Inception
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Companies: Legendary Pictures & Syncopy
Director: Christopher Nolan
Producers: Emma Thomas & Christopher Nolan
Scriptwriters: Christopher Nolan
Main Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger & Michael Caine
Released: July 8, 2010
Running Time: 148 Minutes
Certificate: 12A
Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending thriller Inception follows protagonist Dominic Cobb – a highly-skilled thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology – as he is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a CEO in the hopes of having the chance to see his family once again.
Synopsis
The story itself is an enthralling one. You are instantly drawn to dream thief Cobb – excellently played by the incredible Leonardo DiCaprio – and his partner in crime Arthur as they fail to complete an extraction job on Mr. Saito. The aftermath results in both men attempting to flee to the other side of the world, only to be caught by Saito himself and offered the chance to redeem themselves of this failure, and any others prior. They are tasked to perform Inception, the process of planting an idea in another person’s mind by entering their subconscious via dreams. The target is one of Saito’s biggest competitors in business, Robert Fischer. Robert’s father, Maurice Fischer, owns the world’s largest energy conglomerate, but he has fallen terminally ill. With his days numbered, Saito knows the business will be passed to his son and with that information, wants Cobb to ‘convince’ Robert to break up his father’s empire.
Though against the idea at first, Arthur eventually comes around after Cobb claims he has carried out Inception before, and with that, they begin to recruit their team. Eames, a conman and identity forger; Yusuf, a chemist who concocts a powerful sedative for a stable “dream within a dream” strategy; and Ariadne, an architecture student tasked with designing the labyrinth of the dream landscapes recruited with the help of Cobb’s father-in-law, Professor Stephen Miles.
With a team assembled, the preparation begins. In the lead-up to the task at hand, Ariadne discovers a deep dark secret Cobb has been keeping from the others – his ex-wife haunts his dreams, and consistently ruins jobs for Cobb and his team. With this knowledge, Ariadne joins the team in the extraction process. What follows is a cinematic masterpiece in story-telling, character development and spectacle, with a breathtaking ending that I won’t spoil for you here.
Analysis
One of the biggest positives in the film would be the jaw-dropping cast. With Leonardo DiCaprio in the leading role, you know you’re going to get a phenomenal performance, but he’s backed up by one of the greatest ensemble casts in cinematic history. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Arthur), Tom Hardy (Eames) and Ellen Page (Ariadne) all give amongst their best performances, even still to this day, and supporting players such as Michael Caine as Stephen Miles and Marion Cotillard as Cobbs’ ex-wife, Mal only add to the quality.
You can’t talk about Inception without mentioning the musical score. Legendary composer Hans Zimmer produces one of the most influential scores in history, with his sound being instrumental in the story-telling aspect of the film. Without Zimmer’s score, Inception would not be the film it is.
Summary
All in all, I see Inception as a cinematic masterpiece, an absolute classic and one of the closest films to a perfect film I have ever witnessed. The way Nolan is able to produce such quality in every single aspect of the film-making process and tie it all together into a two-and-a-half-hour film is incredible – he truly is one of the all-time greats. Inception is a must-watch if you haven’t seen it already.
Overall Rating: 10/10 – Perfect