Cerebral actioner, demands repeat viewing

Rating: 8/10 (16 July 2010)

Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite modern filmmakers, so I've been looking forward to this movie ever since I first heard about it.
Even though I've seen almost every one of Nolan's previous films, and even though I've been reading about Inception for months, it still managed to completely surprise me in so many ways. The audience is transported to a world where shared dreaming is possible, and thieves have (quite illegally) taken to using this technology to enter people's subconscious minds and steal their secrets. Sounds like a simple setup, right? But the way it's executed, it quickly becomes very, very complex.
Watching this film was unlike any experience I've ever had before. I thought it would feel similar to The Matrix, but I was very, very wrong. In The Matrix, the rules of the virtual world are clear, and the heroes and villains have superpowers. Here, there are no superpowers, and the rules of the dream-world are very, very intricate, and loaded with implications that even the experienced dream thieves don't completely understand. In The Matrix, the stakes of each action sequence are very clear -- either the hero will win, or he'll be killed. But Inception is much, much more complex. During the action sequences, I kept thinking to myself, "Wait, so what does this mean? What happens if they get killed in this dream? What are they trying to do?" Overall, it's a very cerebral experience that's unlike any other action film I've seen before. But there were also times when it verged on being too complicated, and I thought that maybe I would've enjoyed the action scenes more if they were more straightforward. It was tough for me to be completely invested in the on-screen action when I had to juggle so many other things in my mind at the same time.
I'm not saying that's a bad thing, though. Actually, it's quite an accomplishment that Nolan has made a mainstream film that's this original and this cerebral. But ultimately, I feel like I absolutely need to watch it again in order to try and unravel its many layers, to get closer to really figuring it out, and to really pass judgment on it.
Also, Inception looks gorgeous. The cinematography is excellent throughout. But watching it in IMAX isn't necessary. I didn't feel like it added anything to the experience, and in some places I thought the special effects might've been less obviously CGI if I were watching them on a regular screen instead of IMAX.
And the cast is great. So much of the supporting cast is just spectacular. Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt really stand out here.
If you like movies that require you to really think from beginning to end, and demand repeat viewings in order to be fully appreciated, then go watch Inception as soon as possible. If that's not your cup of tea, then don't say I didn't warn you.
4/5