I am just about to go see this…for those who have seen it, what’d you think? I’ll post a review tonight/tomorrow.
I thought it was absolutely amazing. Really well done, and really mind-blowing. Definitely seeing it again to make sure I got everything.
Though Inception came close, Toy Story 3’s still my favorite film of the year.
TwitchA113 Review 1: Inception
Note: There be spoilers galore ahead. They are given a spoiler tag, but beware!
Christopher Nolan takes us into a world full of amazing tricks and ideas…and gives us an ALMOST classic film. An oversaturated middle really kills things, though.
In the film, Leanardo DiCaprio plays Dom Cobbs, an agent working for an agency called Inception. Inception steals ideas from people, by entering that persons dream. They are hired to plant an idea in a millionare’s mind that could change the world. However, the plan soon goes awry when Dom’s past begins to challenge their millionare’s brain.
The film needs to introduce a world that is as foreign as they come. However, unlike Toy Story, Avatar or Star Wars, people aren’t allowed to soak in the world. They are shoved rule after rule after rule that people soon begin to wonder when these rules will be used. The emotion and characterazation all feel off, essentially leading us to have a cast that mains consistently of cannon fodder.
However, Leonardo DiCaprio does great especially with [spoil] a gigantic twist at the end concerning his wife[/spoil]. Ellen Page does fine, though she gets some clunky dialouge. And Michael Caine and Joseph Gordon-Levitt does fine in their roles. The visuals ARE top-notch and there’s no denying that the ambiguous ending and frequently ingenuis world are more than worth a ticket stub purchase. Still, one can’t help but feel that cutting 10-15 minutes off, adding emotion and fleshing out the other Inception members would have done the film much more justice.
Rating: 8.4 out of 10
From Memento, to The Prestige, to The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan is quickly becoming one of the premiere directors of intellectual, yet crowd-pleasing entertainment. Now, just to jump right in, Inception continues this trend, while demonstrating more creativity than perhaps any of his other films.
If there’s one complaint that I can imagine people having over this film, it’s that the plot can be particularly difficult to follow. And while I feel that this is true to some extent, that’s because Inception is, in and of itself, a puzzle. All of the pieces are presented to you, and solving it depends not so much on intelligence, but on whether or not you find that sort of element appealing in a movie. It’s a film in which much of the dialogue is spent simply explaining the rules of this complex dream world, and therefore demands that you be wide awake.
Even so, there had still better be an endearing cast of characters to follow, especially with this being a two-and-a-half hour experience, and thankfully, Inception delivers. While none of them, outside of DiCaprio’s character, have much backstory to speak of, they all feature exceptionally likable personalities, so by the time that the stirring climax hit, I was concerned about the fate of each and every one of them. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance as DiCaprio’s right-hand man, Arthur, blew me away in particular. The guy doesn’t have a ton of screen time, but damn, does he leave an impression!
Ultimately, however, Inception is the story of DiCaprio’s character, Cobb. Now, I won’t say much, as giving any plot details outside of the synopsis would be a crime, but suffice it to say, it’s some pretty engrossing stuff, and DiCaprio definitely brings his A-game here.
Also, as expected, Hans Zimmer proves once again that he is the boss when it comes to musical scores, as each scene is enhanced tremendously by his material. He’s the sort of musician who can make even the simplest of actions seem more important than anything else that’s happened in human history. If only you, sir, could score my life.
With its challenging narrative structure, likable characters (if somewhat lacking in depth), and sheer visual splendor, Inception is easily among my favorite movies of the year, second only to Pixar’s latest classic. It’s been a rough summer movie season, and while we’ve still got quite a few weeks left before it’s officially over, Inception succeeded in reminding me why I dig this medium so much.
9/10
[spoil]Inception wasn’t the name of the agency, it was the name of the process. [/spoil]
Yes, the word inception refers to [spoil]planting an indea in someone else’s mind[/spoil].
According to Merriam-Webster, inceptions means: an act, process, or instance of beggining.
This film is very good, but is not without flaws. It really is confusing. As previously stated, the film establishes many rules about the world of entering people’s dreams. Unfortunately, it often appears that these rules are not followed, completely ignored, or broken without consequence throughout the film. It also rather difficult to keep track of them all. I’d have to say that this really is the biggest flaw of the film.
Inception is extremely suspensful from start to finish, and extremely well acted by Leonardo DiCaprio, and particuarly Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a supporting role.
I love making connections in Nolan’s films. Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth of the Batman films) is in this one, as is Cillian Murphy who played Jonathan Crane/the Scarecrow in the two Batman movies.
Besides being epicly confusing, Inception is really good! Most of it starts to make sense by the end of the film. Everyone should see this one.
Two big questions, though:
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When the team entered the dreams of other people, not Cobb, how did Mal appear? I really don’t think anyone else besides Cobb and maybe Arthur or Ariadne would dream about Mal. This actually really upset me.
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Why on Earth was the third level set on a snowy mountain top? I didn’t get this at all. [spoil][/spoil]
- [spoil]I think it was just that Mal had such a huge impact on the subconcious of Cobb that she kept appearing in the dreams he participated in, having as much of an effect as one of them. Remember, they use a device for sharing dreams, not for jumping into someone else’s.[/spoil]
- [spoil]I have no idea why this is in particular, but I think it was just to create enough of a maze so that they would have enough time to make the inception before the projections interfered. Why it needed to be a snowy mountain top, I don’t know, maybe it was for dramatic effect? Ask the dream architect![/spoil]
That makes sense! The fact that they are all hooked up to one machine probably causes ideas and thoughts to be shared, allowing [spoil]the train to crash into the first level of the inception run[/spoil].
Here is a theory I read about on iMDB:
[spoil]The entire film is just an inception on Cobb to make him think that he is in reality, while he is actually stuck in a dream. This would allow him to see his children, of course[/spoil].
I disagree with it, though. I am positive that [spoil]Cobb ended the film in reality[/spoil].
I would love to stage a massive court room style debate about the ending of the film!
I heavily disagree with your criticism about the film taking the time to throw all these rules to the audience. Christopher Nolan tried to make a science-fiction film to be as realistic as possible… To make such a science-fiction film, it can’t be made without a set of rules. It’s unfair to compare Inception with films like Toy Story, Avatar and Star Wars. That’s a huge disservice to what Inception is trying to go for. Neither Toy Story, Avatar nor Star Wars are going for anything that can be pushed towards realism like Inception does. They’re fantasies. Heck, even James Cameron says Avatar is a fantasy film and not science-fiction. Inception is far more successful as a science-fiction film than Star Wars ever will be, and I’m not saying that as a negativity towards everything Star Wars does - but let’s face it, Star Wars is a space opera fantasy film. It doesn’t really do much in the name of what makes science-fiction other than the fact that it takes place in space and various made up planets. I think some of the most successful science-fiction films out there, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, and even some more current ones like Minority Report, Gattaca and Moon, are really as successful as they are because they DO go along their set of rules and ponder on the ideas of if these things could be reality. That’s exactly what Inception does, and I think it pulled that off successfully and it’s a welcome addition to the lineup of intelligent science-fiction films.
Also, if Inception threw us into the world without these rules, just imagine how much of a mess the movie would have been. People are confused as is with some of the elements of the film - just imagine if the film never showcased the rules of the dream world, how much people would be freaking out over it because it didn’t make the least bit of sense.
Such a mess w/o!
I still the think the rules added to the confusion, though. It just felt like they weren’t all being followed.
I have another big question:
[spoil]Why did Ariadne and Fischer, Jr. jump off (or get pushed off in Fischer’s case) the building in the fourth level of the inception run? Wouldn’t that only kill them, causing them to go into limbo under such powerful sedation? Remember, the kick needs to come from the level before. [/spoil]
I may have missed something in the film (which is very likely) but this ^ right now is a huge plot hole in my mind, and it really bothers me.
I doubt there are any plot holes or any broken rules in the film. Judging by the previous works of Christopher Nolan, he really puts a lot of effort into making a script as accurate as possible. Looking at a movie like Memento, it left a lot of people confused over certain aspects as well, but all the facts were there. Nolan likes to make a movie that’s almost like a puzzle that one can solve.
In the case of Inception, Nolan worked for over a decade on this film’s script in order to get every detail just right. I applaud him for managing to create something so complex. So while a lot of us may question certain aspects of the film and call for plot holes, I think that was all in the intentions of what Christopher Nolan wanted out of his audiences. It’s not that all of these things are plot holes, these are just things that people might not understand right away, and they will only understand them after several more viewings in order to get the full picture.
Oh, yes, I agree that Nolan spent a lot of effort to make the script as perfect as possible. That is why I am hoping someone will explain this problem of mine soon, otherwise I will keep on thinking that Nolan forgot to fill one hole, and that’d be awful after all the hard work he put into this excellent film.
Can you explain the fourth level jumping off of buildings thing, Disney_Guy? I’d appreciate it!
Well, with this kind of film, I think there will always be mysteries behind it. Since the film’s release, countless times have I seen people discuss and debate over all the meanings behind the film. Honestly, I think these types of discussions is exactly what Nolan had in mind. I think metaphorically, all these things tie in with the theme of the movie, of dream vs. reality. I see the same kind of debates with people over what is true or not. The way Cobb’s story ended showed that he [spoil]didn’t care about whether his fate was a dream or not, he only cared that he got to see his children again and he was willing to accept it they were real or not, because just their presence is what made him happy .This is evident that when he put down his totem, he didn’t even look down at it once. He just looked straight and walked towards his kids. He didn’t care otherwise what was his reality.[/spoil] So metaphorically, this kinda questions how people accept films on an emotional level despite being not real.
As for the fourth level of the dream, [spoil]I think they killed themselves to create almost a chain of “kicks” that would ultimately lead them back to the real world.[/spoil] At this point I don’t really have a solid theory behind that, but that’s just what I’ll go with for now. Inception will definitely benefit more viewings for me… My gosh, I really want to see it again… Inception and Toy Story 3… Come on Blu-ray already!
To address the ending of the film, [spoil]I totally get that Cobb justs wants to see and be with his children, so it doesn’t matter if he is dreaming or in reality in that case.
However! I would like to think that since we all know Cobb loves his children so much, he also wants to be there for them. Think about it: if he is dreaming, that means the real children of Cobb in reality don’t have a father anymore because their father’s body is stuck asleep dreaming! I really don’t think Cobb is selfish enough to just abandon them in the real world just to fulfill a selfish need to see his children; their need to have a father is far more important to any true loving father than that father’s own needs, no matter what the needs may be, and Cobb is obviously a true loving father!
Thus, I really really hope Cobb isn’t dreaming, even if he is dreaming and just thinks it is reality (like Limbo). Just think of his son and daughter![/spoil]
Do you see what I mean?
I can’t decide [spoil]whether or not Dom ended up in reality or limbo[/spoil], what does Nolan say?
He hasn’t said anything about it, but I suspect it’s solely up to you to decide.
My thoughts on Limbo:
[spoil]In Limbo, the person believes that they are actually in reality and thus not realize they are dreaming. This is the big problem with Limbo, and clearly why nobody wants to go to it. Otherwise, why wouldn’t people not just kill themselves immediately to escape? I’m sure you gathered this though just from Cobb’s difficulty in convincing Mal that they were still dreaming and not in reality (and thus having to incept her)*.
However, I believe that when one voluntarily enters Limbo, as is the case with Cobb and Ariadne towards the end of the film (when they go after Fischer), one is able to retain the knowledge that it is all a dream. Only those who are forced into Limbo, like Saito dying in a dream under heavy sedation, believe that Limbo is reality. Thus, Saito never realized that he was in Limbo. Then, following the establishment of how time passes through dream levels (five minutes in the real world equals an hour in the first dream level), and taking into account that Cobb was already three levels up before he entered Limbo, that means…
5 minutes Reality = 1 hour Level 1
→ 5 minutes x 20 = 1 hour
→ 5 minutes Reality = 1 hour Level 1 = 20 hours Level 2 = 400 hours Level 3 = 8,000 hours Limbo. This means that about a year passes in Limbo in relation to 5 minutes in Reality (24 hours x 365 days = 8,760 hours)
And remember, all of this takes place during a ten hour flight, so the initial 5 minutes Reality needs to be a much larger number to start the calculations (approximately equal to whatever time Saito died in Level 1), but to figure that out you’d need to calculate how long the plane had been flying when Saito died.
So, I did all this just to show that from the time Cobb entered Limbo, years and years and years had passed already passed since Saito entered Limbo on whichever Level he truly died on (which I think is technically the first Level because he must’ve bled out from the gun shot wound). This is why Saito appears as an old man. Again, you probably figured this out for yourself. In all that time, because of the rules of Limbo, Saito never realized he was in Limbo for all those years and thought it was reality.
Fortunately for the two of them, when Saito’s men searched Cobb’s body, they found the top. Saito of course recognizes the top as Cobb’s totem, which is why he says something like, “I knew one of these once.” Thusly, he knows the purpose of the top (to help the owner know if he is in reality or a dream) and proceeds to spin it. Since it never falls Saito realizes (for the first time in probably 30-50 years) that he is actually stuck in Limbo*. As well, Cobb, having entered Limbo voluntarily, retains that the world they are in is a dream, allowing him to say something like “I came to remind you about a past agreement”. Now Saito knows the truth, which is why in the beginning of the film (and the end, technically) he says something along the lines of, “Have you come to kill me?” Saito says this because dying is the only way to escape Limbo (as shown by Cobb and Mal placing their heads on a train track and then soon waking up in reality).
This means that Saito and Cobb (now both realizing that they are stuck in Limbo) have themselves killed. They then awake completely healthy and sane on the plane.
One problem people have is that because Saito was in Limbo for so long, he should’ve awoken on the plane with his mind like mush; completely ruined and nonfunctional - essentialy a person that only survives via life support. These people would be correct if the 10 hours of sedation had simply run out, thus awaking Saito regardless of being in Limbo. If he only woke up because the sedation ran out, Saito’s mind never would’ve died in Limbo, and considering he had been there for about 40 years, yes his mind would’ve been mush. Thankfully though, Cobb also enters Limbo and allows Saito to realize he is not in reality, thus prompting him to have them both be killed. That is the entire reason Cobb doesn’t join Ariadne in Limbo by jumping off the building to wake up; he needed to stay and prevent Saito’s mind from turning into mush! After all, no matter what happened in the dreams, the sedation would eventually wear off and they would all wake up.[/spoil]
So, to answer your question, amaslyo, Cobb is [spoil]definitely not in Limbo; he and Saito escaped[/spoil]. The question you should be asking, however, is: [spoil]Did Cobb end the film in reality or a dream?[/spoil]
[spoil]* My big question, though, is how did Cobb (when stuck in Limbo the first time (with Mal)) realize he wasn’t in reality? I get that he found the top locked in Mal’s safe, but how did he know to go looking for it? I feel like this was explained, but I just can’t remember at the moment; I need to see the film again. But also, if Mal was so convinced that Limbo actually was reality (and thus not wanting to leave, thus causing Cobb to incept her) why did she lock the top up in the safe at all? *It seems she locked it up because she didn’t want to know if where she was was actually reality or a dream, that she just got tired of jumping around and wanted this one place to be her life and her reality (even if it wasn’t reality).
This makes the most sense to me. At first I had my doubts → Why wouldn’t Mal just spin the top the moment she entered this place? In that case it would’ve just kept on spinning and she would not that the world she was in wasn’t reality. That led me to think, ok… then why does she lock the top up? Why doesn’t she try to escape? As I was writing the above paragraph (before the italicized star) I realized the answer to own my question. She didn’t care what was what, she just wanted to stop jumping around and make the best of it! Glad that is settled 
Oh wait… omg… new thought***
** If Saito bled out in the first Level, how did he continue to appear in subsequent Levels? This happens because Saito is hooked up to the dream machine in each Level while still alive in Level 1. Only when he bleeds out fully to death in Level 1 (quite a few minutes after being hooked up to the machine) does his death catch up to him in the following Levels.
*** Why didn’t Saito have his own totem to help figure out if he was in a dream or not? You would think he would have one considering he goes on an inception run. The only reason I can think of for not having one is because Saito is really just a greedy businessman and not a trained extractor like Cobb, Arthur, and now Ariadne. Because of this, Saito is naive and doesn’t realize the true dangers of extraction/inception.
**** I am completely in the ship that believes Cobb ended the film in reality; 100%. I think everything I wrote in this post proves that he escaped Limbo. The only way for Cobb to possibly not have entered reality at the end would be if the entire film was a dream, and I mean the entire film, from Cobb and Arthur’s audition extraction run, to rescuing Saito in Limbo. This is what many of the “Cobb is still dreaming” shippers believe happened. However, I think that that is way too complex, cruel, and a big waste of time of Christopher Nolan to do.
However, I think that Cobb walks away from the top at the end because he doesn’t care if it is reality or not, just like Mal in Limbo. He just wants that location to be his final place to live happily with his children. Of course, you also probably realized that when you viewed the film. My only problem with this is that Cobb never saw the faces of his children when we know for a fact he was in a dream; yet he sees their faces at the end of the film. This gives us two options: 1. He is in reality at the end or 2. Even if he is dreaming, he fully believes that his world is reality. If option 2 is correct, it brings up the question: Why now? Why now does Cobb only fully believe that his world is real? The only answer to this is that the entire film was not only a dream, but it was also an incepetion on Cobb to convince himself that he was in reality (sort of the opposite of what he did to Mal). This theory is also widely believed across the board by many people. However, I once again repeat that this is just way too complex, cruel, and a big waste of time of Christopher Nolan to do.[/spoil]
Wow, this is one long post. If you took the time to read it, I hope it helped! It certainly helped me. 
I guess I was more thinking out loud than trying to answer your question.
Thanks for giving me this opportunity! I feel like I understand Inception way more than I did when I began writing this post.
Wow, I just saw this movie last night, and I have to say, it’s good. Like, MIND-BLOWINGLY good. Seriously, Inception is now definitely one of my favorite live-action movies of all time!
What I thought about the ending: Personally, I think that the top kept on spinning and that Cobb actually is not back in reality. I mean, just think about it. When Cobb finally gets home, he sees his children for the first time in a long time. However, not only are his children the same age as they were in his dreams, but they were also wearing the same exact clothes! Anyone else find that highly unlikely?
I definitely found this film confusing, but not as much as most people did. That’s because I heard that it was a thinking film before I went to see it, so I went into the theater already prepared to do some intense focusing. But, yeah, it’s not really a film you can just watch passively, as you’ll probably be left in the dust.
If anyone found anything confusing, these two links are extremely useful (at least, for me they were):
An Illustrated Guide To The 5 Levels Of Inception
Everything you wanted to know about “Inception”
I saw it with some friends the first time. I’ve convinced my family to see it this weekend, so I’ll be coming along! I’m so excited to see it a second time, I think I’ll pick up so many new things!
I saw the film again this past Saturday, and it made much more sense! It is definitely worth seeing more than once, even if you totally understood the movie on your first viewing. I, for one, understand the relationship between dreamer and subject much more, as well as Limbo.
I also realized that a few things I had come to believe about the film are incorrect, namely the rules of dreaming under heavy sedation which i found on the iMDB forums. I’m going to edit my past two long posts to get rid of this invalid rule.
Reviewed it back when it opened: onemoviefiveviews.wordpress.com/ … inception/
Article about it posted yesterday: onemoviefiveviews.wordpress.com/ … u-talking/
Our consensus was: Inception is a mind-blowing masterpiece, that demands your attention and will leave you talking. One of the most entertaining movies of the summer, and one of the best of the year so far. **** (Out of 4)
In short, an amazing film - gives you a lot to think about.
One more thing - for as long as we have it, can you solve the maze in our signature in under one minute? (Those who’ve seen the film will get the reference.) Give us your best time.