A Dark Knight's Dream

Rating: 8/10 (2 September 2010)

Let me begin that I went into Inception with absolute zero expectations. Even though it's been out more than a month – I finally got around to seeing it and I've heard NOTHING but rave reviews, I still – ah hem – cleared my mind before entering the theatre.
Let me continue with: I really, really wanted to like this movie more than I did during the viewing. But there were things I simply couldn't overlook and I always have to be honest.
#1 As much as I love writer/director Christopher Nolan – to date, he hasn't made a single bad film, talk about a track record! – it almost seemed like he walked off the set of The Dark Knight (TDK) and brought along some buddies to make his follow-up. I spent way too much time saying: "Oh! He was in TDK. Oh. So was he. And him, and him, too." This is not necessarily a flaw, as some directors have long-term BFFs. Uh, Tarantino, anyone? But this does lead me to a tragic combo that I simply couldn't get past
#2 It wouldn't be so bad if I noticed a half-dozen actors who went from one director's movie to the next, but the Hans Zimmer scoreoh, the SCOREwas sooo TDK that it was distracting. Even the great Danny Elfman, as extremely recognizable he is and similar he is from one project to the next, at least he varies it a tad bit. This was exactly like James Horner's score for both Titanic & Avatar that were so similar, I kept expecting the iceberg to make its way to Pandora. I say all this, as I am a score-enthusiastic; I love a great score and probably listen to those more than most artists. So, while the general public won't catch it, for those who love movie/instrumental music might be a tad bit disappointed.
#3 I absolutely admire and desire original scripts and movies that treat creativity as a number one priority. Unfortunately, ten minutes into this movie, I was already tired of trying to put the, well, pieces of the puzzle together. Sadly, you'll have to continue to do that throughout the rest of the feature. Some of the "plot twists" were easy to pick up and the "layers" of the dream(s) were extremely easy to follow – the background of each dimension's enough to track. But, I think the extremely well laid out plot was also its undoing. Give it a rest sometimes and stop trying so hard to twist the plot/audience and show the movie.
Okay, whew, that's out of the waynow, for the positives.
Mark my words: after countless, and I mean more than two dozen Matrix-rip offs in the past decade, this is THEE MOVIE that took Matrix to the next level. In fact, this is the next Matrix, though I hope there's no sequels made here.
It was thoroughly thought out, extremely inventive – it HAS to be one of the most imaginative movies I have EVER seen and the action, sound, cinematography and direction were all 100% top notch. This movie should only be viewed in either theatres or on Bluray. I can see it absolutely being nominated for Best Picture, Best Sound and Best Screenplay and quite possibly winning all of those awards.
Much like how they describe dreams in the movie (and I do, too – all mine are like this) the movie begins somewhere after the real set up takes place. We have some device at sometime in the future that can tap into dreams. The objective of some is to either "steal" ideas and/or information orplant information.
Cobb (DiCaprio) is one of the best dream masters, and he's being summoned for that stereotypical "last mission" in order to (HOMER'S ODYSSEY) get home to his wife & kids. Or so we thinkagain and again.
So, he takes his normal gang to infiltrate a rich and dying man's son's mind to both satisfy the employer Saito's (Watanabe) wishes, but also so Cobb can see his children again. Their mission involves "inception" or planting ideas using layers and layers of dreams to make him paranoid enough to...well, see the movie for the motivations. In fact, I left out many of the movie's subplots, especially involving Cobb's own layers and what drives his own actions. Best to leave it up to a new viewer to experience his dilemmas.
What a journey it was, from dream layer 1 to 2 to 3 and beyond. Even though one of my criticisms was "trying to keep up" with the storyline, it is, in fact, a fun roller-coaster ride between the levels, especially Arthur (Gordon-Levitt) who compensates for the variances caused by the upper decks. The best scene involves an extremely ingenious and "realistic" Cirque du Soleil fight & rescue scene in a The Shinning/Barton Fink hotel hallway.
Though every actor did the job they set out to do; only Tom Hardy (as Eames) really stood out – so I wouldn't count on any Best Actor nods. The movie relies solely on story and graphics, and for that, it doesn't let down. A little too much at times, as if it was trying to be so convoluted that it was shooting for a higher playing field than it actually had.
That all said, it was very enjoyable adventure with great action, a tremendous number of comedic lines and a fairly good set of dialogue amongst fantastic and exciting backdrops. Highly recommended; there's really no harm in dipping into Nolan's latest dream. And as a side note, I truly believe I will like it more the second trip down this rabbit hole. Until thenthis is what I think.