When you grow up watching enough films that range from awesome to mediocre at best, sometimes it takes a mind-blowing flick to knock some sense into you as to what "well done" really is. Long story short, watching the movie I'm about to review back when I was a teenager with little critical sense made me realize the true significance of spectacular cinematography, special effects, writing, and acting among other things when before I could barely make them out. Not to give myself any crap or anything, but even I find it amazing how this one film aided me in understanding many aspects of great and masterful filmmaking as I got older. So, without further adieu, I'm most eager to share the impact Inception -- one of the the most influential films of the decade -- has left on me since its release.
***SPOILERS BEWARE*** (and not everyone has seen the movie so I guess it matters this time)
The film summed up in one sentence: A Dream Within A Dream... within a dream... within a dream. BUT...! That's not all; if we're to get down to the nitty-gritty of the plot, it's about an extractor by the name of Dom Cobb (played by none other than Leonardo DiCaprio) who, along with his partner, Arthur (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), conducts corporate espionage missions inside people's minds through shared dream worlds. However, Cobb's missions are often sabotaged by invasive projections of his late wife, Mal (played by Marion Cotillard), whose suicide as a result of them being in limbo too long is on his criminal record and causing him immense guilt and torment. He is soon offered a chance at redemption when his most recent target, a business man called Saito (played by Ken Watanabe), tasks him with doing the impossible: "incepting" the brain of Robert Fischer (played by Cillian Murphy) in an attempt to disband the energy company owned by Fischer's father. With assistance from his main crew as well as graduate architect student, Ariadne (played by Ellen Page), and identity thief known as Eames (played by Tom Hardy), Cobb travels into the depths of Fischer's subconscious as well as his own in hopes to both accomplish the mission and expunge his criminal history so that he can make it home to his hoped-for reality of being with his children.
If that alone didn't sound deep enough, the plot and themes truly are just that: psychologically deep and engaging. As I just demonstrated, one can hardly explain the fine details about the plot in one sentence especially when One Simple Idea isn't enough to explain the film to its entirety -- technically, it kind of is, but more on that later. The main reason for this is because the film's director/producer/writer, the renowned Christopher Nolan, worked so hard on the script's main idea for years to make Mr. Cobb's emotional journey match up with the dream worlds he created. And, boy, did he deliver. The mere premise of people sharing a dream space with one another as well as crafting different worlds within dreams is a concept I've been super interested in coming to grasp more since watching the film for the first time a few years back. While most of it may be science fiction writing (such as the film's explanation of the "dream technology" they utilize being for military experiments), the onscreen action itself offers the audience many reasons why, simply put, dreams as well as one's subconscious are fascinating.
The various dream worlds and action set-pieces that take place within them are all unique representations of the subconscious and their layers. For example, when we're first introduced to Saito's dream world depicting a Japanese castle at the start of the film, it is clear based on his secrecy and when The Dream Is Collapsing that he has something to hide that he doesn't want to disclose to Cobb and co. Later on, though, the mechanics of the dreams start to play in big time; between instances like Cobb waking up through being kicked into a bathtub and water inexplicably pouring into the Japanese castle dream and Fisher's projections of militarized men infiltrating the three levels of dreams during the main mission, the whole thing is mind-blowing. And if that's not extremely surreal-sounding, a zero gravity fight takes place in the hotel dream while the van tumbles down a hill in the upper level dream. As one who likes to simply observe a work of visual media without much reaction the first time around, I didn't really give much thought to the zero gravity fight the first time around, but then, the more I thought about it, this particular action scene is, without a doubt, one of the most exciting fight scenes in all of cinema! So, when put basically, if one hadn't given much thought about dreams and their effects before this movie, they'd be lying if they said they haven't since.
As condiments to the film's main meat and bread (and by that I mean the outstanding action scenes and psychological premise), EVERY. SINGLE. ACTOR. in this is on top of their game thus making the movie all the more emotionally investing. I literally can't go without saying that Leo DiCaprio is absolutely golden in this as he plays a tormented Old Soul fighting to get over his tragic past with the death of his lover -- something Hollywood hardly even considers when writing love stories; another plus on Nolan's part! And to go along with that, Marion Cotillard does a great job of sounding like a delusional freak who can't discern reality from dreams in the flashback scenes depicting Mal after emerging from limbo with Dom. All the rest ranged from great to awesome at best, but I'd rather not be here all day describing each and every distinct performance by its characteristics (plus much of the main ensemble is carried over from The Dark Knight trilogy, which I also plan to review someday). If anything, though, the real show stealer is Tom Hardy as Eames. In the midst of this dark, serious, surreal psychological thriller/crime drama/noir/action movie, he's actually the one who gets the most laughs particularly in the layered dreams toward the end. When he steps in to assist Arthur in a shoot out by dreaming up a grenade launcher and transforms back into his plain self after projecting a hot woman in order to seduce Fischer's subconscious, I actually found myself cracking at his one-liners (e.g.: "You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.").
Nevertheless, no good film is without the icing on the cake and, in this film's case, it's the astonishing musical score by the man, the myth, the legendary film composer, Hans Zimmer himself. Surely, everybody remembers hearing that iconic horn from the trailer that has essentially defined numerous dramatic trailer themes throughout the 2010s. For that matter, those same horns and intense strings manage to up the intensity big time during the big action bits thus making them more epic as a result. Even the inclusion of fast-paced drums (or whatever instrument was used) during the Mombasa chase sequence gave me a rush of adrenaline watching DiCaprio storm his way through the marketplace full of civilians as his gun-wielding pursuers gave chase. If nothing else, it would be a crime to let go unsaid that the slower, more somber bits of the score manage also to bring out the film's overall drab, dream-like atmosphere. Though I cannot exactly recall when it plays during the movie, every time I hear the track titled Old Souls, I instantly imagine myself lost in a bizarre, foggy dream world searching desperately for a way out before ultimately being chased by nightmarish projections that kill me, thus waking me up. After painting a story like that for you readers, I will note that, if you've been paying attention at all, that littered throughout this review are a few of the track names on the soundtrack written in italics. Even if you haven't seen the film, I would strongly suggests giving them a listen and see what all you can come up with for mental images -- and I would also recommend the track Time as it is, without a doubt, THE greatest movie ending song in the history of mankind!
To sum it up, this film is SO fantastic, SO involved, SO well-directed that I could easily talk about for hours how well it manages to construct everything it has in store. From its deep, psychological premise and inventively breathtaking action/visuals to its superb ensemble casting/acting and phenomenally influential soundtrack, almost nothing negative can be said about what this film does unless maybe someone viewing doesn't fully watch it with a critically functional mindset. In regards, I will say that, although the movie's dream sequences don't follow the whole stereotypical dream-like feel (that being the blurry, white vignette full of ridiculously surreal environments/events), the fact that each dream setting is portrayed more realistically than one would imagine with at least some surreal elements is all done in a way that viewer can better understand each dreamer's subconscious. With as much as I've discussed the subconscious throughout this review, my subconscious says I give this movie a solid A and would strongly recommend for anybody looking for an awesome piece of cinema that's considered art more than anything.
Thanks y'all for watching and I will see you in the next review!
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