INCEPTION Movie Review
Christopher Nolan’s INCEPTION is a mind-bending mix of genres: Part Sci Fi, part heist movie, part action/adventure, part romance.
Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a thief like no moviegoer has ever seen. Well versed in the art of Extraction – stealing highly coveted secrets lifted from the minds of corporate rivals while they sleep – he is hired by a mysterious Japanese business magnate, Saito (Ken Watanabe) to do just the opposite. Plant a business-destroying idea deep in the subconscious of the heir to a rival energy empire. The reward for Cobb, who is an international fugitive accused of murdering his wife, is a return to the life and the children he abandoned. The proposition, which Cobb warily accepts, kicks off a journey that will either drive him mad, or free him from his crippling past.
That our hero’s fate begins to play itself out in a wacky dream world of relative time scales and militarized projections that defend dream-time, makes Inception the kind of rare film that entertains as it forces you to think. Don’t be surprised when the Freudian/Jungian themes raised stay with you long after you’ve left the theater.
On the one hand, Inception is undoubtedly the perfect film for generating the sort of controversies that will fuel heated debates in online forums – the types dedicated to dissecting the questions of what really happened in a movie with no easy answers. On the other hand, Inception will teach those of us who care to learn that there is no point looking for neat answers or total consistency in a fantasy.
However, there are two things that can be stated definitively: First: thank your personal god for movies like Inception. It isn’t perfect, but it favorably contributes to an important genre (Sci-fi) that allows us to conceptualize politics, society and economy in a digital world. Second: Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the rare youngsters who has grown in power and definition as an actor.
Two thumbs up, as they say.
What did you think of Inception? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.
