Some movies are easy to get excited about by just the mere mention of a title:
- Star Wars – before 1999
- Indiana Jones – before 2008
- Transformers – before 2009
- James Bond
For some movies, this would bother me. For months I would hear the title “Avatar,” but no one could tell me what it was other than some geeks were going crazy over Internet rumors. Snakes on a Plane was another that had no details shared other than Samuel L. Jackson, snakes, and a plane. So, you can just imagine how I was reacting to hearing “Inception” and not much more.
Then I saw some poster images, where the guys over at Ain’t It Cool News where pointing out similarities to poster art for The Dark Knight. That’s when I found out that Christopher Nolan was directing. Nolan has definitely earned a lot of credit in my book, given what he has done with the Batman franchise and other films. He likes to film things on a grand scale and use as little computer-work as possible. This harkens back to when Lucas and Spielberg were first starting out and actually knew how to do stuff.
Rich and I decided to go see this film at the last minute on a Sunday evening – that meant no good theater; we were stuck with Regal at Waterford Lakes. After getting in, we were slightly surprised at the packed theater. Then the film rolled…
Inception is about a man (Leonardo DeCaprio) who extracts information from people’s brains through the use of dreams. For this mission, however, he is being hired to plant an idea. What follows is the assembling of a team, designing of a dream, and then the execution. As with all great stories, to say more would be too much.
I found the acting to be great. A number of recognizable actors signed on to play supporting roles, including Nolan’s good luck charm of Michael Caine. Ellen Page does well as the “grounded” person of the team, with none of the ghosts of previous roles popping out at inappropriate times. Nolan does a masterful job of bringing everything to life, yet leaving you with wanting more.
My advice: see it, on a real IMAX – worth every penny and then some…
