International fugitive thief Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) steals corporate secrets by entering the subconscious of his victims while they are asleep and manipulating their dreams.  After blowing his last assignment, he agrees to a final job, one that will get him off the criminal rolls.

That job requires Cobb to do the exact opposite of what he has been doing.  Japanese businessman Mr. Saito (Ken Watanabe) wants him to plant an idea into the subconscious of Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), heir to a huge American dynasty.

Cobb assembles a top crew to help him carry out his assignment, but the biggest threat to its success may be Cobb himself and his deep feels of guilt about the death of his wife (Marion Cotillard).

CRITIQUE

Despite all its impressive trimmings, writer-director Christopher Nolan’s Inception is, essentially, a caper movie.  But, instead of robbing a bank or an art museum, the crooks in this film are planning to insert an idea into their victim’s subconscious.

On the plus side, in our world of never ending sequels and remakes, this is a fascinating, extremely original premise for a film.  On a technical level, it deserves to sweep the upcoming awards season.  The CGI special effects are, indeed, breathtaking, like none you have ever seen before…and I include Avatar in that assessment.

The cast members, which also includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Berenger, Tom Hardy and, in a very small role, Michael Caine, are all at the top of their game.

On the other hand, the movie does have several problems, one of which appears to be very common with directors of CGI action movies (i.e. they let their action sequences run on too long, far after they have served their purpose for the story).

For example, in one of the movie’s dream sequences, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is bouncing off the walls and the ceiling as he fights some of the bad guys.  Aside from the fact that this sequence overstays its welcome, I couldn’t help thinking while watching it that, back in Royal Wedding (1951), Fred Astaire danced on both the walls and the ceiling in a far less frantic and much more entertaining way.

That’s not the only action sequence that goes on far too long.  The picture could have easily lost 15-20 minutes that would not have been missed.

The fact that the plot of the movie involves dreams within dreams within dreams makes it a bit convoluted and, at times, difficult to follow.  We’re never quite sure at any particular moment if we’re watching a dream or reality.

And, despite the best efforts of the cast, none of the characters seem very likable.  They are all rather “cold,” thus you find yourself “watching” this handsome movie and marveling at its sights, but you never become emotionally involved.

THE VIDEO

The widescreen picture is very sharp. Colors look bright and clear.

THE AUDIO

The Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound is loud and clear.

THE EXTRAS

Very little, but as usual the studio is saving the vast majority of bonus material for the Blu-ray edition.  From the Focus Points feature on the Blu-ray and shared here are four brief featurettes that take a look at the behind-the-scenes of the movie:

The Inception of Inception: Christopher Nolan shapes his unusual concepts for Inception.

The Japanese Castle: The Dream Is Collapsing: Creating and destroying the castle set.

Constructing Paradoxical Architecture: Designing the staircase to nowhere.

The Freight Train: Constructing the street-faring freight train.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Inception may be the most original and intriguing film of 2010, but it is really more interesting than involving and it would certainly benefit by losing 15-20 minutes of its running time.