At its heart, Inception, the new movie from director Christopher
Nolan, is an absurdly exciting heist film. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Dom Cobb,
the leader of an elite group of thieves who will steal corporate secrets direct
from the minds of executives. Using a special sedative to put them under within
a moment’s notice, they extract corporate secrets by acting out elaborate dreams
that are designed by a member of Cobb’s team who’s an architect. As a rule, the
mark--their target who they’re trying to extract the secrets from--usually never
knows that its only a dream until they wake up.
But although this concept sounds intriguing enough, Nolan pushes it one step
further. Ken Watanabe (Batman Begins) stars as the head of a corporation with an
interesting deal for Cobb: he wants Cobb and his team to plant an idea in the
head of a corporate rival (played by Cillian Murphy, another vet from Nolan’s
superb Batman films): to voluntarily dissolve the Goliath-like mega corporation
that he will inherit upon the death of his ailing father. This idea, known as
inception, is nixed by Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Cobb’s right hand man,
because it’s an impossible task that’s never been done before. But Cobb, a
fugitive from the United States who longs to see his kids again, decides to take
on the impossible.
What follows is the rare, intelligent popcorn film that demands you pay close
attention--much like Nolan’s previous non-Batman entry, The Prestige. Inception
is such a riveting, complex thriller that a second viewing was required for me
just to grasp the invigorating concepts on display. And what was especially
pleasing for me was how well the film held up the second time. Inception is, in
a word, brilliant. It stands in the same league alongside other monumental works
of cinematic science fiction such as The Matrix, and 2001. The
entire cast is excellent here, with nary a bad performance in the pack.
And Nolan is smart enough to add enough dazzling eye-candy to the proceedings
that it also makes Inception a visually stunning adventure that really pops when
viewed on Blu-Ray. Of special note is Gordon-Levitt’s mind-bending battle with
adversaries in a twisting, turning hallway. Nolan has said that he would love to
direct a James Bond film, and his work on Inception alone is enough for me to
want to see him handle a 007 flick. But, thankfully, he’s presently hard at work
on The Dark Knight Rises, the next and possibly last Batman film from him. While
I’ll be sorry to see the Nolan Batman saga come to an end, the magnificent
Inception proves that we can still expect many more great stories from his
masterful and visionary filmmaker.
--SF
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