Movie Review: Inception

With a list of films like The Dark Knight, Memento, and The Prestige, it’s quite easy to say that Christopher Nolan is a top talent in today’s film industry. His latest offering, Inception, certainly earns him high praise, and will, I believe, catapult him to even greater heights.

Inception’s surface plot is about a group of people who steal important information from other's dreams. But just underneath that glossy veneer lays a complex multi-layered maze that shows how our goals and ambitions have a tendency to unravel themselves uncontrollably, much like in our dreams.

The film pulls you head first into the dream landscape. Through the construction and destruction of the environments shown, we allow ourselves to be taken alongside the characters on their amazing journey. A journey that, in the end, leaves you questioning your own grip on reality. The characters are what keep us rooted and provide reassurance that the thin veil separating our dreams from our reality still remains.

DiCaprio has a natural tendency to overpower the supporting cast around him between his harsh exterior look and his powerful, commanding acting style, but in Inception the cast blends together quite harmoniously. It’s no surprise that Watanabe, Page and Gordon-Levitt fill their roles solidly, the delightful and welcome surprise is how well the other roles are played.

British upstart Tom Hardy plays the role of Eames and nearly steals the show! There isn’t a moment throughout the entire film that looks or feels forced or unnatural. From start to finish, the introductions, friendships, and comradery, all make the world of Inception not only warm and inviting, but also real.

Building a world inside of dreams might sound easy given there aren’t many limits to what can happen, but Nolan takes no shortcuts and leaves no holes in his vision of the dream world he creates. Audiences will find it quite easy to understand and follow the complex story that weaves in and out of dreams but this is by design, not by choice. Much of the more intellectual films tend to alienate the audience, filling them with esoteric quotes or cleverly hidden, pretension jabs at any and all who might not be able to follow or grasp their grandiose themes and concepts. Nolan is able to bring to mainstream moviegoers a film that is just as complex and intelligent as those without alienating anyone, because of how real the film looks and feels. In his representation of the dream world, there are realistic limits, risks, and most importantly, realistic consequences. Nolan blurs the line between the endless possibilities within a dream and the very real aspects of life and death.

The story; The visuals; The acting -- all aspects of Inception are finely tuned and truly push the boundaries of just how far our imagination can take us. Inception is one of those films that comes along every once in awhile that pushes other creative minds not to settle for something average, but strive for something great. Not only in film, but in all creative walks of life, people like Christopher Nolan and films like Inception inspire us all to dream a little bigger.

Score: 5 out of 5
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