Movie Reviews  |  PG-13  |  View Trailer  |  Jul 15, 2010

Escapism. That’s the reason why we go to movies. To escape the world we live in, if only for an hour or two. What better way to escape reality than through a dream. That’s what Christopher Nolan wants you to do in his new movie “Inception.” Let me just come right out and say it, “Inception” is the best movie of 2010 up until this point, and has the possibility of being the best of the entire year. It’s been a long time since I felt that complete feeling of being engulfed by a movie, but Nolan’s “Inception” engrosses your senses, and takes you along a ride you will not soon forget.

The plot is complicated, which is something that defies most summer blockbusters. In this world people are able to tap into people’s dreams in order to extract ideas from them. This comes in helpful in the world of corporate espionage where companies are continuously trying to steal each other’s ideas to get ahead. Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a professional extractor. Him and his partner Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are in the business of robbing people of their dreams and ideas.

Nolan’s world he’s created doesn’t require bucket loads of exposition from the characters. Inhabiting dreams is a technology that just exists, end of story. We don’t know how it came into existence or who invented it, but we accept it for what it is because it’s believable. Finally, a writer that doesn’t feel like he has to expound on every single detail. Nolan treats his audience like living, breathing, thinking beings.

I hesitate to divulge much if any more information about the plot of “Inception.” It’s increasingly convoluted, but Nolan is able to masterfully edit it into 148 minutes of heart-pounding excitement. He’s able to take this grandiose plot and make it as compelling as anything you’ve ever watched on the big screen. Nolan has firmly cemented himself as one of the premiere storytellers of our time. His ideas in “Inception,” are so simple yet so original. The aspect of planting an idea in someone’s head is brought up. Sure, ideas are a very simple subject right? We all know what an idea means, but what about giving someone an idea and making them truly think that idea came from their own inspiration? Now it’s complicated. Nolan does this so well. He’s a truly original filmmaker.

In a world run amok with out of control CG effects, Nolan creates a world with so many real-life special effects (like a freight train barreling down the middle of a city street) that it’s hard to tell when CG is being used. When CG is used, it doesn’t look fake or hokey, it’s masterfully done.

One of the greatest filming achievements of the movie is a sequence that requires Jospeh Gordon-Levitt to flip end over end through a hotel hallway as gravity in the dream world shifts. He runs up walls attacking would-be assailants. He flies from the ceiling to the floor in such fluid movements that the entire scene is awe-inspiring. A simple hand-to-hand fist fight has been turned into one of the most inventively filmed scenes you’ll ever see.

I know I haven’t talked much, if at all, of what “Inception” is about or the characters that populate it, but I have a feeling that going into this movie with the freshest mind possible is the way to go. Even though the movie is packed full of as much action as you could have hoped for, its plot is even more astounding. When the year 2020 rolls around and we’re discussing the best movies to come out of this decade “Inception” is sure to be on that list. Yes, it’s just that good.