Popcorn Worthy? - Inception

READER BEWARE: Opinions Are Expressed Below

In the un-inspired and un-creative doldrums of modern cinema where talking animated dogs, hamsters and blue cat people are hitting the market like wildfire and movies that shouldn't be re-made are being re-made...imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon the most thought provoking, mind bending (and mild headache inducing) movie I have seen since...well...since ever! Inception has restored my faith in Hollywood.

But don't consider me too surprised. Christopher Nolan, the man at the helm of this movie, has already brought us the mind-boggler Memento, The Prestige and has managed to rejuvenate the crumbling Batman franchise with a eagerly anticipated third installment on the way. So I already considered Inception a must see. But the question was...a must see what? The trailers, synopsis provided by the studio and the cast was certainly revealing nothing in depth. I found out why. There is NO WAY to merely describe this movie in words. It must be seen. Everything that I had guessed this movie was about was completely wrong, and there was no single point in the movie where it became predictable. It always manages to keep you guessing...even the awe inspiring (and emotional) end that will keep you on the edge of your seat and breathless as the credits begin to roll. I'm not a spoiler...so you will just have to go see it to find out!

As far as acting goes, Leonardo DiCaprio does his usual troubled, tough guy acting job and chooses another script that involves a dead wife who messes with his mind (not literally as in Shutter Island). Ellen Page is still brooding from Juno, Joseph Gordon-Levitt proves that he can act and do the most intense fight scene since The Matrix (BETTER than The Matrix...actually), Michael Caine pops in for a bit, Tom Berenger is looking old, Cillian Murphy should just stay evil (although he was still good as a good guy), and Tom Hardy became a name to look out for.

However, none of these actors could hold a candle to the lovely, haunting performance of Marion Cotillard (Leo's vengeful dead wife). When Cotillard came on the screen, the theater always fell dead silent (after everyone took in a sharp intake of breath) and those pesky teenagers even looked up from their glaring cell phones to watch her jaw dropping performance. And her eyes, that woman could kill anyone she wanted to with those gorgeous eyes. It was those eyes that drove a grown man to scream out (not me) in horror as she seemingly looked straight at us. It is safe to say that Cotillard commanded the screen and should get an Oscar. Will she? Now that is another story. The Oscars are soooo disappointing. One flaw of this movie is that they could have used Cotillard as a more central and diabolical villain than having no key villain at all.

And all I have to say for the movie's music is...Hans Zimmer. When you put Nolan and Zimmer together...it is a perfect marriage in the cinema world. The music perfectly portrays this deep, haunting and powerful movie.

It's all just a dream within a dream, within a dream, within a dream, within a dream. Confused yet? That is the second flaw with this movie. It is hard to follow at times, and the dream setting is no help at all. I will not lie about that. Hence the headache I mention above. This is not a shove some popcorn into your mouth and drool while watching action sequence after action sequence movie. There is a level of involvement and you must listen and watch.

So all in all, Inception is Popcorn Worthy and possibly the greatest (and most inventive) movie of this decade. Inception is certainly going into the annals of classic-dom.

4.8 Popcorn Kernels Out Of 5 (because I wanted more of Cotillard and for some confusion throughout)



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