Inception
Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy
‘Inception’ is a film that is able to completely entertain while providing an incredible story that makes you think long after the credits; it’s a rare combination, and Christopher Nolan definitely got it right.
The story follows a small group who are skilled at extraction, the art of stealing ideas from people’s dreams. After a failed job, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) are hired by the subject of the failed extraction, Saito (Ken Watanabe), to do the opposite - inception, which is planting an idea in someone’s subconscious. Their subject, Robert Fischer Jr., is the son of a dying owner of a large business which Saito needs Jr. to dissolve. Arthur and Cobb recruit Ariadne (Ellen Page), an architect to construct the dream, Eames (Tom Hardy), a forger, and Yusuf (Dileep Rao), a chemist with a sedative to get them sleeping deep enough to make the operation possible. Unfortunately the whole thing could be ruined by Cobb’s subconscious memories of his wife Mal (Marion Cotillard), whose death he feels overly guilty about.
A masterfully done maze of mind-bending twists and turns ‘Inception’ thankfully keeps you wondering but not confused and annoyed; you’re kept up to speed on enough that you don’t feel in the dark about everything that’s going on in the film. The weak point of the movie is the fact that full and developed characters were sacrificed for story development, but it’s barely noticeable; the characters are just well done enough that you can allow yourself to be distracted from their untold backgrounds by the engaging and thought-provoking story. Another strong point is that it is extremely visually appealing; the imagery and settings throughout the film are fantastic.
‘Inception’ is an incredible film that brings together a great cast and a strong story which seamlessly combines action and entertainment with a mind-bending plot.
