Sunday, August 1, 2010

Inception Review


Inception...where do I begin?

I'll start off by saying that Leonardo Dicaprio did a great job in this movie, but the problem is I still don't know whether to make heads or tales of the film itself. The best way to describe this film is complex.

Inception is essentially about a band of thieves who possess a very special skill: They can go into people's dreams and steal their ideas. Dom Cobb (played by Dicaprio) is the leader of the pack, and he is on the run from the U.S. government for murder and is desperately trying to find a way to get back home to his two children.


In the midst of being a fugitive, Cobb takes on various corporate espionage jobs with his partner Arthur (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) to keep his head above water. But after a job gone bad due to the fact that Cobb's deranged late wife likes to randomly show up and blow his cover, unable to continue on business-as-usual for fear that his disgruntled employers will end his life, Cobb is given an offer that he can't refuse by the man that he failed to steal the idea from.

The offer: Use Inception to plant an idea into the competitions mind. The reward: Criminal record disappears and Cobb gets to go home to his family.

It seems simple enough, but we all know that making it that simple would make for a very boring movie. Needless to say, the crew takes the job and everything that can go wrong does and the audience is left on the edge of their seats waiting to see if the hero will save the day.


I applaud this film for the creativity that went into the storyline and the artistry behind the cinematography, but at the end of the day this movie was very cerebral. There was very in depth talk about the subconscious mind, it's various levels and how traumatic occurrences in dreams can affect the brain in real life, along with a lot of other psychiatric mambo jumbo.  Not only was there the talk, but as a viewer you actually have to pay attention to it if you truly expect to understand what's going on in the movie. So, this is definitely not a film to go see while you're drunk or high.

Overall, Inception was a pretty good movie. For those who thrive on explosions, high speed car chases and highly choreographed fight scenes, there was plenty of that, but make no mistake- you're going to have to use your brain for this one.

So at the end of the day, I give this movie a solid B+. If you like going to the movies for mindless entertainment this is not the movie for you to spend theater money on. Wait until it comes out on DVD. But if you enjoy a good mind-boggler, then by all means knock yourself out with this one.

1 comment:

Don said...

Absolutely loved this movie. The best movie of the year and better than many of the movies I have ever seen.

Storyline was incredibly unique.