Courtesy of www.ncm.com
Every so often a film comes around that proves originality is not a foreign concept in Hollywood, despite the obvious glut of remakes, adaptations, prequels, sequels, sidequels and so on. Inception is a $160-million dollar science fiction summer blockbuster, filmed to the brim with big ideas and packaged nicely in the form of a heist film. Heat plus Akira Kurosawa's Dreams kind of stuff. And there isn't a costumed crime fighter or CG-rendered character in sight.
If you have yet to see Inception, I would advise you to stop reading by the end of this paragraph. Just bookmark the page (that's what that function is there for, after all), put on your shoes, grab your keys, get out that door and go see the movie for yourself. If at all possible find a real IMAX screen to see the film, as director Christopher Nolan used 65mm film stock which, when shown in a proper IMAX theater, results in a impossibly clear and crisp image on a screen three times the size of an average theater (as well as 10,000 watts of surround sound, sub woofer thumping action making the intense and bombastic score that much crazier and more effective). But if IMAX is not an option, then get to the nearest cineplex and see the next showing of this insane movie, and marvel at the fact that an original film of this magnitude has been made. Go on, this review will be here when you get back.
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So Inception is almost pure psychoanalysis, wrapped up in a sci-fi action movie. In this world, technology has been developed (for the military, no less) that allows for synchronized, shared dreaming. When placed in the wrong hands, it becomes a tool for theft and espionage. And for the most part, the "heroes" of this film are indeed the types of people who possess the wrong hands. Leo DiCaprio (The Aviator, Shutter Island) plays Cobb, the world's foremost extractor. He is the best at getting inside someone's dream and stealing whatever valuable information they may have. Cobb has a very damaged psyche, directly brought on by his unique experience with dreaming. This damaged psyche doesn't mean much in the real world, where he is able to suppress his emotions, but in the dream world, where the subconscious is king, these repressed emotions become tangible and real threats. Christopher Nolan has just made a Hollywood summer tent pole film purely about emotional catharsis and subconscious (and conscious) repression. What the hell. Smart move getting DiCaprio to anchor this crazy idea of a movie - everyone has finally come around to accepting ole Leo as one of the best actors of his generation and in film today, and here is demonstrates how he can bring the weight and gravitas needed to make Cobb's character arc totally work, through all the plunges into multiple layers of subconsciousness and beyond.
Like most heist films, there is always a team at work, and it helps when every person in the team is portrayed by an excellent actor. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Brick, Mysterious Skin) is Arthur, Cobb's right hand man and partner in crime, and Mr. Gordon-Levitt continues to impress as he evolves as an actor; here he does the work of an action star, participating in gravity-defying stunts and fights that look amazing, all the while keeping every hair in place and his face showing an expression of "I've got this." Ellen Page (Hard Candy) is Ariadne, the new dream architect who gets a lot of on-the-job training and really takes to dream building, and Tom Hardy (Bronson) is Eames the forger, who seems to get most of the comedic lines, which sort of makes him the comic relief, but he's also a pretty bad ass character who can do quite a lot more than crack some dry witticisms. Newcomer Dileep Rao (Drag Me To Hell, Avatar) continues his run of great film performances as Yusef the chemist, who manages to come up with some very interesting and specific sedatives. Then there's Ken Watanabe (Batman Begins, The Last Samurai) who plays Saito, the mysterious corporate head who wants to get into the mind of competitor Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy, 28 Days Later), who himself feels trapped between his dying, emotionally-cold father (Pete Postlewaithe, The Usual Suspects) and godfather cum uncle (Tom Berenger, Major League). Marion Cotillard (Public Enemies) is Mal, Cobb's dead wife who haunts his subconscious, and Michael Caine (The Muppet Christmas Carol) is her father and the man who taught Cobb how to navigate the world of the dream. Will you look at all those great actors? And with their powers combined, they really help make Nolan's work sing.
Fortunately for them, they were given excellent material. Christopher Nolan has crafted a fantastic story, literally working on multiple levels both textual and subtextual, and he brings the subconscious to the front of the line, making it the real star of the movie. This is cinema loaded with philosophy, action scenes used as vehicles to get across ideas (ideas about ideas, actually), and style used as substance. Every day we are inundated with media featuring magnificent style and zero substance, as if they were mutually exclusive. High-speed photography and bullet-time style slow motion is used to advertise cell phones and soft drinks, and every other director out there feels the need to make his or her movie "look cool." With Inception, Nolan utilizes the high-speed photography and technology of the day to make his film, but each application actually has a very specific storytelling purpose. When Michael Bay goes bullet-time style slo-mo in Transformers and Bad Boys 2, he's doing it because it looks cool; when Nolan does it in Inception, the slo-mo is a part of the story and essential to what is happening. And with this smart application of style comes a twenty-minute or so action sequence that is above and beyond what anyone else has managed to do - we're talking about one of the greatest sequences in cinema history, and when you're in the throes of it, you'll feel it. This movie just oozes that feeling of masterwork from every frame. Not a scene is wasted and the audience is never talked down to or tricked or manipulated. The story starts with a scene out of context, a little in media res to get things going, and then Nolan starts putting down the pieces of the puzzle, one by one, until it all becomes clear, a perfect vision of a science fiction film with enough action and sizzle to enjoy on a surface level, and with a themes and depths that are meant to be explored.
Christopher Nolan understands that cinema is like dreaming; a movie is a dream built by a director, and the viewer is supposed to fill it with his or her subconscious as they watch it. Which makes the communal experience of going to the theater shared dreaming. Nolan makes this explicit with Inception, and he holds up a pair of mirrors, making the audience see the infiniteness of their subconscious, repeated over and over, receptive to the mind but fragile to the touch. If the audiences pay attention, they should all walk out of those theaters buzzing with questions, both literal and meta, with brains excited by the expansive piece of commercial art they have just seen. Rarely does the battle between business and art come out so successfully on so many levels, and unless people turn out for this like they turn out for pre-packaged already existing properties, it might be a very long time before something like this happens again.
The Trailer Rundown:
Dinner For Schmucks - must have seen this trailer four times already. All I have left to say is: Bruce Greenwood should get more love.
Tron Legacy - this trailer looks so awesome that I wrote a whole article about it when it first hit the interwebs. And this trailer looks especially awesome in IMAX.
Harry Potter and the Something Something - these movies must be made soley for fans of the book because after five movies or so, I felt absolutely nothing for these characters. As such, I checked out of this franchise and will be content when it runs its course. That being said, this was a very well made trailer and ends with a glimpse of what looks to be the showstopping epic mano a mano magic wand battle, and I'm sure seeing that image will make millions of kids around the world want to jump out of their skin to see this thing as fast as possible.
Megamind - on the heels of Universal's villain-centric Despicable Me comes Dreamworks Animation's villain-centric Megamind, in which super villain Megamind (Will Ferrell) battles Metro Man (Brad Pitt). Hilarity ensues (or so they hope).
Due Date - "From the director of The Hangover" should get a few butts into those seats, right? Right? A road comedy starring Robert Downey Jr. and current comedy go-to guy Zach Galifianakis, this looks pretty damn funny. Todd Phillips is really hit and miss, but when he hits its usually a home run, and this looks promising. We'll see...
The Town - it's funny how this trailer proclaims this film is from "the acclaimed director of Gone Baby Gone," but it doesn't want to seem to admit that Ben Affleck is that director. He has a pretty weak reputation as an actor overall, but he has definitely found a second career in directing. Gone Baby Gone is a very well made movie and The Town looks pretty crazy itself. Maybe after it comes out, everyone can get over the fact that Ben Affleck is actually skilled at something and we can all open our arms and welcome this new, fresh face behind the camera.
The Social Network - from the director of Seven, The Game, Fight Club, Zodiac and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button comes...a movie about Facebook? Lo and behold, here it is, and not surprisingly, it looks like a David Fincher movie. Lots of brown hues, some ugly fluorescents, flashlight beams penetrating darkness, an overall sense of doom and gloom...looks like a lot of fun. I can't wait.
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