A thrilling cinematic Soduku puzzle for the eyes, brain, and imagination

Rating: 10/10 (16 July 2010)

Well, it's summer movie season my friends, so that means it's time for lots of stupid movies aimed at young kids and teens who are off of school for summer break. Yep, lots of pointless, predictable stories involving lots of unnecessary CGI, animated people, fart jokes, and vampires. However, once in a while we get a great indie filmmaker like Christopher Nolan who doesn't care about trying to make a movie "popular" but rather focuses on trying to take his audience on an adventure where we experience thrills we aren't used to experiencing at the movies. Like his other films, Inception relies on stellar performances from its cast, as well as storytelling twists that constantly keep us guessing. However, I think this film surpasses his other films in that in addition to clever storytelling he adds some incredibly imaginative visuals and choreographed action sequences that blow your mind as well as almost knock you out of your seat.
One of the challenges of reviewing a science-fiction film like this is that it plays around with time and space. So therefore, it doesn't play by the usual rules of plot and story, since the world it exists in is the subconscious. Therefore, as an audience member you are going to be somewhat frustrated trying to figure out what this movie is "about." At the theater I was at today, a few women near me walked out about an hour and a half into the film and never returned, probably because they simply refused to allow the film to take them on this journey into the unknown. I am certain that many, many moviegoers will hate this movie for that reason, since it doesn't have a cut and paste formulaic narrative that they are used to seeing in films. This is basically a low budget art film at its core and soul, with 150 million dollars of production design and special effects sprinkled on top and around the edges. If you go in expecting a simple Hollywood Shoot Em Up script with good guys and bad guys you will be sorely disappointed. This is basically "The Matrix" meets "What Dreams May Come" meets "Ocean's Eleven" on steroids.
It would be hard for anyone to spoil the film for you, since if you have heard of it you already know that it is about a group of thieves who have the ability to steal someone's dreams, and the complex consequences that could result by trying to do this. After watching the film, that's pretty much all you understand by the end of it anyways, so you just have to watch the film to experience it for yourself. You will either love it or hate it, depending on what level of creativity and imagination you like to see in films. I say to just allow yourself to appreciate this artistic vision and be taken into this world by the exceptional acting, outstanding storytelling, exciting action, and imaginative visuals. The visuals are actually enough to give this film a fairly high rating on their own. One that especially amazed me was a fight involving Joseph-Gordon Levitt inside a zero-gravity hallway. It's just amazing because it doesn't look like any special effects were used whatsoever. It simply looks like the real actors are floating and fighting in this hallway and climbing up and down walls! I am certain wires were used in some clever way; I just have no idea how. There is also a scene where a locomotive steamrolls down a city street crashing into cars (without any tracks under it), and just like in The Dark Knight truck chase where Nolan actually flipped the Joker's truck for real, you can tell that this stunt was also filmed for real.
Last but not least, it is important to note that lost in all this is the fact that DiCaprio gives an incredible performance in this film. Yes, his name is on the top of the movie poster but he is not the star of this. The star of this film is Nolan and his vision, and DiCaprio does a great job of restraining himself from over-doing it so that Nolan can succeed in creating his vision. It would not surprise me to see him get a Best Actor nomination. I also foresee Marion Cotillard getting a Best Supporting Actress nomination. I was mesmerized and spellbound every time she showed up on screen, even though she has a fairly small role overall. She's essentially playing a ghost, but the most beautiful, sexiest, tormented, and scariest ghost a female could ever play. Nolan will also definitely get a Best Director and Best Picture nomination at the Oscars, you can bet on those.
CAUTION: Side effects that may result from watching this film may include brain hemorrhages as well as necessary check ups at the psychiatric ward at your local hospital. = )