Nolan is back and better than ever.

Rating: 10/10 (20 July 2010)

Let's say you go to a movie theater, and see a movie that you ended up loving. How would you describe it? "Awesome?" "Spectacular?" "Magnificent?" Christopher Nolan's latest effort, Inception, is the first time I honestly don't think such words can do justice. Starting smaller with sleeper hits such as Memento and Insomnia, the British filmmaker worked his way up to bigger budget films such as the critically praised Batman Begins, and its even more acclaimed sequel, The Dark Knight. Seeing that The Dark Knight was the mega-blockbuster Warner Brothers was hoping for, Nolan was given free reign for his next movie. As it turns out, Inception is the man's Holy Grail.
If you are familiar with Christopher Nolan's directing style, it may be no surprise to find out that Inception is a twisted and unpredictable film, albeit, twisted in the right way. The plot centers on Dom Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who is a skilled master in the art of extraction. Extraction is the stealing of a person's idea straight from within their subconscious. This is done when a person is most vulnerable, during their sleep. Through years of practice and experience of infiltrating dreams, Cobb has reached a high level that has also transformed him into a fugitive. He has been stripped away from his family, but is offered a last job that could bring him back home. His new task is not to steal another idea, but instead to do the opposite. The new job is to implant an idea into a specific person's mind. The heist is underway after he assembles with the team of characters in the movie.
The ensemble cast of the team consists of wonderful performances from Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Joseph-Gordon Levitt, and Tom Hardy. I will not explore the plot more than I already have mainly because part of the movie's charm is the mystery surrounding the way the story progresses. Inception's plot is complex, but not impossible to figure out and follow, as Nolan takes notice of certain limits when telling the story. For example, the story mainly linear, as opposed to the reversed storytelling style of Memento. The audience is also introduced to the world of the dream through Ellen Page's character. These aspects of the plot make it accessible to every audience, without thinning out the deeper layers of Nolan's vision.
Every performance was well-handled, with Leonardo DiCaprio's performance as the lead being the strongest. There is a certain level of emotional pull in his character's back-story, one that I will not reveal here. What can be said about the acting in this movie is that it is one of the many assets to this film that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The amount of realism injected into each character makes for a rather interesting conflict as the film picks up its pace. Coupled with the beautiful cinematography and performances, the film's action scenes do not disappoint one bit. In fact, there is a certain sequence in the film's climax that is easily one of the most jaw-dropping action sequences in all of action film history. I have not been so thrilled since I first saw Neo dodge bullets in The Matrix. A master like Christopher Nolan has the awesome ability to blend high-octane action into a complex and layered premise so flawlessly.
On a technical and artistic level, Inception delivers greatly. Every shot in the movie seems so carefully placed, and at times the cinematography, combined with clever use of slow-motion, greatly enhances the experience during the more intense scenes. Composer Hans Zimmer has created an immense score for this movie. The music is really loud, yet fits with the tone being presented in the movie. As if the music leapt right out of a giant monster movie, the booming brass cues and somber piano fillers definitely help amplify every moment, from the slower, more emotional moments to the absolutely epic action scenes. The action that takes place in the dream world was made visually possible thanks to really clever special effects. For a special effects buff like me, this movie was a bit more of a treat. It seems that Nolan tries to go out of his way to use as little computer generated imagery as possible, and restricts it to when it's needed. The film's highlight action moments are almost entirely achieved by practical special effects, and that fact alone makes Inception stand out from the crowd in today's movie generation. As per Nolan tradition, the movie is tightly edited; do expect some awesome hard cuts and seamless transitions between the dream world and real world right before your eyes. The really chaotic editing style gives the entire movie a very surreal feel, almost as if you don't know whether the characters are dreaming or not.
I can sit here for hours and hours, writing about the complexities and curve-ball dialogue scattered within the plot, but I don't want to be a poor sport and ruin the film's genius story for those who haven't seen it yet. Simply put, Inception is a masterpiece that will stand the test of time. With a climax that is sure to become iconic, a deep and moving emotional side, and powerful performances from realistically written characters, Inception has it all. I tip my hat to Christopher Nolan for envisioning such a fresh and engaging story, and his wonderful team for making the perfect movie experience. Yes, I said perfect. Go ahead and call me crazy, but this movie is absolutely flawless. It needs to be seen by everybody on the face of this planet.