Movie review: Inception
I posted a different article about Inception yesterday, which is friends only because of the incrediblly silly writing. But I wanted to put up a review for whoever may stumble upon it. It's still rather silly, though. This is a very spoilery review, so if you're already planning on watching Inception, read no more before you've seen the film. It works so much better if you're unspoiled about the story. If you're still on the fence or already watched the movie, read on.
So, what is Inception all about?
Inception is a heist movie as well as a Sci-fi thriller, about being able to visit and control peoples dreams, as well as our own. Cobbs, played by DiCaprio, one of the pioneers in this dream trade, specializes in extracting information from people while being in their dreams. The dream trade is unknown to most people, but to those who know it can mean pretty good business.
Some people pay to be trained to protect their dreams, some people experiment with the drugs that are used to put people into the dream state needed to access and enter dreams. Others have developed special skills in order to facilitate their dream work, like creating the dream world in a way that the subject doesn't realise that she or he is being used, or shapeshifting, in order to trick people into revealing all their secrets to you.
The Cast
This movie has a pretty huge cast. Cobbs, the lead character, is sort of a con man, in that he creates scenarios where he lures his victims into a false sense of security and/or messes with their minds in order to complete his asignments. Arthur, his Point man, digs up all the dirt and information needed to create believable scenarios and environments. Ariadne, the Architect, creates the seemingly unlimited worlds that the mission takes place in. Eames is the shapeshifter. Yusuf is the rougue pharmacist who wants to create the perfect drugs for completing the job. A businessman named Saito orders the assignment, and then demands to be part of the mission, which makes him the Tourist. Then there's the victim, Fisher Jr. Saito wants him to break up his dying father's business empire, before it grows to big.
So yeah, these aren't exactly the good guys we're talking about, but they do know how to pull off a great show, despite the moral greys of their work, and look good while doing it! I suppose you could compare Inception to gentleman thief movies like Oceans Eleven, but I draw the line before Robin Hood, since the Inception crew supposedly doesn't commit their crimes for a greater cause (unless you believe some of the fan theories about the movie).
The structure of the Dream
Cobbs and his team usually specializes in extracting information, but this time, they're asked to perform Inception, which basically means that they need to plant the seed to an idea into the victim's mind. This is not impossible, but quite tricky, since you have to make sure the victim really believes that the idea came from his or her own mind. Cobb's team creates 3 levels of dreams, where the time moves slower the deeper you go. There's a dream within a dream within a dream. There's also limbo, where you end up if you die inside the dream. There, time moves so slowly you could spend a lifetime there and grow old before anyone manages to get you out.
All these timelines play out parallelly thoughout the movie, ultimately exploding in a finale so incredible that I found myself grabbing the armrests of the chair and hanging on for dear life. I seriously have never been so nervous about how a movie will be concluded, and I have definitely NEVER before been afraid of falling out of the chair while watching a movie (which I would have, it I had let go of the arm rests, I'm quite sure).
SFX - As real as it gets
While the multilayered plot is definitely one of the reasons to watch this movie, the awesome special effects are the real dealbraker. Unlike most movies, where they use bluescreens and CGI to create the effects nowadays, Inception uses the real deal. So when the restaurant starts tipping on its head, that's really happening. When the actors walk from one wall to the other in a zero gravity corridor, thats really happening as well. I tell you, what I most look forward with the DVD, is not the movie per se, but actually the behind the scene material. The "extras" section is bound to be huge.
This is by the way an incredibly beautiful movie, where all the different locations makes this movie a feast for the eyes. The scenography is pretty much as stylish as the costumes worn by the actors, which I will talk about later in this post.
The Dream World - A creative dream
I did notice that there seemed to be a lot of video game references in this movie. If a person has fortified their dreams, people inside the dream will turn against the intruders and mindlessly continue to try to kill them, which simply screams video games to me. I also found one of the dream layers to remind me a lot of Metal Gear Solid. Also, the way the dream intruders are able to conjure up things as they see fit and create the world in order to fit their own "game", equals them to game creators (or movie directors/authors) in my mind, and judging by how popular creative games like Little Big Planet are nowadays, I think we'd all like to create our own game world, just like Ariadne and Cobbs do in this movie.
Alternative realities
Inception is not the first movie that plays with the idea of alternative realities, manipulation of memories or dreams as a separate reality. Matrix, Total Recall, Paprika and Possible Worlds have all walked that particular path before Inception, but what Inception does is, it does it it really well. It's spanned, among other things, a huge debate online, about what was real and what was not. It plays with the viewers minds and challenges them to go back in their minds and question what it was they actually saw in the movie. I love how it's done and I love reading all the theories that people seem to come up with, each one crazier than the next (that last one is my personal favourite).
Nolan and his crew keep the real truth to themselves though. I think they all want to make a sequel, and seing as how economically, this movie has more than earned one, I think we might actually get a sequel once Nolan finishes his third Batman movie.
You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling
One more reason to watch Inception is that it's probably the first movie since Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter to span this much fanfiction and fanart, without actually containing any sex scenes or even any overt sexual references. There's one married couple in the story, as well as some hints of feelings between some members of the crew, but nothing seems set in stone. The unlimited posibilities seem to have the viewers heads spinning with ideas of how they think things should work out for their favourite characters.
Pretty in pink (or at least in a costume)
Then there's the clothes. Oh. My. God, the clothes! Pretty much anything these guys and women wear has been custom made for the movie. I'd go so far as to say that even those of you who normally wouldn't notice what kind of clothes are being worn on screen, will probably find yourselves salivating over Mal's gorgeous dresses or Arthur's three piece suits. Jeffrey Kurland wasn't an unknown guy before he participated in the making of Inception, oh no, but now, he has pretty much everyone talking about his clothes. That is pretty much the perfect timing, with the current suit trend going on and all those young guys all wanting to suit up. Barney Stinson must be thrilled.
The Music
Inception has one of the best scores I've heard in a movie lately. Or rather, one of the best scores I've heard AFTER watching the movie. I honestly don't remember hearing any music while watching this film. It meshed perfectly with the pictures and the mood, which is I think the best thing you can ever say about a movie soundtrack. I have listned to Hans Zimmer's original soundtrack on Spotify afterwards, repetedly. It's a really great background music for my own personal writing. I should also mention that the music piece Mind Heist, that's playing in the trailer, created by Zack Hemsey, is really, really awesome as well.
Some like it hot, Nolan likes it even hotter
Last but not least, one reason to watch this movie is the gorgeous cast. This is THE hottest movie of the year, castwise! I'm not pulling your leg. You like women? Great, you've got both the boyish waif Ariadne, played by the always lovely and talented Ellen Page, as well as super sexy Mal, who's wearing dresses I would kill for and could turn a straight woman bi with just a look. Mal is played by french actress Marion Cotillard, who recieved an oscar for her performance as Edit Piaff.
Then there's the ridiculously well-dressed male cast. Nolan must be aware of how important both female and gay movie goers are for a movie's success nowadays, because damn, he's cast a lot of lookers for pretty much EVERY taste! Whatever floats your boat, this movie has it! I've even seen a lot of comments from straight guys about how attractive the guys in the move are.
So, who have we got? We've got the headline actor Leo DiCaprio of course, he's not for me but a lot of people like him. I liked him a lot when I was younger, though. Used to have a Romeo+Juliet Poster on one of the walls in my bedroom...
Tom Hardy? What can I say, the man IS sex walking around and being very funny in interviews, not to forget his incredibly sexy voice. This guy could make a fortune if he worked on a telephone sex line, but luckily for us, he makes even more making movies.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is kind of like the new Heath Ledger, good looking as well as talented, and the young girls are falling for him so hard you can practically hear their bodies hitting the floor of the movie theatre all the way to where I'm sitting right now. He's also rumoured to have been tapped by Nolan to play the Riddler in the next Batman movie.
Ken Watanabe is one of the most handsome actors to come out of Japan since Takeshi Kitano's younger days. At his best moments, he even rivals Ryuhei Matsuda, whom I've adored since I was 20. Watanabe is also a very talented actor.
Then there's Cillian Murphy, who's really, really pretty (when he's not playing the Scarecrow that is) and has these Elijah Wood-ish pretty eyes, as well as an adorable aura of cluelessness that's really working to his benefit. He's also really great in the interviews for the movies, especially since he's paired up with Tom Hardy or Ellen Page, both whom he seems to be comfortable with.
Eames and the Tropes
TV Tropes loves Inception, and especiall Eames, who also happens to be my favourite character in the movie, so I thought I'd just mention a little about it here. Consider it a peak at the silliness that was my original review. Yeah, yeah, I know. It's still a rather silly review. I try, ok?
Anyways, TV Tropes have Eames pegged as Ambigously Gay, or at least very Brittish (heh), One Man Army (You'll see why once they reach Eames dream level in the movie), Deadpan Snarker (together with Arthur and usually towards each other), Ensemble Darkhorse, (once again together with Arthur, since they both seem to have stolen the spotlight from headliner DiCaprio), Estrogen Brigade Bait (together with the rest of the crew minus perhaps Yusuf, who everybody seems to forget all the time, poor guy), and he pretty much owns the Ho Yay live action film cathegory by now, or at least borrows it temporarily from Guy Richies Sherlock Holmes.
By the way, even if you don't like the movie (though I don't see how anyone could dislike it), the fandom is pretty funny. Lots of posibilities for both kink and humour, which you can easily find examples of online. Here's my favourite fancomic so far, by the dA-user Radioactivemongoose.