Inception Review

Originality, no matter abnormal or extraordinary, must be appreciated.

When Sir Nolan was riding high in the unprecedented critical and box office success of TDK, the logical move would be to cash in on that craze by bringing in a sequel asap. But just like he made The Prestige after Batman Begins' extravaganza, he turned his attention to a 10 year old idea that was born between the Nolan brothers. This marked the inception of INCEPTION.

The premise is complicated, to say the least. If you somehow convince yourself that a technology which allows users to have shared dreams is feasible, boy you are in for a ride. Dom Cobb, an extractor, and his ingenious team takes this already unbelievable idea to next level to do the reverse i.e. Inception. More specifically, they enter the subject's dream within a dream within a dream.

Sir Nolan, who was an ardent fan of Leonardo DiCaprio's work, wanted to work with him and also approached him a few times, but nothing caught the attention of the Academy award winner until 2010. While literally anyone could've essayed Cobb's role, Leo brings the subtle touch he's known for and succeeds in making his own impact in a story-driven-film. He portrays the vulnerability and complexity of Cobb perfectly. Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe and Ellen Page portray their roles as expected as the story doesn't leave a lot of room for improvisation and subtlety. The biggest revelation is Marilon Cotillard, who eats the biggest chunk of the acting-accolades pie. She's required to be loving, scary, vulnerable, pitiful and clever at the same time, and she nails it in every one of them. Michael Caine makes a small cameo and is, well, Michael Caine.

The biggest challenge in making a movie like this is to make it seem intelligent enough, yet dumb it down just so the audience can keep up. This amazing art, brought into limelight by Spielberg, is mastered by Nolan as evident from the movie. The underlying emotional currents, however, fail to stick at some point of time. The visuals are impeccable, to sum it up. It took Hollywood 3 years to come up with such immersive experience (Gravity). Hans Zimmer usually makes scores worth remembering, but he knocks this one out of the park. TIME is one of the most emotionally-charged music I've heard in a long time.

If you're in for originality and cerebral cinema, this should be on the top of your list on the lines of 2001: A Space Odyssey.