Inception: Review By The Narrator: The Better Man

"Dreams feel real while we're in them. It's only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange."

DiCaprio has just begun to explain the very nature of the dream world to an intrigued and naive Ellen Page. That quote can be used to describe this movie in a sense.

I'd like to say that I wasn't going to write a review for this film. Much like 08's The Dark Knight, also by Nolan, this film is bound to get a lot of opinions, reviews, and debated threads, and what good is one more opinion in a sea of views. But when I saw this film. It quenched every desire I had. I knew I had to say my peace, because only 5 minutes into the film, I knew that people would misunderstand this, wrongfully criticize it, and undersell it. So here we are.

The film is set in the near future, where the world of piracy and theft have reached unexpected heights. Heights we could only dream of. (Get the pun?) A world where certain gifted people can enter a targets mind and retrieve his darkest secrets, fondest memories, and worst nightmares, without the person ever knowing the better. We are dropped into this world as soon as the studio logos fade. In a rush we are sucked into at times whispered dialog and questions pop up at once. the film continues in this pattern, solving riddles, while giving you twice as many the next minute to chew on. It's not overbearing at all, and the pacing is perfect.

We follow Don Cobbs (Leonardo), the best "extractor" in the world. Capable of retrieving even the deepest of secrets, and also going where no man has gone before in the dream state. When one of their targets; a powerful Japanese business mogul called Seito (Ken Watanabe) catches Cobbs and point-man Arthur (portrayed brilliantly by Joseph Gordon Levitt) entering his mind, he instead decides to hire them for a seemingly impossible job. I think we all know what that is. To plant an idea, instead of steel one. Why is this so hard some skeptics ask. Well it says so in the movie. A person can always trace the genesis of an idea. No matter what. So make them think that a thought is their own original thought... that would be amazing.

With the promise of being able to return to America and to his children after being wanted for something (which I can't mention at all), he assembles a team of professionals in the area of the dream. They include such stars as Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, and Dileep Rao, they set about thinking of ways to plant this memory into their target (Cillian Murphy). I seriously don't want to say anything more, so I will just stop there. I can promise you what ensues is a dark, gut wrenching, and chaotic series of events culminating into one final climax that's for the books.

Story: Amazing. To think that this was one of Nolan's first treatments he ever wrote... It's incredible to say the least. The characters are fun, if a bit lacking in circ*mstance (other than a few key players) and the story movies as fast as a freight train.

NOW I WANT PEOPLE TO PAY ATTENTION TO THIS NEXT PART. The scenes are chaotic at times, and we are dropped in and out of situations, and into these people's lives from out of nowhere. This has been a big cross roads for viewers. Now if you guys think back, all of Nolans films are like this. Especially The Dark Knight and The Prestige; his more recent films. He is a master writer in every sense of the word. He knows what he can get away with, and when he can be sloppy in the context of the story because it is overshadowed by how fast we're in and out of those situations. We are just thrown in there, we can't stop and say, "Hold on, what happened there", or "Who are they, and why are they important". We have no choice but to go with it. And frankly, I don't have a single gripe with that.

The layers of the dream world we're outstanding. The timing sequences, how it changes, how "the kick" gets them out, I mean this is f*cking art we are watching. To even think of all the hours they put into the script, and the details, this can't get anything less than an applause.

Action: This is a fantastic movie. And it's so much more than any one genre can contain. But lets face it, if this film is to make money, it has to sell to the common crowd, and what do they want? Action. Things that will make you go, "How the f*ck are they doing that?!" To all those people out there: you will definitely not be disappointed. The hallway scene has literally gone down as my favorite fight scene, as well as all the shootouts. And don't worry folks. Not everyone is floating off and doing weird sh*t walking on walls with zero gee. There is stable, probable action throughout, and not all of it occurs in the dream world. Being world renown in secrecy for being that best at stealing people's thoughts doesn't make you a popular guy, so there's plenty of harrowing chase scenes both in the mind and in reality.

Cinematography: God. I hate it in a movie where there's nothing but praise but yet again, the work done in this department delivers. Deep shades of blue and gray surround the cities in which the mind thinks of. The lighting is nearly impeccable. As mentioned by others the slow mow it literally used at always the right time, using it as a story telling tool and not a gimmick as you will see in the film. The fight scenes are cutty and edgy but manage to be smooth when needed and it plays out great. don't get me started on the locations...

Art direction: I love the fact that each dreamer has a different style to their worlds, and the art department really makes use with that. The tone for the film is set, and the detail to what the camera is gonna focus on is amazing. Watch the movie for yourself.

Locations: From France, to Canada (I think), to America, to the Middle East this film takes place everywhere. But by far the best parts of the film are the worlds and cities that don't exist in real life and take a number of different locations to make it look and feel real.

Animation/Effects: Beautiful and fluid. I mean this bad boy puts every movie out this year to shame. I have honestly never seen anything so simple yet so cool as having a fight scene in a zero gee hallway, or the infinite staircase, of Paris being folding upon itself. Unlike most "blockbusters" the effects used in this movie help carry the story and not vice versa. I mean can you expect less from Christopher? Another good thing about the effects here are a lot of them are really practical. Sure there are a lot, and a lot of cgi moments, but a lot of times they use simple camera tricks, elementary effects and pure imagination to develop such mind bending stunts.

Editing: This is a for sure winner for best editing. I mean, damn. All these different time lines going in and out, differentiating from minutes to hours to months/years beyond. It's unbelievable. And they are all paced together so perfectly it's like we are watching one fluid timeline, and again the slow motion plays a key role in this. This was one of the big 'make or break it's' for the film and it made it!

Acting: Grade A folks. Leonardo really plunges into his role, ad as said by almost everyone, this is one of his best roles to date. However he is not alone in this star studded cast. IMO, Joseph Gordon Levitt takes the cake for his charming, yet serious portrayal of Arthur. Ellen Page is good as the architect of the film, and newbie. The rest of the cast are charming in their owns ways, and fits the bill. I especially liked Cillian Murphy as the target they would plant this idea into. The whole lack of the dad-son relationship played well across his face. Watanabe was good but I would have preferred it if he talked in a bit more solid english, especially since there was no subtitles. I missed about 1/5 of what he had to say throughout. However there was one individual who swept everyone away with both pity and fear. That ladies and dudes, was Marion Cotillard. I can't say much about her character, but she was a revelation. Overall, outstanding cast.

Directing: Nolan creates a world where even the viewers don't know which ways up and whats real or not. I mean the opening of the film, the whole two layer dream... that showed us from the get go what we were getting into. He has literally outdone himself. I can't begin to fathom the hard work it took to get this point across to the cast, crew, and studio. I'm speechless.

Score: Hans Zimmer has outdone everything he has ever done. No joke, no exaggeration. The score went from heart pounding to solemn, and at times haunting. Definitely deserves an Oscar for the year IMO.

Now comes the negative of the movie:

1. It was too f*cking fast! Why couldn't it be three hours and ten minutes, LOTR style. I mean, where the hell did the time go?!

2. Some of the characters could have been improved on. Page's character was sorta bold, saying the first day she met Cobbs that something was wrong and stuff, and acting like she knew she knew everything and the motives behind it. That was a bit irritating.

3. THIS IS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM FOLKS:

This movie changed things. Forever IMO. I haven't seen a movie this clever, and multi layered and so unorthodox that it blew every expectation I had away because I was immersed in it. This is what other movies could have been. Had potential and backing to be. But didn't. if this is just a taste of the future, then I am sadly out of a future job. I can't top this. I mean.. It's hard enough to fully grasp everything that went on. So my point is, if people start to go in this uncharted territory of greatness where does that leave Average Joe dreamers like me?

***HUGE SPOILER***

Btw, the whole ending scene, for those who saw the film, from the moment he suddenly wakes up on the plane till the credits.. That was all a dream. He got stuck in limbo, because Seito didn't go back with him, and he got lost. That or as others say the top did fall at the end but we didn't see it, and it was just a tease. Whatever the case it leaves the ending completely open to us, yet another great thing about this movie.

Ending, this is the shape of things to come. Hollywood is coming to the point to where movies are limited only the creators dreams.