Review - Matt Mungle

   

Where do ideas come from? Many times we think we have stumbled on to a thought or direction of our own free will. That somehow we arrived at a decision to do something with no second guess at its origin. The brain is so complex and undiscovered that to fully understand its layers is nearly impossible. That is why movies that deal with this subject matter are often farfetched and futuristic in nature. But when they are done right with all the necessary ingredients; what you get is superb. That is the case with the new mind-deforming thriller from writer/director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight); Inception.

Welcome to a world where creative thieves can enter your subconscious dreams and steal information that you would never share in a conscious state. Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are masters at it. In fact they make their living extracting vital business info from corporate leaders. But what about implanting information? They soon find that this opens up whole new worlds of planning, manipulation and survival skills. As they travel deeper into the unconscious mind of a young, business tycoon (Cillian Murphy) Cobb has trouble separating reality from the world they have created.

I am not sure what part of this film to rave about first. The writing is so sophisticated, unique and splintering that at times I wondered if I was smart enough to keep up. The twists, turns and turmoil that the story drags the viewer through are at times overwhelming and too bizarre to soak in all at once. Yet it is captivating and sucks you in. Visually there is nothing to compare it to. Literally. The graphics and special effects used to bend the dream world are mesmerizing. The acting must be given acknowledgment as DiCarpio continues to prove why he is the most concentrated dramatic actor in the biz today. His intensity bores into you and rivets you to the screen and his character. Kudos too to Ellen Page who is hired on as an “architect” for the dream team. She proves that comedy is not her only hat and holds her own to a degree.

Inception is Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action throughout. The intensity of most scenes and the drama may make parents limit this to the 15 and up crowd. There are credit to credit gun battles as well as well choreographed action fight scenes. The length too may be a bit much for younger movie goers. 148 minutes is a long time to be that engaged in a story such as this. You feel exhausted by the time it is over but with the realization you got your moneys worth and then some. It gets 4.5 out of 5 REM’s. Only thing that keeps this from being spotless is the repetitive moments that made this a tad longer than it need be. Other than that it is easily the best film of the summer and one that you need to experience to fully appreciate the art of action thriller filmmaking.