Movie review: "Inception"

This weekend I watched "Inception". It was one of the most-talked-about SF movies this year, so I knew quite a lot about it. I knew that main actor was Leonardio DiCaprio and that movie was something about memory theft and implanting new memories. All of my friends that watched it said it was worth watching.

And it turns out they were right. This is one very exciting movie; it doesn't matter if you are SF fan or not - this movie is generally good. Main character is Cobb (played by DiCaprio), who is a criminal specialized in extraction of secrets from his victims' mind. His and his partner Arthur's last job is stealing information from mind of Saito, rich Japanese business man. After this job fails, it turns out it was only a test: Saito wants to hire them for something else. Although inception (implanting an idea; opposite to extraction) is considered impossible by most, Cobb decides to take the job...

First twenty minutes of the movie are very confusing: gunfights on come cruise, not much is explained, two abrupt changes of scene... But it is exciting and it only makes the audience more curious. Later in the movie all concepts are explained in much detail, but easy understandable at same time. Time in the movie is present or very close future. Although there exist advanced technology, in this case device for entering person's mind, it is not widespread. This subject is very nicely elaborated, although there were some things that confused me. I am talking about those multiple "kicking" (or dunking, I forgot which term did they exactly use for forceful waking) near the end of the movie. I think the writers got a bit confused there as well. But this was singular case; rest of the movie fits very well.

All characters get good part of the movie, so you get to know them all (cast is not super-stars, but they are all very good). After thinking about it a bit, you realize that main characters are actually bad guys. It's easy to forget it. From one side, no one is actually evil, they just have different intentions. On the other side, they are doing something equivalent to rape, maybe even worst. Maybe the director could have made this point more noticeable, but then the movie wouldn't be so likable. Cobb is definitely the main characters. Even though movie sports much of action, main theme of the movie is about the difference between dream and reality. And Cobb definitely has problems with it. Best part of the movie is that he is aware of that and he actively fights against it. I really liked the final confrontation with his wife. I must say I was surprised and impressed with maturity and clear-headedness Cobb shows while dealing with the biggest challenge of his life.

There is one more flaw I can note: action scenes in later stages of the movie get a bit boring. Even though they are done nicely, they are secondary and not in a least important to the plot. Movie wouldn't lose anything by dropping these five or ten minutes of unimportant shooting.

Never minding these two minor flaws, "Inception" is a great movie for all types (well, not kids) of audiences. It requires attention while watching it, but you will be rewarded with one of better movies of this year. A recommendation.