Alright? Good.
If you hadn't, this would be the point where I'd say "spoilers below", but more than that I'm going to expound on the greatness of a movie based on concepts that absolutely everyone can relate to while at the same time can keep the brightest of young minds (read: me and my roommates) tied up in hours of appreciative conversation. General consensus is correct that most big-budget movies these days are rightfully worthless for having more explosions and gratuitous sex scenes than intelligent plot points, but Inception is an example of what high-end movie making can be. One thing I didn't really care for was that, like Nolan's previous blockbuster The Dark Knight, there was an over-abundance of staccato action scenes and unnecessary gun fights. Towards the film's climax, I can credit the many senseless snow battle cutaways for breaking up the pace of three overlapping realities simultaneously coming to a head. But really, someone's mind is being subverted and the best defense it can throw in our heroes way is truckloads of automatic-rifle-toting henchmen? Set their clothing on fire or something.
When my Friday started, Inception was one of those "Oh yeah, I would love to see that if someone else I know wants to" kind of movies. Three hours at work and I took care of all of the odds and ends I had on my plate. Seeing my roommate on Facebook, I messaged him to propose the idea of lunch at Ashoka, my favorite Indian buffet, and a trip to Goodrich Canton Cinema. Before I knew it I was asking permission to take the afternoon off. My other roommate agreed to tag along, and the three of us were on the road just before a thunderstorm swept through the area. We listened to Paul Simon's Graceland and slowly made our way through patches of standing water on 696 and past idiotic truck drivers on 275.
There are simply lots of things to enjoy about this movie. Attentive camerawork, intelligent use of expensive CGI, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's wardrobe, solid acting all-around and a complex, interesting and original story that's not too difficult to follow. At the same time, there are a lot of ways to interpret the story. It purposefully creates more questions than it answers. My guess is that when Cobb tests the new sedative they are going to use, he doesn't actually wake from that dream and the rest of the movie is his imagination playing out the mission. You'll notice that in a scene directly following the serum trial, Cobb attempts to confirm reality using his totem but is interrupted by Saito.
There is enough talk about this movie to keep its IMDb page heavily trafficked for a few months. My response to the film's ending was an unrestrained "What the fuck?", but now I understand it was the best ending available. If after seeing the film's final scene you don't immediately launch into speculative discussion with the nearest person, there's something wrong with you. What makes this movie so great is how many ways it can be interpreted. I suggest you make your own observation.
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