It's Just Movies

— by MARIUSZ ZUBROWSKI —

What a pathetic summer blockbuster season this has been — the long-awaited sequel to “Iron Man” failed horribly on all fronts, the Ridley Scott “epic” “Robin Hood” turned out to be quite lackluster, and the Jerry Bruckheimer produced “Prince of Persia” was inept in everything but slow motion action sequences. On top of that, “Shrek Forever After” only generated a lukewarm response on the animation front. But it seems like the dark cloud that is lingering over this year’s batch of films is clearing, with the third installment of “Toy Story” finally releasing in theaters this week. But even though “Toy Story 3” is sure to make oodles of cash and sport a plethora of positive reviews, nothing excites me more than Christopher Nolan’s latest exploit “Inception,” which comes out later this season.

Now there are several reasons why I believe “Inception” to be this summer’s biggest hit — among critics and fans alike — and these include:

The Director

Christopher Nolan is becoming one of the most bankable directors in cinema. Following “The Dark Knight,” which caused his fame to sky-rocket (though it was pretty steep to begin with — due to his directorial work on “Memento” and later “Batman Begins”), it seemed as if Nolan could get any project he pleased and not worry about the economic aspect of film-making. On top of directorial talent, Nolan is also listed as a screenwriter for the upcoming “Inception,” which strikes me as good news considering both “The Dark Knight” and “Memento,” his two — in my opinion — best films to date were co-written by Nolan and both of which featured excellent scripts that just captured the audience’s attention flawlessly — which is the trademark of any genius screen-writer.

The Story

The plot of “Inception” is as follows: Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skilled thief who specializes in stealing secrets from the subconscious of his victims during the dream state, through a method called “extraction.” Of course, this not only makes Cobb a valuable individual in the world as corporate espionage, but also an international fugitive. But Cobb is offered a chance for redemption and in order to achieve it, he must not steal an idea but instead do the opposite and perform “inception,” in which he plants an idea instead. If Cobb and his specialists are able to complete this daunting task, they could be the ones responsible for the “perfect crime,” however, there are enemies among them — enemies that can predict their every move and its up to Cobb to stop them.

Now this reading this synopsis, I can assume that most readers have never watched a film quite like this. It definitely sounds brilliant and Nolan seems like the guy for the job. But aside from originality and directorial talent, there is also the cast which is sparking a lot of attention.

The Cast

These are just some of the names attached to “Inception”: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe and Michael Caine.

All of the above names are immensely talented actresses and actors. DiCaprio has definitely shown his talent for leading a film in several roles, most recently, in “Shutter Island,” in which he performed immaculately. Also, Caine, for whom Nolan has a strong liking, has proved himself extremely capable throughout the years (“Harry Brown” was just a minor speed-bump in his career). Lastly, Gordon-Levitt, though not as popular as the other two actors, does has acting chops and his charisma should prove to be useful in the film (perhaps as comic support?).

Now for the actresses, Ellen Page, though not an excellent lead, does have enough likeability for a supporting role, which she is in “Inception.” But Cotillard, who is one of my favorite actresses, has enough talent to be a major character in the film and she should prove to be an intriguing leading woman.

Closing Comments

It seems that Nolan’s latest exploit has it all, but this is just an early analysis of what we have seen. So far, the trailers look extremely promising, but then again, so did the ones for “The A-Team,” which proved to be extremely mediocre. But I have faith in this one.

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Follow Mariusz Zubrowski on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ItsJustMariusz.