Film: Inception
Director: Christopher Nolan
Written By: Christopher Nolan
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Run Time: 2 hours 28 minutes
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Ken Wantanabe
I am in awe.
In my Bonus Picture column for Toy Story 3 that I published about two days ago, I was responding to comments on my review. I made the confident assumption that nothing would beat Kick-Ass to my Best Non-Pixar Film of 2010. I believed that nothing would top Kick-Ass for pure fun and pure quality and pure excellence.
But then I saw Inception. And I take absolutely everything I said back.
The plot involves Dom Cobb (DiCaprio), an extractor who enters people's dreams to steal ideas of theirs for whom ever has employed him. But he is battling his own demons in the form of manifestations of his wife (Cotillard) and a past he refuses to talk about. When he is offered a chance to return to his own life via one last job, he accepts. But said job is Inception, the art of planting an idea into someone's mind, which is much harder and maybe even impossible. As the stakes raise and the risks mount, Cobb starts losing his grip on reality and starts to wonder what is real and what isn't.
No more plot info. I know I keep revealing as little of the plot as possible in order to make the experience for you as fresh as possible. But this is a case of revealing any of the plot truly spoiling the entire experience. What I wrote above was the most I knew going into the film, so revealing anything else would mean you entering the film knowing more than I did. And that isn't a good thing. Because Inception is an experience.
It's also an experience led by an all-star ensemble cast who give career best performances across the board. In an ensemble piece like this, and with performances as consistently exceptional as this, it's hard to pick stand outs. But I'm going to anyway. Ellen Page proves that all of that praise for her portrayal of Juno was no fluke. Leonardo DiCaprio gives his best performance since The Departed as Cobb. To say anything more about Marion Cotillard's performance would ruin more of the film for you. Words can barely describe Joseph Gordon-Levitt's work; the closest I can get being "unbelievable". And Tom Hardy just plain rules throughout the movie. I spy our next James Bond!
The action sequences are not only original, but also breathtaking. Once more, I can't say more about those action scenes as they are an integral part of the second and third acts. But they are a revelation and will have you leaning even closer to the screen due to tension than ever before.
Integral to the action scenes are the dream worlds. Nearly all of the movie takes place in dream worlds, so they need to look great and be believable. And they are. The reason for this is that so little of the film is CG. The lack of CG makes the dream worlds more believable and much easier to be invested in. I actually remember reading somewhere that someone criticised the film for not going far enough with the dream worlds. That the dreams should be more out there and more dream like. This person completely missed the point of the dream worlds and the film if they truly believe this. But again, to say anything more is to ruin the film.
I'd also like to quickly praise the film's sound design. So rarely do film makers pay attention to how music and audio and overall sound design can help immerse the viewer and add to the experience of the film. So, extra kudos to Hans Zimmer for his exceptional score and to whoever arranged the audio tracks in the film. Their hard work is our additional gain. Oh, and I must praise the ending. I rarely see a film that gives an ending of the exact same quality of what has come before. Nor do I very often see an ending that will incite as much fevered debate and conversation topics as this one.
If you haven't been convinced by Memento, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight of Christopher Nolan's genius, then Inception will. It is Nolan's masterpiece. People often say that you can teach a class on a movie. With Inception, you could teach a whole freakin' course on the film. It is literally a how-to guide on good film making. It's how to make a great film in every single aspect. There is so little wrong with the film that I couldn't find it on my viewing. If I could, I would see it again. There is nothing more I can say other than go see Inception. You really do owe it to yourself.
5 out of 5.
Director: Christopher Nolan
Written By: Christopher Nolan
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Run Time: 2 hours 28 minutes
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Ken Wantanabe
I am in awe.
In my Bonus Picture column for Toy Story 3 that I published about two days ago, I was responding to comments on my review. I made the confident assumption that nothing would beat Kick-Ass to my Best Non-Pixar Film of 2010. I believed that nothing would top Kick-Ass for pure fun and pure quality and pure excellence.
But then I saw Inception. And I take absolutely everything I said back.
The plot involves Dom Cobb (DiCaprio), an extractor who enters people's dreams to steal ideas of theirs for whom ever has employed him. But he is battling his own demons in the form of manifestations of his wife (Cotillard) and a past he refuses to talk about. When he is offered a chance to return to his own life via one last job, he accepts. But said job is Inception, the art of planting an idea into someone's mind, which is much harder and maybe even impossible. As the stakes raise and the risks mount, Cobb starts losing his grip on reality and starts to wonder what is real and what isn't.
No more plot info. I know I keep revealing as little of the plot as possible in order to make the experience for you as fresh as possible. But this is a case of revealing any of the plot truly spoiling the entire experience. What I wrote above was the most I knew going into the film, so revealing anything else would mean you entering the film knowing more than I did. And that isn't a good thing. Because Inception is an experience.
It's also an experience led by an all-star ensemble cast who give career best performances across the board. In an ensemble piece like this, and with performances as consistently exceptional as this, it's hard to pick stand outs. But I'm going to anyway. Ellen Page proves that all of that praise for her portrayal of Juno was no fluke. Leonardo DiCaprio gives his best performance since The Departed as Cobb. To say anything more about Marion Cotillard's performance would ruin more of the film for you. Words can barely describe Joseph Gordon-Levitt's work; the closest I can get being "unbelievable". And Tom Hardy just plain rules throughout the movie. I spy our next James Bond!
The action sequences are not only original, but also breathtaking. Once more, I can't say more about those action scenes as they are an integral part of the second and third acts. But they are a revelation and will have you leaning even closer to the screen due to tension than ever before.
Integral to the action scenes are the dream worlds. Nearly all of the movie takes place in dream worlds, so they need to look great and be believable. And they are. The reason for this is that so little of the film is CG. The lack of CG makes the dream worlds more believable and much easier to be invested in. I actually remember reading somewhere that someone criticised the film for not going far enough with the dream worlds. That the dreams should be more out there and more dream like. This person completely missed the point of the dream worlds and the film if they truly believe this. But again, to say anything more is to ruin the film.
I'd also like to quickly praise the film's sound design. So rarely do film makers pay attention to how music and audio and overall sound design can help immerse the viewer and add to the experience of the film. So, extra kudos to Hans Zimmer for his exceptional score and to whoever arranged the audio tracks in the film. Their hard work is our additional gain. Oh, and I must praise the ending. I rarely see a film that gives an ending of the exact same quality of what has come before. Nor do I very often see an ending that will incite as much fevered debate and conversation topics as this one.
If you haven't been convinced by Memento, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight of Christopher Nolan's genius, then Inception will. It is Nolan's masterpiece. People often say that you can teach a class on a movie. With Inception, you could teach a whole freakin' course on the film. It is literally a how-to guide on good film making. It's how to make a great film in every single aspect. There is so little wrong with the film that I couldn't find it on my viewing. If I could, I would see it again. There is nothing more I can say other than go see Inception. You really do owe it to yourself.
5 out of 5.
