Movie review: Inception

Well, here it is...the first of (what I hope to be) many movie reviews over the summer. As I mentioned previously, the main reason that I want to start doing this is to have an excuse to watch movies over the summer. As such, I am going to try to do my posts within a day or two of watching the movie. Since this is my first review, I've not quite worked out what information I want to include or the order that I want to present it. So don't be surprised if the format changes a bit in subsequent reviews. But, for now, I think I'll start with basic information, my rating, whether this is an initial or repeated viewing, my review, and end with my suggestion of buy, rent, or pass (again, basing my system off of Chris Gore's system on Attack of the Show). Since I've not quite worked out the format of my reviews, I've not decided if they should be targeted to people who have already seen the movie or not. So there might be a few spoilers...but I'll try to keep them to a minimum.

Inception (2010)
Blu-ray, Netflix
rating: 5 stars
viewing: repeated (2nd)

Let me start by saying, I loved this movie! This is one of those movies that is easy to describe, but hard to explain. The basic plot involves a group of individuals, whose job is to enter into people's dreams to extract information, who are hired to implant an idea in the heir of an energy company. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, in order to do so, they must enter into dreams within dreams (within dreams). The setting of each dream is very distinctive, so it is fairly easy to follow along with what is happening at the time. It is not until after the film is over that you find yourself questioning much of what has happened. As the consequences of the dreams become much more realistic, and as reality becomes more and more dreamlike, the lines between reality and dreaming become practically indistinguishable.

This delicate balance was beautifully handled by writer and director, Christopher Nolan. In much the same way that sometimes you do not realize you are dreaming until after you wake up, you do not realize that you are confused by the movie until after it is over. But that is part of what makes it so amazing. You can watch it simply as a visually stunning action movie (the realism of which is enhanced by the use of practical effects rather than special effects whenever possible), or you can delve deep into the subtleties of the psychological drama.

The ability to draw you in is due not only to an amazing cast, but also to much more subtle tricks such as the use of jump cuts. In most movies (and tv shows), it is necessary to show how the characters get from one location to the next in order to maintain continuity. For example, getting into and exiting a car. It is not necessary to show the car traveling from one location to the next, but entering and exiting the car communicates to the viewer how the character changed locations. In Inception, there is very minimal explanation as to how characters get from one place to the next. In fact, this is even pointed out in an interaction between Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page's characters.

Of course, as with any movie that actually makes you think, it is also easy to start over-thinking and look for patterns and explanations where there might not be any. For instance, the names of many of the main characters, Dom, Richard, Eames, Arthur, Mal, & Saito spells out DREAMS. Was this intentional? or simply a coincidence? Even if it was intentional, it surely wasn't a major aspect of plot development. Some reviews and discussions online have actually used that as evidence to try to "figure out the answer" to the movie. But part of the elegance of the movie is the ambiguity. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, mini-spoiler...the ending is supposed to be ambiguous. Whether or not the end of the movie is a dream is not the focus...it is the resolution that Dom experiences that is supposed to be the focus.


Recommendation: Two of the factors that play a major role in whether or not a movie is a "buy" are rewatchability and the quality of the extras. For me, Inception has very high rewatchability because each time you see it you notice something you didn't notice before. But, unfortunately, the Blu-ray from Netflix did not have any extras...at all. I do not know if there is a supplemental disc with extras, since Netflix does not send out supplemental discs. Seeing as how it is my intent to base my reviews off of what I am able to see, I can only give a review for what I received from Netflix. So, unfortunately, since the version from Netflix does not have any extras, I'm going to have to say that this is only a rent. But, it is a very, very, very strong recommendation to rent! I would definitely say that it is a must see. So if you have Netflix, add it to your queue immediately. However, since I think there is a high level of rewatchability, if you see Inception on sale or relatively cheap at a used store (such as MovieStop), then I'd say it's definitely worth it to pick it up. As a side note, I suggest that you watch some of Christopher Nolan's earlier films (not counting the Batman movies) before watching Inception. He frequently makes use of telling the story in an asynchronous fashion, and I think that having a familiarity with some of his work (such as Momento or Following) greatly adds to the appreciation of what he is able to do in Inception, and why he is able to make the ending work as well as he does.

edit: Because I've revised the way that I'm going to be doing my recommendations, ignore what I said about not buying Inception. Only focus on what I said about how it absolutely needs to be added to your Netflix queue right now. If I get around to buying Inception, I will re-review it (or, at least the extras)