A meditation through the corridors of mind....

Rating: 9/10 (16 July 2010)

Nolan, the cinematic genius is back. Once again he sets the bar of mainstream commercial cinema so high that most other contemporary filmmakers will be forced to "copy" him soon enough, I am afraid. Dom Cobb played by DiCaprio is a futuristic thief and steals your thoughts and even manipulates them all through your dreams. And now he gets an assignment of his life time. The one that he has been waiting for. While working on that he has to face his personal demons as well. That pretty much sums up the basic story line.
Yes, it's all about dreams. But this is not a popcorn movie or dating movie or an action movie or a disaster movie. I would even go even further and say that it is not your "usual" block buster movie either. This is a serious science fiction movie, with plenty of mind games involved, in typical Nolan way. But again it's not the sci-fi that we have seen till now. There are no weird looking space ships or matter-antimatter-integrators or subspace transistors (remember starwars techno babbles?). The dialogs make sense and has been written keeping in mind that people will actually listen to them and try to understand what in god's name they are saying. Just like Nolan improvised the character of The Joker in his previous outing, here he completely (in many scenes literally!) overturns the very idea of alternate reality in movies.
Well, the story can be explained pretty much in one sentence. But in reality the idea has been executed brilliantly and has many sub layers if you pay attention. It is much more complex than TDK, or Requem for a dream or Eternal sunshine of a spotless mind. I compared Inception with the latter 2 movies because they try to make the viewers aware of the mindset of the characters as much as possible through the setting, dialog, camera angles and the background score, something can be attributed to Matrix I only partially. I think Inception as well can be included in this category although each of them are different in their own way.
Now before going to watch the film, expect 'AS MUCH AS' possible. Still, I guarantee you that you will come out exceeding it just as I did. And calm yourself just like you do before writing an exam or a meditation or yoga. Be ready to absorb all the emotions and dialogs as the film goes through so many layers and realities. There are some breathtaking visuals through out the film created using CGI, they are there only because they are needed there. I know I am off the limit, I just want you to experience the film in the same way I experienced it. Second viewing should help. I myself am preparing for that.
Every other aspect of the film is just as perfect, Acting topnotch, Story excellent, CGI best available on par with 2012. All in all this is THE film that you have been waiting from Christopher Nolan after TDK. Watch how perfection is redefined.