Is Inception a must see movie?

Rating: 8/10 (12 June 2012)

Inception is a sci-fi action movie about a team of experts, stealing people's ideas in their dreams. It is set in Japan, America (Los Angeles) and France (Paris). They actually filmed in Tokyo, the north of London, France, Tangiers (Morocco), Los Angeles and Alberta (Canada). The year in which Inception is set is not made clear, but we do know that it is in the future, because of the devices used to break into people's dreams. Inception was written, directed and co-produced by Christopher Nolan. He firstly suggested the movie in 2001 but he felt like he did not have enough experience, so first, he produced Batman, and after this he did produce Inception. He also directed the movie Memento which is about memory and the mind as well. Together with his wife, he is the founder of the Syncopy Films Company, and they produced movies (among others Batman and Inception). The main characters are played by many well-known actors like Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Marion Cotillard. The estimated budget for Inception is $160,000,000. The movie was released on July 8th 2010 in London. Since then, it won many awards; AFI Film Award for movie of the year (2010), Oscars for best achievement in cinematography, sound editing, sound mixing and visual effects (2011), Saturn Award for best director, music, science fiction film, special effects and writing. This is only the beginning of a long list, as they have won many other awards.
Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skilled thief. He doesn't steal objects, he steals ideas. He's absolutely the best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing secrets while people are sleeping. Thanks to this ability Cobb is a wanted spy in the world of industrial spying. But everyone has his weakness. When Cobb loses everything he's forced to accept one last mission while he is fugitive. Because of this he is not able to be with his children and deceased spouse. One last job could give him his life back. Cobb won't be stealing an idea, but planting one. To succeed this one last mission he needs a team of specialists and they have to be better than they ever were. Despite the careful planning their mission is complicated, especially with an enemy which seems to predict every move they make. Can Cobb leave his shady past behind? Inception definitely has an 'A-list Cast'. The film was nominated for multiple awards, mostly for: best sound mixing, best visual effects and best cinematography. But also in the category best actor/actress DiCaprio, Page, Hardy and Murphy were popular. The cast of Inception includes among others: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy and Ken Watanabe. The performance of Leonardo DiCaprio was terrific, not surprisingly. It was not an easy job for him to look concerned, heartbroken, intense and doing all kinds of stunts at the same time. Ellen Page, who made a breakthrough as the pregnant Juno was nominated for an Academy award for best actress, plays a student of architecture. She plays this role perfectly well and we can expect a rising star. People who knew Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt from earlier appearances were happily surprised with their performances. Overall the others have performed well in their own small roles.
The characters in the movie work great together. They all have their different personalities and this shows in the way that they interact with each other. Most of the characters do not have much of a background story, with the exception of the main character Dom Cobb. Most of the behavior of the characters made sense to me, even though I was bothered by the actions of one character, that is Mall Cobb. I could not identify with her acting but understood that it was crucial for the link between Cobb's emotional state and the projects he is performing.
The concept for inception is great. Even though it is not possibly to share dreams with others, thus making the story impossible, the film does make you think about your dreams and how remarkable they actually are. I was impressed by the storyline. Throughout the story our main character and his team plan and perform their mission, while we learn more and more about Cobb's past and what he knows about inception. The secrecy in the beginning of the film made me eager to learn more about this concept. Because of all of the nesting and some flashbacks it would have been difficult for the viewer to put all the information in the right place, but I had no problems with this as I paid complete attention while watching, something I would say is certainly crucial in understanding the movie at all. During the dreams, the screen quickly skips from one scene to the other where the same characters perform different action scenes at the same time. Even though this promises a chaotic and messy entirety, Nolan managed to keep it clear and exciting at the same time.
The technique in this film was great. The sounds and music fitted the scenes perfectly and were good additions to the film. The lights and the filters used caused that some of the scenes appeared somewhat vague and colourful, which to me seemed very relevant and fitting to the story. The special effects were stunning. With many of the scenes being in the dream world, the film showed effects I had never seen before. The special effects were well-preformed and looked realistic. There was one fighting scene that blew me away. In this scene one of the characters knocks-out enemies while gravity is spinning (think of a hamster in a wheel, replace the wheel with the hallway of a hotel). This is one of the many memorable moments I encountered in Inception.
Overall, Inception impressed me to a great extend. Mainly because of the deep storyline and the impressive special effects. This is definitely a film that I'll be watching again.