"You're waiting for a train; a train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you can't be sure. But it doesn't matter - because we'll be together." - Mal, The Shade
Title: Inception
Genre: Science Fiction-Action
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast:
Leonardo DiCaprio - Dominic "Dom" Cobb, the Extractor
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Arthur, the Point Man
Ellen Page - Ariadne, the Architect
Tom Hardy - Eames, the Forger
Marion Cotillard - Mallorie "Mal" Cobb, the Shade
Cillian Murphy - Robert Fischer, the Mark
Ken Watanabe - Saito, the Tourist
Dileep Rao - Yusuf, the Chemist
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Arthur, the Point Man
Ellen Page - Ariadne, the Architect
Tom Hardy - Eames, the Forger
Marion Cotillard - Mallorie "Mal" Cobb, the Shade
Cillian Murphy - Robert Fischer, the Mark
Ken Watanabe - Saito, the Tourist
Dileep Rao - Yusuf, the Chemist
Synopsis:
Dominic "Dom" Cobb leads a group of "extractors": professional thieves who steal secrets from within shared dreams, a method developed by the military based on sedation and connection to a central electronic hub. Team members have specific roles: 'architects' create the layout and buildings of the dream, 'point men' monitor the world of the dream, 'forgers' can assume the identity of others in dreams, and 'subjects' are the victims of the crime who populate the dream with their subconscious projections such as passers-by, or vaults representing information which they wish to keep secret. The opposite of extraction is inception, the process by which an idea is planted in the mind of the subject, so that it organically grows and feels like an original thought.
Reception:
Initially the film received overwhelmingly positive reviews from internet reviews and advance screenings. Commentators have noted that critical consensus shifted markedly backward as reviews from larger consumer media outlets were published. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a normalized score 86% based on 240 reviews, with an average score of 8.1/10, and summarises the critical consensus as "that rare summer blockbuster that succeeds viscerally as well as intellectually". Review aggregator Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 74% based on 42 reviews from mainstream critics.
My Say:
Not an animated film, not a 3D film, not your typical summer film, and the time's not the peak of Oscar season yet. But what makes Inception tick?
The concept of the movie revolves around dreams and ideas stored in dreams. Shown in the film are two things that you can do with ideas: reap them (extraction) or plant them (inception). The brilliancy of the movie emerges from the straightforward writing/narrative flow yet the level of the context is beyond the usual sit-and-watch films. I think people now needs films that'll make them think. Inception is one. My only problem is that it made me think too much. It gave me a headache - junction with the instance that I'm somehow near the screen even though I know I'm on a row far enough. Damn IMAX. LOL
The imagery never fails, too. If something happens in reality, it will manifest in the dream - and the art directors do have wild imaginations and interpretations. The fight scenes are well-executed.
Dom's character has been explored properly, but Ariadne's character is somehow underdeveloped. The only excuse that I can get is that she's not the center of the story. Forgivable.
This is probably not one of Marion Cotillard's best performances but every time she's in a scene, she is particularly in command. Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt give a few kicks in their scenes, too.
A teeny spoiler [somehow]: Inception is done in the film at least twice. Once, as an experiment and another as the actual job. Of course, one does not do a job if he doesn't know inception is possible. But I just said it has been done AT LEAST twice. Can you give a third instance after [re-]watching the film? :D
