Mini Movie Review: Inception

I saw this movie such a decent time ago that I’m not going to make a very long post about it. But I will still give out the basic information needed!

Summary: A thief, who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology, is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a CEO.

Story: 4.5/5: Wow. Just wow. That was all I could think after the movie was over. It was so fast paced, and so interesting. It follows a group of people who are commissioned to plant an idea into the mind of a man who is the heir to a major company, which is called the titular inception. Each of the people in the group are criminals of some kind, particularly thieves who usually steal ideas via dream sharing technology. What follows is a very trippy movie that can be difficult to follow, (although I didn’t get too confused my self). So I highly suggest you watch this at least twice, because I can totally see how it’s confusing. If I had to complain about one thing, it’ll be in the world building section.

There’s much more the story than my meh summary, but that includes spoilers. Sorry.

Characters: 3.75/5: This was probably my biggest complaint. Some characters were fascinating and/or sympathetic, with many layers. But some of the others felt almost bland in comparison. First, we have Cobb, our main character. He’s the most experienced thief with the dream technology of them all, and he has a very mysterious past, particularly with a woman that keeps popping up in their heists to try to ruin everything. Saito is the man who hires the group in the first place. He’s very shady, as you never know whether his goals are as altruistic as he says, or if he’s just greedy. Probably both. Ariadne is the student of the man who trained Cobb, and she’s the one who’s going to design the dream the heist will be in. Arthur is Cobb’s longest partner, and who knows him best (likely). They hire a man named Eames to help with the heist as well. Yusuf is their driver, and is probably one of the least easily ruffled drivers to ever exist. Then there’s Robert Fischer, who is their target. And there’s Mal, the mysterious woman who shadows Cobb’s dreams.

Acting: 4.5/5: The acting was amazing. I wanted to give it a 5/5, but since some characters didn’t leave much of an impression on me, I couldn’t. Some standouts are:

Leonardo DiCaprio as Cobb. He is (in my opinion) the most layered character, and DiCaprio acted him brilliantly. You always had the feeling there was a lot going on beneath the surface, and always another secret. And yet he could make you feel suspicious, but also truly sad and sympathetic for him.

Ken Watanabe as Saito. He’s here for similar reasons as DiCaprio. Saito was probably the shadiest character, and you never could tell if he was truly altruistic or if he was another greedy CEO.

Cillian Murphy as Robert Fischer. Although Fischer wasn’t in the movie much, he made me feel the most for him. I felt absolutely awful for this man with massive daddy issues who was an unwitting target. I nearly forgot that Murphy played the incredibly creepy Scarecrow in Batman Begins.

Marion Cotillard as Mal. She was terrifying. I’ve only seen Cotillard in one other movie (Big Fish) where she played a sweet, young, wife. But in this movie, she was psychotic. I can’t say more without spoilers, but her performance was absolutely eerie.

Effects: 5/5: This has to be one of the most stunning and mind bending movies I’ve ever seen. The visuals were jaw dropping, trippy, beautiful, and apparently, many weren’t made with CGI. I have no idea how.

The music was another great score by Hans Zimmer. I especially like Time, Dream is Collapsing, 528491, and Dream Within a Dream.

World building: 4/5: This (and the characters) are the reasons I wish this was based off a book, or had a novelization. I adored the concept of the dream sharing machine, but wanted to know more about it and how it’s used outside of crime. I wanted to know more about how this strange world was different than ours. And since this seemed to be a very internal film, I want to read about the character’s thoughts. Basically, the world building we have is great, but I wanted more.

Grade: 4.5/5: This was a stunning movie that is best on a rewatch, just so you can catch tiny details that change everything. Even my complaints are small in comparison to other stories. While this isn’t my absolute favorite Christopher Nolan movie, it’s pretty close to being so.