By definition, "Inception" means "the beginning of something" or in this instance, planting the seed of an idea in the brain. For action lovers, there are many levels of excitement because we explore many levels of sleep and/or dreams. For CGI lovers it means brilliant mind-bending Computer Generated Images. For lovers of involving, down-to-earth, understandable stories, it means a lot of esoteric claptrap.
See? Something for everyone!
Director Christopher Nolan ("The Dark Knight") has assembled a top-notch team:
- Leonardo DiCaprio ("Shutter Island") heads a corporate espionage team which enters minds via dream invasion;
- Marion Cotillard ("Nine") is his deceased wife;
- Michael Caine ("Flawless") is his father;
- Ken Watanabe ("Memoirs of a Geisha") is his boss;
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt ("(500) Days of Summer") is his chief architect of dreams;
- Ellen Page ("Juno") is his new recruit; she serves as our stand-in as she is escorted around the facility and taught what they do there;
- Cillian Murphy ("Breakfast on Pluto") is their target.
Be ready for vehicular mayhem, impossible gun fights, a spectacular fist fight in a gravity-free room, lots of explosions and an avalanche! This film has all the disjointed elements of a dream: lack of continuity, confusion, unrealistic settings, violence, abrupt changes of scene, and over-the-top emotions. Characters are dying...or not. Helpful...or not. Guilty...or not. Endings are happy...or not.
The audience was riveted, but ultimately I found the endless gunfire and blowie uppie stuff to be wearisome.
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