Inception came out on DVD and Blu-Ray this past Tuesday, and if you are anything like me then you probably have already watched it a dozen times. Alright, I actually only watched it twice but I saw it in theaters three times as well. It's safe to say I loved this flick, and I guarantee I'll be tossing it in the old PS3 for a few more views very soon.
Writer/Director Christopher Nolan (
The Dark Knight,
Batman Begins,
The Prestige,
Memento) outdoes all of his previous films, in my opinion, with a talented and dedicated cast, a brilliant score by Hans Zimmer, the visionary style/cinematography, perfect utilization of effects and, of course, the clever writing. The script, which Nolan supposedly starting writing ten years ago, is written so well that the unbelievably complicated premise of the film is understandable to the average film-goer their first time around. I won't get into the basics of the film since there is a lot I want to talk about in greater detail. But I will say it is really a relief that Nolan didn't dwell on how the Shared Dreams device actually worked. The audience is told what it does, and that it simply
does work. The real substance of the film lies within what the characters do with the machine.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
To be honest, I've still got a lot of questions about the film. For instance:
-When Saito (Ken Watanabe) is shot in the first dream level, he can not be killed in order to wake him up because of the power of the sedative the entire crew is under. We find out that he will not wake up, he will fall into a deeper dream state called limbo, where no one except Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) knows what is there. This means that the group must work quickly because Saito is, in fact dying from his wound. However, towards the end of the film, all hope appears lost when Fischer (Cillian Murphy) is shot and killed in the third dream level. Ariadne (Ellen Page) suggests that they find Fischer in limbo, kill him there so that he will be reincarnated in the third dream level.
Now wait a second.
If you can reincarnate someone from death in a dream by going into limbo and killing them... then why doesn't the crew kill Saito in the first dream level? That crew member could find Saito in limbo, kill him and himself and then they would have a fully restored Saito! That way they wouldn't be so rushed for time (and Cobb ended up having to find Saito and killing him anyway). I suppose a logical response would be because they don't understand what is in limbo and they may not be able to find him in time... or because they couldn't afford to sacrifice one of their team on a separate mission such as that... but Cobb, with his experience, should be aware that this is a possibility.
-There is a lot of points both for and against about whether
Cobb was actually dreaming the entire time or not. These points have clearly been carefully placed within the script in order to raise doubts among the viewer.
Reasons why I think he was
not dreaming the entire time:
- It is incredibly difficult to create just one maze in a dream from the architect's standpoint. During the film Cobb goes through what would be many, many mazes.
- Cobb was very careful about keeping track of reality (using his totem consistently, except for when we cared the most, of course... douchebag).
- The subconscious of whoever's dream he was in would constantly be looking for the architect. There is no constant search by the population of people (like white blood cells attacking a virus, as Cobb compares) in the real world to find the supposed architect.
- It'd be annoying as hell if all of the crap we just learned for two and a half hours was actually just part of Cobb's messed up dream.
Reasons why I think it could be a dream:
- Michael Caine and Cobb's children, are wearing the same (or at least very similar) clothes he has seen on them in the past, meaning they could be projections of his past experiences with them. (However, I've heard rumors that Nolan used different child actors to play Cobb's children at the end than in the beginning)
- Repeated use of quotes such as "take a leap of faith." Saito could never know the importance of such a reference as it pertained to Cobb's deepest secret, the suicide of Cobb's wife Mal. Important words and phrases are often heard over and over within a dream since they are constantly on the mind.
- Cobb allows Ariadne into his secrets, giving her the opportunity to plant an idea in his mind. That idea could be for Cobb to accept the Saito job as the answer to all his problems and return home. This is clearly what Michael Caine wanted, and he is the one who referred Ariadne to Cobb in the first place...
- Cobb tells Ariadne that his totem used to be Mal's (Marion Cotillard). This means that he was not the only person who knew how it fell, and he would be conscious of that - meaning his projection of Mal would also be conscious of that. However, could a projection of his wife really perform inception on him? That would mean his own subconscious performed inception on himself. Whoa.
-Forging seems like it was underused in the film. Eames could shift into whoever he wanted in order to alter the opinion of Fischer. He chose a really important person in his life, the second in command to Maurice Fischer, a man named Peter Browning (Tom Berenger). However, why not choose to forge into Maurice Fischer and do things more directly? In order for true inspiration, Fischer must come up with the idea himself, which is why he has to personally project his father telling him to be his own man. But I don't see why that would stop Eames from being Maurice Fischer in a past dream and arguing with Browning over what he wanted for his son. Seems like the group took a reallllly big long shot hoping that young Fischer would come up with the exact idea they desired for him.
In the end, its just a movie though... a movie that makes you think, but a movie nonetheless. It is a movie taking place in a world of constantly changing dream worlds, where literally anything is possible. I suppose the uncertain outcomes of all the events that transpired is Nolan's way of (intentionally) giving the characters, as well as the audience, only clues as to what is truly real.
Overall message: Don't share dreams with Leonardo DiCaprio's weird ass.
