Why Inception is a Great Movie

Inception was one of the biggest box office hits of 2010.   I think I speak for almost everybody that when the movie started, I was completely confused.  However, as the movie went on I found myself entrenched in the story and even became a little more confused.  I had to see it several times to completely understand it.  Looking back at my experience, to me, it was one of the greatest movies ever.  I hadn’t felt so affected by a movie since Lord of the Rings.  Anyway, here are some reasons (in random order) why I think it was so great.

            First is the cast.  This is obvious.  Nolan put together some great actors and actresses. Whenever Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Caine are in a movie, you have a guarantee for good acting.

Second is the director.  Every good movie has a good director.  I don’t know much about directing but from the praises of others and through watching the movie, I’m guessing it was directed well.  Christopher Nolan is the director of Batman Begins and The Dark Night.  I recently watched a film of his called Memento.  This is more evidence of the talent that Nolan has as a director and writer.  Both Inception and Memento keep your mind active while watching them.  If you have a chance to watch Memento, I suggest you do.  It got a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 8.7/10 on IMDB so it is well liked.            

Third is the action.  It wasn’t the best action movie I’ve seen but it was good.  There is a running chase, a train hitting a car, a car chase, lots of gunfire, some hand to hand combat, and explosions.  Something I hadn’t seen before and loved was the rotating room fight. It all added to the intensity and suspense of the story.

            Fourth are the special effects.  My favorites were the scenes where Adriadne was being schooled in the art of dream architecture.  We get to see pretty much everything in one dream scene explode then slow down.  In another scene we see a city folding itself in half.  The special effects helped explain what happened in dreams.  Plus it just made the movie super fun to watch.

            Fifth is what I think is one of the most important parts to any epic movie: the music.  Hans Zimmer was the composer for Inception.  Through his music he was able to add to and influence what parts were fast-paced, slow-paced, emotional, and so on with every theme you can think of.  I loved the music at the end of the movie where Cobb and Adriadne arrive in limbo.  Through the music there, you can just tell that the climax is coming.  Even without the movie, the music is awesome.  I listened to the Inception premiere musical performance almost every day till it was taken off their facebook fan page.  If you want to see how important the music is to a movie, try watching it without the music if you get a chance. It is BORING.

            Finally is the story.  I read somewhere that Christopher Nolan had been working on the Inception story for about ten years.  I have to say it was worth it.  It was original and unique.  Some say he copied off a Donald Duck comic, but Nolan’s story is much more complex and I doubt he reads Donald Duck comics in his spare time.  The movie starts you out in the dreams switching from different scenes.  I was confused at first but at around the middle of the movie, the nature of dreams was explained and it revealed what was going on earlier in the film.  The whole dream world and rules is a confusing concept but I think it was explained in the best way it could.  Most of the rules of the dream were taught to the audience through the teaching of the characters, mainly the scenes where Cobb and Arthur taught Adriadne.  Once most of the rules were taught, the main mission of Inception began and the audience is taken on a nonstop thrill ride.  Another thing I like about the story is that it was really a combination of two stories.  First is the job of Inception and second is Mal in Cobb’s subconscious.  The two are pretty separate until the end when the second story clashes with the first.  Mal jeopardizes the mission and Cobb must fix it in order for the Inception job to be completed.  Overall the plot was fantastic with intertwining storylines and being complex so it made you think.  Damen Lindelof, the creator of the mind-boggler “Lost” tweeted “I wish someone would break into my dreams and give me an idea HALF as good as INCEPTION.”  The only iffy part for me was the ending.  I was kind of torn.  I really wanted to know whether or not he had come back.  I also felt that I could be part creator of the story and decide myself what happened.  Or maybe the point was it didn’t matter because Cobb finally let go of his guilt.  Anyway, to me, Inception is one of the greatest movies ever and probably will be in the future until Christopher Nolan creates another masterpiece.