Barrett’s Review: INCEPTION is an Awe-Inspiring Work of Art

GRADE: A+

My brain; melted. My eyeballs; popped out of their sockets. My heart; ripped apart and then glued back together with an adhesive comprised of unadalterated joy. That is what happened to me for 148 minutes this week when I watched Christopher Nolan’s Inception for the first time. It is without a doubt the best movie of 2010, the best movie of the past 10 years, and IN MY OPINION, the best movie ever made. I know these gushing sentiments may be met with releuctance and skepticism for those of you who have followed my year-long obsession leading up to the release of this film, and for that I apologize. But I am just letting you know that, even with the highest, most ridiculous level of expectations that I had for Inception, Christopher Nolan exceeded them, resulting in the most unforgettable movie experience I’ve ever had.

The genius of Christopher Nolan is his ability to suck the audience into the multi-layered story web that he weaves, compelling the audience to think and feel as the characters proceed on their journey of self-discovery. Inception is a culmination of all his previous films, even though he had the idea for it when he was 16 years old and wrote the first draft of the script in 2001. Following, Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige and The Dark Knight have acted as a cinematic batting cage for Nolan, allowing to hone his writing and directorial skills, with Inception acting as the grandslam home run at the bottom of the 9th in game seven of the World Series. Inception is Nolan’s Sistine Chapel, his Mona Lisa. It’s a film that is going to change how other films are made, and how Hollywood approaches fresh, edgy ideas from promising young filmmakers.

The plot of Inception is so dense, that even if I tried to explain every detail, you still would have no idea what I am talking about. Having said that, I’ll give you the simpelest breakdown of the plot, as you should try to view Inception for the first time with as little knowledge as possible (so, sorry for posting every trailer and picture over the last year :/).

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Dom Cobb, the most skilled man on Earth in the art of “extraction,” using a device to go into people’s minds via their dreams to steal/”extract” secrets and information. Cobb cannot return home, which he desperately wants to get back to, and is then offered a job opportunity that would allow him to do so. Except this is no normal job, Japanese businessman Saito (Ken Watanabe, who is perfect in the role), hires Dom and his team to perform “inception,” where instead of extracting an idea from someone’s mind, they would be planting one in the most extreme act of coroporate espionage. Dom then assembles his team of dream stealers for this one last, extremely dangerous job. That’s about as spoiler-free a description of Inception that I’m going to give you. That plot may sound extremely complicated, and in some aspects it is, but once you are fully immersed in this dream heist, you feel like you are apart of the team, while grabbing on for dear life.

Nolan would be classified as an “old school” filmmaker. He has publicly discussed his love for in-camera special effects as opposed to the oversaturation of CGI that most blockbuster directors seem to prefer. The imagrey and action in Inception is breathtaking and thrilling; whether there’s an intense gun battle on a downtown street in the pouring rain with freightrains speeding past, or a high-speed ski-chase on a snowy mountain after an avalanche. Nolan also sets the bar in innovative and  jaw-dropping fight sequences that have never been seen before. I am of course talking about the hallway scene featuring Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character Arthur, duking it out with a bad guy while the hallway spins with zero-gravity, causing their fight be literally all over the place. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can prepare for that scene. It’s one of the coolest, most-badass things ever put on screen.

A complaint that some critics have of Christopher Nolan’s films is that they’re “too cold,” meaning that they lack a pallatable element of emotion within the characters or story. While I strongly disagree and consider many elements in films such as Memento and The Dark Knight to be incredibly moving, I can see why they would have that impression about Nolan’s films. However, there is absolutely no way that anyone can say that Inception lacks emotion. Cobb’s haunted past, his love for his wife and his determination for redemption are the #1 driving forces of this story. There were times that I teared up because of the tragedy and loss we see Cobb had to endure. The special effects and razzle-dazzle of Inception are just supporting the central emotional core of this film.

The performances from every single actor in this film is top-notch in every degree. Leo is ace as always, featuring one of the best performances of his career. Ellen Page steps out of the Juno shadow, giving a lovely performance as Ariadne, the architect student Cobb recruits, but ends up being his theraputic guide throughout the film to help him deal with his past and realities. Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt steal the show in Inception. The sibling rivalry chemistry that they have on screen, even though they’re not brothers, is so enjoyable and provides some much-needed bright and funny spots in this otherwise very serious and tragic film. Tom Hardy in particular portrays one of the coolest combinations of elegant-charasmatic-badassery for a character that I’ve seen in years. And if Marion Cotillard doesn’t get nominated for Best Supporting actress as Cobb’s wife, Mal, I think I’m going to shoot someone. I’m not going to describe specific instances of her performance as that might give away some of the plot, but suffice it to say that she completely knocked it out of the park.

And I cannot forget to mention Hans Zimmer’s score. It’s some of the most thrilling and beautiful pieces of music I’ve ever heard from a film. During the inense action, the music thumps with danger and excitement. And during the dramatic, emotional scenes, Zimmer strikes right at the heart with truly beautiful music

Inception is a film that comes around once every 25 years. It’s a movie that’s so inventive, so imaginative, so original, so thrilling, so emotional, so compelling, so thought-provoking and so exciting, that it makes every other movie to come before it look like the worst movie ever. It also features THE BEST ending in film history. That is all I will say, you’ll just need to see it to know what I’m talking about. People will be talking about Inception for years to come, and I guarantee double-digit Oscar nominations, if not wins. The Dream Is Real.

What Should You Do? See it now, see it tomorrow. Just see it. See it as many times as you can. Go. NOW!