Inception Review

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Let me start off by saying, screw you Christopher Nolan! Screw you, for making me gain an appreciation for the world around me! Screw you, for making me realize how awesome the world is when there’s nothing distracting you from it! Screw you, for making a wonderfully crafted film! Moving on though, let me answer some of the questions I know you have…  Is Inception a work of creative genius? Yes. Is Inception a nonstop thrill ride? Yes. Is Inception proof that big budget Hollywood can make good movies? Yes. Is Inception a completely original idea in a sea of sequels and remakes? No.

I’m not even going to bother going over the plot of Inception because that’s something I think you should experience for yourself.

So moving from there, lets start with the performances. Almost everyone brings their A game to this movie. Leonardo DiCaprio channels some scary guy from deep within him to create his Cobb character. It was rather stunning actually. I liked his role in Shutter Island, but I loved his role here. It was heart pounding. Ellen Page also really delivered where I thought she would fall flat on her face. She is the key to everything Cobb does, she is what separates Cobb from success and failure, and she pulled it off with amazing grace. Joseph Gordon-Levitt brings an amazing charisma to the film that only he could pull off. Tom Hardy is as close as you could come to any form of comic relief in this movie, but at the same time he delivers on the “ultimate bad-ass” role quite well. My only real acting issue is with Marion Cotillard. It felt like she couldn’t do anything on her own. That the only reason I can stand to watch her on screen is because she can play of the amazing presence of DiCaprio. But to avoid spoilers I will stop there.

On to the story of the film. This is kind of hard to talk about, as to avoid those pesky spoilers, so let me say these few basic things. The story of Inception IS NOT original. We have seen this done before. We see it in films like Dreamscape and The Matrix. Some of it’s ideals are in films such as Dogma and A.I. The way the first act unfolds screams Mission Impossible. But I didn’t care. It was still able to craft an interesting plot out of everything it takes from others. That said though, I can’t ignore that those elements make the film not original. A small fact, but a fact none the less.

Inception also takes a lot of pacing elements from other films. Every single action sequence feels like it’s out of a Bond film, specifically, Casino Royale. The film just screams Campbell in those sequences. They were cut like the South Africa chase sequence in Casino. Not the slow cuts that Nolan used in The Dark Knight, the cuts that really portray his style, an interesting creative move to say the least. Also, it’s amazing how similar this film is to DiCaprio’s other mind bender of the year, Shutter Island. Now, I felt much more moved by this film than I did after Shutter Island, but both films hit very similar beats. Beats I can’t talk about because of those darn spoilers.

Technically, the film is absolutely tremendous. There are some very odd sound mixing issues though. To put them into perspective, what Scorsese did with color in Shutter Island, Nolan does with sound in Inception. The score is also brilliant. This is one your going to want to have on your iPod all the time. Also, Nolan’s tenacity to do so much in camera really pays off. Especially in the money shots you see in the trailer of the floating bodies and the rotating room, classic Hollywood effects that really went a long way to the world building of the film.

Final thoughts? Inception is a beautiful film, with some familiar elements behind it. It may not be a 100% original idea, but it’s still a display of genius from a true creative master. A master of the art. A master of the mind. A master… of anything. Inception sucks you in and never lets go. It’s a must see.

9/10