, attending for the sheer purpose of assuring that his business agreement goes as planned. Inception is sophisticated and deeply intelligent on so many levels that it renders itself a bit of a challenge for the viewer to keep up with. Nolan's previous films (The Dark Knight, Insomnia, Memento), although high-class films, were completely comprehensible from end to end. Complicated or not, Inception simply put is a smart movie, and a release from the average mindless non-stop action flicks of the summer. On the surface Inception is about a team completing their mission, yet broader is the overpowering sensation of a man's conflicting dedication to his wife and to his career. I may not fully comprehend the film the way writer/director Christopher Nolan intends, but with a performance as stunning as Dicaprio's, the script and direction of a genius, and a rotating fight scene that makes the Matrix look like a high school play, Inception earns 31/2 stars in my book.