When this was initially released, I was very quick to jump the gun on claiming it as my "favourite film of all time". I eventually buckled the hell down and put real thought into what that movie should be and landed on 'Ghostbusters' for all the reasons explained in that review. But getting back to this, I can honestly say that over the years, this never really dwindled in my high praise for it. It's enough to say that if I presented a 24-hour marathon of my favourite films of all time, ranked, this would absolutely make the list as one of the first I'd think of. I have very fond memories of catching this one in theatres, seeing it three separate times because after the first go 'round, I had to introduce it to everyone. Most enjoyed it for what it was, if not on an equal level as I did. But some were understandably confused by what was going on, and I can even remember some pretty harsh commentary in the theatre with how the film ends (one of my favourite endings to a film as well). I always took great pride in the fact that it was a confusing film that I seemed to be able to follow with little effort. But I can't necessarily brag either, since much of his other work confuses the hell out of me. The thing to note before I get into this, however, is that the film is full of personal bias towards it. I love Leo as an actor, it reintroduced be to Joseph Gordon Levitt who turned out to be just as solid, I had a bit of a thing for Ellen (Elliot) Page at the time, the subject matter had to do with dreams which I've always been very interested in, and yes of course I fell into the group of many who were blown away by the special effects that were largely practical. The film looked riveting from the get-go and there was no need for CG or 3D to make it look like it would be an awesome time... And an awesome time it was! The film introduces us to the concept of "extractors", who use a new technology which allows them to plug into the dreams of others where they perform acts of espionage to gather information hidden deep within a person's subconscious for some generous payment. Said extractors are Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) and Arthur Freeman (Gordon-Levitt), opening the film, on the job in the dreamworld of their latest target, Mr. Saito (Ken Watanabe). Despite the excitement, however, it ends up being a test by Saito to make sure their good enough for a much more difficult job. After Saito learns of Cobb's ability to "layer dreams" in order to reach the subconscious, thus complicating the dreamscape, he figures him right for the job he has in mind; performing "inception" which means implanting an idea in someone's mind but having that person believe it to be their own idea. The target is the son of Saito's soon-to-pass-away competitor, Maurice Fischer (Pete Postlethwaite), Robert (Cillian Murphy), with the intention for Robert to dissolve his father's company rather than take it over. In exchange, Saito would scrape Cobb's criminal status, which would allow him to return home to his family. With that offer, Cobb assembles a "Dream Team" (sorry) consisting of a "forger" (who specializes in in-dream impersonations) named Eames (Tom Hardy), a chemist who can concoct the right dream-sharing serum for this mission's purposes named Yusuf (Dileep Rao), and a college student named Ariadne (Elliot Page, credited as Ellen) who's responsible for being the dream architect by basically designing the environments of the dreams. There's a whole big unfolding of the team's plans as to how they're gonna do what they're gonna do, and I admit that it does get pretty complex. However, I would say that while trying to follow along just keep in mind that all the team's mission boils down to is getting deep into the subconscious mind of Robert Fischer through layered dreams in order to implant an idea that he will think he has himself upon waking up. The conflict comes from the subjects subconscious projections of people who will attack dream invaders like the "extractors", and getting shot or kills basically just means waking up, but at the cost of blowing the mission, so "no big deal" turns to "all the marbles" real quick. Putting even more risk on the line are projections of Cobb's now deceased wife, Mallorie (Marion Cotillard) who makes an effort to stop the team. How does a projection do this? It boils down to Dom's guilt in losing her after introducing her to shared dreaming. This is where Cobb's totem comes in, in the form of a top he can spin. If it falls over, he's not dreaming. If it keeps spinning, the dream is still going. Without the totem, things can get confusing and someone may try to defy physics while assuming it's still a dream resulting in their death (which is what happened to Mallorie).
I'm not entirely sure if I made things easier or harder to follow with my breakdown here, but sometimes I have a hard time putting so much into trying to keep it simple. There really is quite a bit going on here. But the fact of the matter remains that I still love this movie and hold it in high regard. I don't know if I can recommend it to just anyone and everyone like I once used to. But what I can say is that it remains a personal favourite since its release, and this is JUST me, but I'd consider it Christopher Nolan's best work.
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