Inception

I wanted to see it the moment I saw the poster with the tops of buildings spelling out he word Inception. The previews of buildings folding in on themselves added to my excitement, and seeing it was from Christopher Nolan, the genius behind Memento only sealed the deal.

I have been reluctant to write this review because frankly, there is little I can think of to say about this movie beyond "it was awesome." A spectacle of both visual art and mindbending storytelling, this is not a movie you go into to doze through. Inception requires focus, both from the characters trying to perform it on screen, and by the audience attempting to unravel the mysteries.

In the movie, Leonardo DiCaprio and his team of thieves use technology to go into people's dreams and unlock their deepest secrets - useful work for corporate espionage. The act of inception- planting an idea deep in someone's subconscious- is thought to be impossible, and known to be dangerous. The concepts of traveling through dreams and subconscious are not necessarily easily comprehended, but due to the ability of film to completely render different levels of dream as reality, the plot is not as complex to follow as it could be (this would NOT work as a book). As the characters move ever deeper through layers of dreams within dreams, the movie keeps pace with each layer, allowing for great clarification and reminder just exactly what is happening.

And the tension! You have truly not seen a thrilling conclusion until you have seen this movie, and the climactic scene which takes place simultaneously on several different dream levels moving at different speeds - the ticking time bomb qualities of the slow motion action is truly suspenseful.

The other thing I enjoyed about this movie is the fact that rather than relying on CGI, actual sets were built for even the most fantastical sequences (yes, an actual folding Paris set, although I'm going on a ledge and suggesting that was scale, haha). Because we are so used to digital effects (and they are SO good now), you don't realize what a difference this makes until you see tiny Ellen Page struggling to move enormous swinging mirrors, or the realism in the fight taking place in a hallway with ever changing gravity. The weight of these props adds such gravity (mind the pun) to what are literally fantastical dreamscapes, and just helps blur the line between reality and dream even further.

I cannot stress enough that this is movie that is worth your time and money to go see on the big screen. I have had the seed of desire to see this movie planted in my head ever since that first glance at a poster and the reality exceeded any expectations I might have had about this film.

ps: I totally called the ending.