Inception

Aired Date: July 16, 2010

Time Kate wanted to see it: I believe when Mike recommended it, sometime after it came out on DVD.

Reason Kate procrastinated: Actually, for me, this isn't procrastinating! It came out less than 2 years ago!

Category: Film, Sci-fi

Kate says BE WARNED! I will be giving away the ending.

To begin with, I love Hans Zimmer's scores.

Second, what an awesome cast! I referring specifically to Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the cool, gentleman Bourne, Tom Hardy as wry Eames, the excellent Ken Watanabe as Saito, Ellen Page as the lecturing team member who doesn't come across as too lecturing, Marion Cotillard as a rather complex manifestation of Cobb. Not to mention Lukas Haas showing up as Nash (man, that guy gets around!) and Cillian Murphy acting non-crazy while looking younger than he did in Batman Begins!

And Leonardo DiCaprio. I actually don't mind Leonardo too much despite Titanic. He isn't like Tom Cruise whom I have trouble watching in just about anything. It isn't Tom Cruise's personal life that bothers me; it's that every character he plays is a type of put-upon victim (chased by women he has to kill; persecuted by authorities he has to destroy), and I can't help but think it is a projection of Cruise's personality.

But DiCaprio deliberately, and interestingly, goes off-grid for movies, and he actually has the ability to do it.

Music and actors aside, I loved the milieu ("setting" sounds so drab for what Nolan has pulled off). Like in Batman Begins, the city-scapes feel authentic while also being fantastic and elaborate. They remind me of Miyazaki's animated city-scapes in movies like Howl's Moving Castle.

So what about the plot?

I was incredibly pleased that the ending didn't entail a dream-within-a-dream solution (I am aware that perhaps we are meant to think that; more on this later). The Leverage-type con was enough to hold my interest, but I would have been terribly disappointed if the whole thing had just been all-in-the-mind. Matrix did it, people. Can we move on now?

However, the major problem with the ending NOT being a dream-within-a-dream is that not all the "real" bits of the movie feel "real." The whole sequence in Morocco or wherever doesn't feel real at all--yet it is supposed to be. Additionally, some things are just off--like the kids haven't aged, which is weird. And why would Saito want to join the team? (It is possible that all along he really just wanted to have the layered dream experience, but this is NOT made clear.)

I do realize that questioning the nature of reality might be Nolan's point--for instance, the choice isn't Dom giving up limbo for reality but Dom giving up limbo for the better dream (with his children and intact team rather than with a faded projection of an angry woman). But it's the sort of thing that confuses the film's intentions; it also doesn't make me go, "Wow, how profound! That totally makes me, like, consider the nature of reality." It just makes me think the script-writers are lazy.

So I would have enjoyed the ending as much as the rest of the film (man, that elevator sequence is cool!) if the ending had been clearer in its conclusion (and been set up for better).

That said, the movie is definitely worth watching, and Nolan does seem far more concerned with having fun with sets than with making a big point (in fact, I think he may have forgotten the film's point)--which is rather refreshing! In fact, Nolan has the following to say (obtained from Wikipedia):

I choose to believe that Cobb gets back to his kids, because I have young kids. People who have kids definitely read it differently than those who don't . . . I've read plenty of very off-the-wall interpretations . . . The most important emotional thing about the top spinning at the end is that Cobb is not looking at it. He doesn't care.

Mucho thanks to Mike for sending me the above quote!

Mike says I'm still a little mad at Leonardo DiCaprio for The Aviator. That's not very fair of me, but it's true. To be honest, I was a little bugged by everything I had seen DiCaprio in through the years leading up to Inception. And by bugged, I meant I hated them. Fiercely. And even though I knew this had more to do with the director of those movies (wow, I really dislike Martin Scorsese), it was with some hesitation that I saw Inception.

The only thing that kept my hopes up was the thought "It's Nolan. He won't let me down."

And the cool thing is, he didn't. I loved the movie utterly and completely, groaning aloud at the end and still loving that Nolan wouldn't give me an easy way out; no, just like the rest of the movie, the ending gave me something to think about.

I was so blown away, I saw it again. The SAME DAY.

The great thing about the film, in general, is that this is hard core, deep concept sci-fi with almost no props, no obviously fantastical setting (yes, a dream is fantastic, but it doesn't LOOK fantastic, unless you look at just the right time), and explanations that rely on things most people experience everyday.

The uninformed passerby would assume that Inception is some sort of chase movie, or drama, and wouldn't pick up on the nature of the film until the later half, which, admittedly, does feature a man running up a wall and a massive city scape that could never exist in reality. That the film also works as a heist film only adds to the experience.

The actors are dead on in their performances, and every scene, line, and expression is a delight. I love that even though Cobb is the protagonist of the film, he's not really the hero. That honor goes to the suave and, ok, even I have to admit it, dead sexy Joseph Gordan-Levitt (though it pains me, and my wife is laughing at me over my shoulder, I can't deny the truth). As Arthur, Levitt fights the bad guys, saves the team and even kisses the girl.

And DiCaprio does a great job as Cobb, bringing just the right level of depth and guilt to the humbled genius.

Above all, the film looks amazingly. Each shot is beautiful, and the editing creates a smoothly disjointed dreamlike quality. While Kate is right that this does keep many parts of the film from feeling real, it does help punch in the dreamlike feel of the movie.

I love this type of movie--let's call it "build-free sci-fi"--where amazing things happen in completely familiar and believable environments. Even the "dream machine" is very simple and instantly understandable. Connect everyone and press the big button, and Presto! Shared dreaming. Wait, why is he floating? Oh, it's a dream? cool, I get it.

Now, I'm not claiming this film is simple or accessible to everyone, because that is in no way true. The film really does make you work to enjoy it. But I like that Nolan seems to avoid making it more complicated than he has to. Sure, these are deep concepts (Wait, a dream, within a dream, within a dream, and then they explore the subconscious? really?).

But this is a great, original film that truly delivers. Now if only my actual dreams were that cool!