Movie Review: Inception

Given the nature of this film and the fact that the trailers have done an awesome job of not divulging the plot, this review is RIFE with SPOILERS. You have been warned.

I . . . uh . . . wow.

It's difficult with a film like this to know where to start. I'm tempted to comment on things that I've seen other reviewers mention, while at the same time wishing to jump into a deconstruction of the plot and an analysis of the imagery and film-making. Being thus tempted, I choose instead to start with a little bit of disclosure.

I'm a big fan of science fiction. Not the schlock and drivel that passes for science fiction these days (I'm looking at you, Roland Emmerich) but rather the cerebral, well written, labyrinthine passages of authors such as Asimov, Herbert, Clarke, and Card. I'm still looking forward to the day that the film Ender's Game actually gets made. For me, science fiction is often best realized through the format of the epic - a depth of story and wealth of information that rivals the most comprehensive set of encyclopedias. Typically, this sort of development requires the setting of a novel, or at the very least a film that pushes the limits of the average moviegoer's attention span.

Because of this, I'm pretty critical of the world of science fiction film - I trend toward films based on a more cerebral concept or else that are deep explorations of a more basic plot. Does this make me something of a pretentious fan? Yeah, probably so.

It also means that I'm also likely one of the specific target demographic of this film.

This film has brains . . . in great supply. And because of that, I love it. Absolutely, unabashedly LOVE it. This is the kind of film that a lot of people will probably walk out of scratching their heads in confusion; however, don't let that deter you. Moviegoers were pretty blown away by The Matrix when it first released, and I suspect that as time goes on, this will become another film that helps in defining the "new" boundaries of the genre. While highly complicated and complex, Inception is not difficult to understand. It's a relatively simple idea taken to some incredible extremes.

This being said, the film definitely doesn't look to make it easy on the viewer. I've gone over it time and again in my head, and frankly, I'm STILL going back and forth between multiple theories that I've developed, and I'm nowhere nearer to a conclusion. The film throws you into the middle of a wild concept and expects you to keep up.

So here's a quick rundown of the plot: Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) works for the highest bidder to perform corporate espionage. However, instead of breaking into buildings and cracking open safes and computer systems, the theft is accomplished by entering the mind of the target, designing a dream for the target to populate with his/her subconscious (including their secrets), and then literally stealing the representation of that secret (for instance, in the opening sequence, Cobb opens a safe and reads a document marked "confidential").

This process is called "Extraction", and is apparently commonplace enough that corporate heavyweights are trained in subconscious security.

After an extraction that goes somewhat awry, Cobb is approached by Saito (Ken Watanabe) his target and offered a chance to turn his life around - avoiding indictment for past crimes (it will be explained, I promise) and his current role in these extractions. Saito wants Cobb to attempt the reverse of "extraction". As opposed to pulling information out, Saito wishes for Cobb to implant an idea into a rival - a process known as "Inception".

This is the plot in its simplest form, and it's explored to incredible depth - including the difficulties inherent in the concept of introducing a subconscious thought from an external source, and the influence of said external source on the dreamer. The majority of the action of the film occurs in the mind of Cobb's new target, as he attempts the inception, with few "B" stories or subplots, and frankly this is one of the films greatest strengths. Christopher Nolan knows what story he wishes to tell, how bizarre and complex it will be, how much he can pull out of it, and how it would fall to pieces if anything more were introduced to the mix.

Visually, this film is a roller coaster ride. There were multiple times throughout the film (specifically the second tier of a 4-tiered dream sequence focusing on the endeavors of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character Arthur in a retro hotel setting) where I almost literally had to pick my jaw up off the floor. The cinematography is astounding, drawing on style and design from multiple genres to convey the different settings to the audience on a subtle (even subconscious - wink, wink) level.

While I could probably spend multiple pages ranting and raving about how much I loved this film, let me attempt to be more concise: the editing is fantastic (that a 10 second sequence can create half an hour's worth of suspense still amazes me), and the acting is superb (I've grown to respect DiCaprio more and more ever since The Departed and the depth and subtlety in this film are astounding).

Go see this movie. It's AMAZING.