MOVIE REVIEW - Inception (PG-13)

Ryan's Rating:  7/10

Director:  Christopher Nolan

Writer:  Christopher Nolan

Starring:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe, Michael Caine

Genre:  Action, SciFi, Suspense

The ability to enter another persons dreams is now a reality and can be used to extract information and possibly place a new idea in the subconscious of the dreamer.  The basic premise of the film Inception is that Cobb (DiCaprio) and assembled team of various talents must put an idea in the head of a CEO and as payment Cobb is allowed to return to the United States and his children.

The movie jumps right in with the understanding that one can enter another's dreams.  The story moves very quickly and only pauses briefly at times to explain what happens in the dreams.  Interestingly, the film never explains how the dream-entering technology works exactly.  It just assumes it does.  This allows the plot to progress quickly and get right down to the action of the story.  The plot is complex and multi-layered which requires a lot of concentration from the audience.  However, the story is explained fairly well, so it's not too difficult to follow.  When not trying to figure out the plot the audience is shown spectacular fight scenes that are as unique and inventive as those seen in the Matrix or the Transporter movies.  As you might assume, the dream state enables fight scenes to progress much differently than in reality.  This ensures that the audience will be captivated by amazing visual affects and many action sequences.

I went to this movie without knowing anything about it, except that it was the newest DiCaprio film.  I was surprised by the large cast of excellent actors.  DiCaprio is still one of the premier actors in the world.  Joseph Gordon-Leavitt is an excellent actor as well, and here he lands his talents to an almost completely serious role, with only a few hints at his perfect comedic timing.  The rest of their actors hold their own, except for Ellen Page.  While acting with the largely male cast, Page seems to get lost on the screen.  The writing at time is a little clunky, but you don't go to this type of film for meaningful dialogue.  One watches a film like this for all the amazing action on the big screen.  Inception delivers an interesting, unique plot and plenty of action so the almost 3 hour runtime flies by.  But pay attention so when the lights come up you're not like the older man behind me who asked, “what just happened?”