Visually impressive but do you really think I'm stupid?

Rating: 5/10 (25 January 2014)

In 2014, we've seen every possibility in SFX, so it should all come down to Storytelling, Character development and Credibility. So let me go into that.
The story is based upon a few aspects of dreaming that the viewer can recognize: dream time passes quickly, circumstances that the dreamer is in (rain, cold, music) tend to enter the dream and you immediately wake up when killed.
The story starts with these commonly known facts, which is good, highly original and promising. Then it wants us to believe a series of additional details and exceptions, that are unveiled bit by bit. Up to a point that you say "Hey but wait a minute, do you really want me to believe this too ?" The suspense in the film comes from the fact that this information is held back and unveiled just-in-time. Without Cobb's explanations throughout the movie no one would accept the story.
Let me sum up some of the additional rules that you will have to accept in order to appreciate the plot. And the serious flaws that come with them.
Rule: it's possible to enter someone else's dream. All you need is a futuristic device with old fashioned wires and a big button. You hook up four dreamers and then you press the button. One of them is the owner of the dream, the others are visitors. Because the machine is not wireless you must have all four people in the same room. But no matter how much the people are messed with, the wires hold and the machine keeps working.
Rule: If you enter someone's dream, you can extract information from it. Furthermore, it's possible to insert information into the dream (hence the title 'Inception'). Much like the way people are influenced when hypnotized. Hey, wait a minute, wouldn't hypnosis be a much easier way to achieve the same amount of influencing? With much less danger to the villain (Cobb) too.
Rule: It is possible to work out a scenario beforehand and take it into the dream, thus creating a dream that follows a script. But the worlds that are created in the dream are nothing like dreams as we know them. The dreams in Inception look more like worlds from a modern fantasy-movie. There's much emphasis on Ariadne's ability to create labyrinths in the dreams, yet none of the dreamworlds actually is a labyrinth and it's not clear why they must be. Therefore it's unclear why Ariadne, being a constant nuisance, is taken into the dreams. Her only justification in the script is that Cobb needs a reason to keep explaining everything. So, in short, she impersonates the viewer. In that case it would be smart to make her more likable.
Rule: In the dreams, it's possible to have a similar device to enter dreams. Creating a dream within a dream within a dream. But, in a deeper level dream, some of the above rules do not apply. For instance, if you are killed in a second level dream, you will not wake up, you will remain 'down there'. On the other hand, in many scenes people's lives are being threatened and they never seem to worry. The other rule that does not always seem to apply is the fact that the dreamer's circumstances are taken into the dream. For instance: if the dreamer is sitting in the back of a van and the van falls from a bridge, the weightlessness caused by the fall becomes a factor in the dream. So,the four people in the dream (the hotel-scene) become weightless. But the dream of these weightless people does NOT become weightless. This happens many times (when bouncing and shaking because their seat is tossed around, etc) and is totally inconsistent. If the people are freezing, their dream is not influenced. But if they are getting wet, the dream is influenced. Please, it does not need to be logical, as long as it's consistent.
Rule: if there are more characters in someone's dream, they are hostile towards the people who entered the dream. Even worse, some people (Mal) are so hostile that they keep entering dreams in order to try to kill everyone. This has you on the edge of your seat, until you think 'why?'
Rule: It is important to know whether you're dreaming. Therefore you must bring a 'totem' into your dream with which you can test if you're dreaming. All characters take a 'totem' but you never see anyone actually use it. It is unclear why Cobb tells Ariadne not to show her 'totem' but does demonstrate his own.
Rule: After the dream is over, you remember nothing. Except for the one thing that Cobb wants you to remember.
Rule: time spent in a dream is twenty times the length of the dream. This is important, because if you have a four hour airplane flight, it gives you eighty hours of working time in the dream. But an important part of the story is in the second level dream (the weightless hotel scene), all of which is within the time frame of the van dropping off of the edge of a bridge. A real drop would take about three seconds. So the time spent in the hotel is one minute. In the hotel and elevator we see half an hour of action at least.
These are the major flaws. There are numerous other errors in the script (if the city is folded up, why does the light not change?) so the only way to enjoy this movie is to not think and just enjoy the graphics. The only factor that carries the story is the brilliant level of acting from DiCaprio and Page. This and the SFX are the only reasons to reward this highly overrated movie with a 5.