We all remember the truly significant movies of history don't we. What's that you say films like Citizen Kane, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Godfather series, Casablanca, Vertigo? No you idiot truly innovative films are movies like The Matrix and Terminator 2. Okay what I mean by this are movies that go in and redefine the action genre by raising the bar for action sequences, special effects and technology. Now I know what your thinking (again, see I'm the male clone of Jean Grey) Avatar (lick, lick) did that last December. Well Avatar I will admit did all of that. The diffrence is that the last part of what makes these films revolutionary is having an original and thought provoking screenplay. With Terminator 2 the ideas of the march forward of are technology and the consequences of are decisions. The Matrix made us think about the same thing I guess but also the nature between fantasy and reailty. The only thing Avatar brought up was how many times Cameron watched Dances with Wolves. But Inception is one of the former.
Inception is based on an idea director Christopher Nolan had back in 2001 about the idea of collective dreaming. Unfortunately as he was small fry back then he had prove to himself he could make big blockbusters first. Yes, those dots you just connected are complete fact: he had to make The Dark Knight to make Inception. So what is the apparent Magnus Opus about? Well this is the hardest part because first time I got asked I just said I couldn't explain it in a sentence. So let's start with the familiar shall we: well it's a heist movie, except the money is an idea and the bank is your dreams. Okay too confusing so let's just spit it out. Dom Cobb (Leo DiCaprio) is a a corporate saboteur who works as an extractor, a person who using a machine and sedetative can enter someone's dream, this isn't like Tron or Matrix though like someone entering a computer they just fall asleep with an Iv in their arm, to steal an idea from that person's dream. Cobb is on the run because he's wanted by the FBI for the murder of his wife which means he can't see his kids. He's offered though one last job which if successful will give him freedom, his kids etc. He must assemble generic heist team 37 to crack into someone's dreams to plant the idea he should just dissolve his company.
Now that's a confusing hunk of junk isn't now. Well the thing is, it is too you because you didn't watch the whole movie. In the theatre it will all make sense, for a while. Various elements are added in like the various jobs: an architect to construct the dream worlds, another guy who can look like someone close to the dreamer to gain trust, but most of all dreams within dreams (within dreams) and if you don't believe this then the movie falls apart like some prick pulling the bottom block out of a Jenga tower. Ariadne (Ellen Paige), the noob architect is the Doctor Who companion here because her job is to get explainations for the audience. Now I say for a while because throughout the movie it sets everything up so that if you die you wake up. But later they go like three dreams deep and realize they have to get a "kick" to wake them all up in each previous dream. If they die in say dream two then they go to limbo. Also bits about subconcious starts making the movie really pretentious. But it does loop itself back later making much, much more sense. Kinda.
Acting wise it's solid performances all around although no characters outside of Cobb and his wife are really memorable like the Matrix's characters. Ariadne works I guess but she never stands out, as does idea vault Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy). I guess Eames (Tom Hardy) is always entertaining. The cinematography though is much better. The movie is full of genius shots. I haven't seen so many good angles since.. well The Dark Knight. Action sequences are also very, very good espacially what they do during the heist. You see when under each layer down time becomes longer than reality so say one hour in a dream is really five minutes out here. Also whatever happens to the dreamer in the real world happens to the dream. Two good sequences are one when in one dream the van their in flips and in the the dream the hotel does the same thing so the two combatants are running on these hallways like a hamster wheel in slow mo. Another is when the kick to get them out has to be done at the same time in three diffrent dreams layers at the same time but time moves slower each one down. I know it sounds strange but just watch it's awesome.
Special effects wise you can probably guess that it's very good here. The thing is a lot of the stuff is real, okay maybe the city being arced isn't but the explosion of a small mountain base was done by miniature. Still the effects here are so mindblowing good it could probably go toe to toe with Avatar, sometimes. Okay enough hyping, the movie must have problems and it does. To be fair like the first Matrix it doesn't explain much like what the machine is, how it works, concepts of limbo and dream layers. But maybe it doesn't really need to explain everything. Remember the Jacob/Man in Black episode of Lost. It proved that some things are better left unknown and guess what same thing here. Also though like I said for a while the movie backs over itself with overcomplication but that does get fixed. The movie also doesn't show conclusions very well. The team technically succeeds but it doesn't show the missions's goal: get this guy to destroy company happen. But I should point out that the movie has one of the best endings all year. I wouldn't dare spoil it.
Overall Mr Nolan succeeds in creating a truly great and thought provoking movie that will probably affect movies for years to come: but for that to happen it needs money so go watch it. On a sequel, I don't know how to answer that because that's what ruined the Matrix afterall. Still probably be one of the best movies of the summer if not all year.
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