Great for even those who don't love sci-fi

Rating: 9/10 (13 September 2010)

Okay, I would like for the record I do not like Sci-fi; I am a romantic comedy and drama watcher. So when I was dragged to Inception by my colleagues, I made it very clear by saying "If this movie gives me nightmares it's on your heads," I was surprised to find that I did not hate it but actually found it quite intriguing.
In the movie Dom Cobb (Leonardo Di Caprio) is a master at dream extraction (or theft of your greatest secrets in your dreams), whom the United States Government wants, so he can no longer go home to his children. He is hired by Saito (Ken Watanabe) for a supposedly impossible mission to make an heir to a business empire split it up so he does not control 50% of the world's energy. His prize for completing this mission is he will be able to go home to his children again.
Along the way he requires help by Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who researches the target. And Ariadne (Ellen Page) is the architect of the dreams that makes them so believable that the dreamer believes it the real world. This is a metaphor for her name from Greek mythology. Ariadne guides Theseus through the Minotaur's Labyrinth as the movie's Ariadne constructs and guides the team through the dreams.
One of the things I appreciated was the analogies of the totems to chance and strategy. Along with the each of the main characters is a totem to allow them to differentiate the dreams from reality. For Cobb? A top which will only fall in reality but in a dream it will keep spinning. Arthur? A pair of loaded dice which he knows which sides will land up while other will not. While Ariadne crafts a chess piece, which sadly we never find out how this works to tell her the difference. The dice and top represent chance as their characters are taking the chances mainly in the dreams as the last is a strategy piece showing how Ariadne is constructing the dreams and guiding them through them.
Throughout the course of the movie, director/writer Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Memento) crafts each scene with simplicity and elegance, but also with confusion and mind- bending twists. The scenes in the hotel without gravity, especially using the elevator to supply the kick, is an excellent use of creativity and photography for exploring the way special effects and cinematography work hand-in-hand together.
Although throughout the movie the quick scene changes do add to the dramatic effect, they are over used in my opinion to the point where it becomes too complex to be confused. In the beginning we see this as we are clearly unable to grasp which scene so far is reality and as the characters go more in-depth on dreams in dreams we as viewers I feel begin to lose our perspectives.
I also appreciated the usage of special effects within the reams but also at the end; These special effects were seamless, for as the dreamer awakes the dream world falls apart, quite literally. Within the previews we see this as buildings are toppling into the waves, which is amazing form of reality on how after we awake our dreams collapse and fall apart. Also the Penrose Stairs early on makes it see how dreams physics are bended to the mind of the architect, which is another crucial aspect of this film.
For me personally, movies like Inception make you appreciate that even after a century of moving pictures you can see something original. Throughout everything this movie has to offer, the combination of the plot, cast, cinematography, and most importantly being a movie that you actually need to think about instead of staring at the screen like a zombie like others, makes it a true piece in the cinematic history.