Movie Review: "Inception"

Not really Spoilers, but if you haven't watched it, don't read, just trust me!

Every 10 years or so a film comes along that is not only groundbreaking, original, but is sure to be emulated, copied (miserably), and loved for years to come. The 1970's had the original "Star Wars", the action genre and 1980's had the original "Die Hard", the late 90's had "The Matrix", and now the 10's start off with "Inception".

A project that Christopher Nolan has been working on for some 10 years, the attention to detail in "Inception" is a reflection of the countless hours and hard work that Nolan and the entire crew and cast have put into this once-in-a-generation film. Never before have I left a movie so unbelievably enthralled, spellbound, mindfucked, and deep in thought.

Without giving too much away, it really is best to enter this movie with a completely blank slate: The main premise involves a man Cobb (DiCaprio) and his team being blackmailed into planting an idea into the mind of an heir of a major energy company (Cillian Murphy). In order to do this, they need to enter his dreams, and tap into his subconscious.

While performing this "inception", the team has to battle not only the difficulty of performing the job, but projections of Murphy's subconscious that attack them like "white blood cells", and the ghosts of Cobb's past which project themselves into these shared dreams.

"Inception" features an all-star cast, but the performances by DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Marion Cotillard are particularly outstanding, and all deserving of Oscar nominations imo. The special effects are phenomenal as well, and there are two scenes in particular that will take your breath away, and leave you gasping for more.

But at the end of the day, for all of this film's accomplishments, what this film will be remembered for is it's extremely layered yet still easy to follow plot. "Inception" lets you know what's going on, and explains what is possible/not possible, and the rules of shared dreaming. Unlike some sci-fi/thriller films that become too smart for their own good, only the most dimwitted among us will have troubles understanding the basic premises and actions of the movie.

Even still, when the screen fades out, you will leave the theatre mindfucked, with more questions than you came in with. I could literally feel the entire silent theatre racking their brains the entire film, something that is hard to find these days. This is one of those films that WILL require multiple viewings in order to gain a better grasp of, and try to understand. The beauty of "Inception" is that we are entertained, we are forced to think, and ultimately we get out of, and take from the film what we want. Our viewing and how we interpret this film can go a long way to understanding ourselves, and tapping into our own subconsciousness. A MUST SEE MOVIE, that WILL win many Oscars, sustain a Titanic-esque run at the box office, and be talked about and discussed for years to come.

Grade: A+