by Jesus Ibarra

Christopher Nolan redefined what it meant to be a superhero with his masterpiece The Dark Knight and, in Inception, he aims to redefine what reality itself means. I believe this is far superior to any of his other films. He wrote, produced and directed this ambitious Science Fiction film — sometimes blurring the lines of genre with crossover to action, drama and thriller. The movie is in a word, complicated; it’s hard to explain it without spoiling it but, as someone who hates spoilers, I’ll be careful how much I reveal.

Left to right: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Dileep Rao, Ken Watanabe

With an ensemble cast lead by Leonardo DiCaprio, we enter a world where it’s possible to share dream states and one’s subconscious. The technology was developed by the military to train soldiers since time passes more quickly in our subconscious than in the real world. Enter Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) who’s covert team is tasked with theft of the innermost secrets from the world of corporate espionage. That’s called extraction — now he’s presented with the ability to do something that will give him what he really wants in life, Inception. The idea being that, instead of stealing ideas, he can plant them. What seems easier in theory proves extremely hard. That endeavor provides the movie’s basic premise yet Christopher Nolan and Leonardo DiCaprio pull us into Cobb’s own story, one that’s equally compelling and weaves into the original plot line beautifully. That’s all I can really say about the story without spoiling it because every scene in this movie counts, there are no wasted moments.

This, for me, is now the standard for film; it tells a story, shows character growth and creates action that is practical (when it’s not, you can’t tell). This has officially become my favorite movie of all time. The main reason is it does something that no movie I’ve seen has done: I still can’t get the ending out of my head — it has remained with me since the moment I left the theater. Everything about this movie is amazing. I don’t think I can praise it more than I already have. Just go watch it already, you won’t be disappointed (unless you confuse easily, then wait for DVD). If you can afford to watch it in IMAX, do so as the visuals and audio are amazing.

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Jesus Ibarra is 18 years old and an ongoing contributor to our Teen Talk section; with a love of all media, he’s always on the lookout for the best finds.