“Inception” won a bunch of awards
a few years ago, but somehow I never got around to seeing it. I
think I got the idea that it was all special effects, and no story.
I guess compared to the typical Oscar movie, it doesn't quite fit in.
No one is gay, no one is sexually abused, and it isn't about the
Holocaust. It turns out to be a crackin' heist movie, though, and
I'm glad I finally watched it.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Cobb, a
peculiar kind of thief. He and his team hijack the dreams of their
victims in order to steal secrets. It's complicated just getting
access, as they have to be physically wired to the sleeper during the
dream. They typically co-opt something like a dental anesthesia, or
else they have to slip sedatives into the victim's drink, then hustle
them off somewhere the team can get some alone time. Once in the
dream, they manipulate things to get people to reveal their secrets.
The highest-value, corporate targets are prepared to defend against
dream assaults, so getting their secrets requires elaborate,
dream-within-a-dream scenarios.
This can be heady stuff. The process
of repeatedly waking up, only to discover that one is still dreaming,
can be hard on the psyche. Cobb has spent a lot of time in
dreamland, and he carries some demons that make his job even harder.
Despite his demons, Cobb and his team
are the best at stealing secrets, what they call doing extractions.
Then, they are hired to do an infinitely harder job, an inception.
Businessman Saito wants Cobb to plant an idea in his competitor's
head that will lead the man to break up his empire. Cobb and his
team (including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, and Ellen Page)
craft a multi-layered psychic attack to achieve the toughest task of
their careers.
What follows is one heck of a heist
film, with car chases and gun-fights, sprinkled with head-trippy
questions about dreams and reality.
You do have to pay
attention, or you'll miss details, like the nature of dream-time,
which are necessary for things to make sense. In truth, it may not
all quite make sense,
but it comes close enough to be one damned enjoyable action movie.
It'll haunt your dreams.
4.5 stars out of 5
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