Acclaimed British director Christopher Nolan, of films such as The Dark Knight and Memento, is back again this summer with Inception. Inception takes viewers on a ride from dreams to reality to dreams to reality to dreams further into dreams and back again all in a complex maze.
To try and further describe Inception would take paragraphs and paragraphs and words and words, and at the end, you still may not truly understand it without actually going out and experiencing the film for yourself, which is exactly what you should do.
Nolan’s latest effort has climbed its way to the top of the 2010 summer blockbuster mountain and will likely retain its top positioning through out most of, if not the entire year.
Inception is one of those rare summer blockbusters that is both visually mind-blowing and yet has a complicated and intriguing story that will be entertaining for both the average popcorn movie goer and the film lover that criticizes everything and accepts nothing less than excellence.
At this point in his career, Nolan is batting a thousand with all home runs. The director has yet to miss at the plate and Inception may just be his hardest hit ball yet (which is absolutely amazing considering his resume of work). Everything about this film is absolutely world class. So many elements come together perfectly: the writing, directing, the acting, the cinematography of Nolan’s veteran DP Wally Pfister–everyone is at the top of their game in this one.
The cast is led by Leonardo DiCapiro, who plays dream thief Cobb, and Leo is clearly at the top of his game. Cobb is one of a team of men who are paid to infiltrate dreams to steal secrets. He’s got a dark secret of his own in his past and DiCapiro again nails the role of the flawed hero. The scenes with DiCapiro and Marion Cotillard are nothing short of brilliant.
Stealing the show for me though was Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur, the point man. Gordon-Levitt has continually gotten better over the years and this may be his shining moment. His hotel scenes in Inception are some of the best I’ve ever seen in a film. The rest of the cast includes Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Michael Caine, Tom Berenger, Ken Watanabe, and Dileep Rao, and they’re all stellar.
Seeing this movie at a media screening almost makes me feel bad. This is an experience I should be paying Nolan for, so I’ll most certainly be taking it in for multiple viewings. You should do the same.