The Story
Extraction: The act of stealing information from a target's subconscious.
Inception: The art of implanting a potentially life-changing idea into a target's mind.
Cobb and Arthur are two of the best Extraction artists in the world, using their talents for high-risk, high-gain corporate espionage.
After flubbing their biggest Extraction yet, Mr. Saito, the target of Cobb's last Extraction job, forces them to perform Inception on the newly appointed CEO of a rival energy company in exchange for Cobb's freedom.
The implanted idea is simple enough: break up the company and sell everything off so that Saito and his company are allowed to thrive.
Simple enough, but with the law and former employers hot in his trail, Cobb must assemble his crack team and do the job before his horribly checkered past catches up to him.
With death looming around every corner and the armies of the subconscious closing in, can Cobb and his team get the job done or will they get stuck in limbo and dream forever?
The Review
The overall plot is actually really simple, just an old fashioned con-man/robbery film (in the styles of The Italian Job, Ocean's 11, etc.), but what Nolan does with the idea is what really gets you.
The concept of people going into your dreams and stealing or implanting information is disturbing in and of itself, but being so deep into the dreamscape that you don't know what reality is anymore is truly frightening.
One of the more interesting concepts Nolan uses is the "dream within a dream," traveling into someone's dream, and then going into someone else's dream while in that first dream. It can throw you for a loop sometimes, but once you get the hang of things it's pretty easy to navigate.
On a lighter note, the acting in this film is top-notch with major shout-outs going to Leo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Cillian Murphy.
The graphics are INSANE, though most of them are used in the first and third acts of the film.
Music plays an interesting element in the story with the majority of the "kicks" (the act of waking someone up from a dream) being signaled by a musical trigger.
The Verdict
Right up in my top 20 films to see before you die, Inception is worth getting on Blu-Ray.
There's plenty of action on hand to get you out of the slower, story-driven parts and more than enough story to keep you guessing 'till the end.
HOWEVER! This is not a "popcorn film" by any means. If you're gonna watch this you HAVE to be focused on nothing BUT this film.
As a friendly note, if you find Inception to be right up your alley, go check out a film called Paprika, one of Nolan's influences for this movie.
9.5/10
So yeah, I sould be getting back to those movies I picked up from Diamondhead Video so look forward to some old-school movie reviews in the future.
Jaa mata,
Mr. A (executive producer, head architect)
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