Inception(2010)

Inception Poster

"You're waiting for a train.."
Christopher Nolan, after a financially successful stint in the superhero flick The Dark Knight(2008), has returned back to his roots in psychological thriller (maintaining his ever-so-cool film making style) in his latest film, Inception. DiCaprio stars in this film as Dominic Cobb, a guy with special abilities who together with his team, enters a world made up of someone's dream, to either plant or steal ideas. DiCaprio's character is the usual Nolan protagonist; filled with guilt and is haunted by memories from the past(which typically has something to do with his wife),and in which it is visualized in the film as repeatedly recurring subjective mental images of the harrowing incident.(see Memento(2000), Insomnia(2002) and The Prestige(2006)) This film deals mainly with the theme about dreams; it explores the disturbing power of the subconscious and the mysteries surrounding our perception of reality. The film's premise is indeed mystifying and gripping. In this film, Nolan once again flawlessly delivered a complex plot-- that is the dreams within dreams within dreams. He did it by creating these multiple worlds which are reminiscent of the worlds in his previous films. His style is one of the things that will definitely stick. I particularly liked how he played with the effect of the lighting and the space he created for each dream universe. Also, kudos to Hans Zimmer for another great musical score.

On the other hand, the film's plot elements adhere to too much formula and convention. Here's the scenario: Guy A has a mission/objective. He can't do it alone. He needs a team to do it. So one by one, Guy A recruits Members B,C,D,E and so on. Each member has his/her own specialty. Sounds familiar? Here's another formula used to drive this film: a "deadline" must and has to be established. Guy B is shot. Guy B is dying. They have to hurry or mission is aborted. Oh and the falling car in slow-mo! (OMG! We're about to get screwed! We have to hurry with our mission guys! And the film's about to end! There's no more time left! Just about 20 minutes before the scheduled running time ends! C'mon! But no need to worry! Guy A is here to save the day! We're gonna make it through this anyway--we just have to make it look like we're not!) Well anyway, I have to say this film lacks the originality that is possessed by Nolan's superior earlier films. Inception was good, don't get me wrong, but it didn't quite exceeded my expectations. Nonetheless, this film is discreetly compelling and entertaining, making it worth watching.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Kahuna Burgers