Whoosh… The tide ebbed and flowed. Cobb, played by Bale, opened his eyes on the beach, looking at his two children with their backs to him, a look of confusion and helplessness on his face, before being taken to see an elderly Saito.
"A long, long time ago, I saw this spinning top. Someone told me it could implant an idea into a person's mind."
Saito fiddled with the top, spinning it gently on the table, and then the scene suddenly changed.
When the camera returned to him, the face of a young Ken Watanabe appeared, still in the same room, but everything felt different.
Sharp-eyed viewers immediately realized that the old man from before was also Ken Watanabe, but one was old and close to death, while the other was vibrant and eating steak.
Fellow directors, even more so, recognized it instantly as Eric playing a trick on the eyes.
"Mr. Saito, what do you think is the most deeply rooted and impossible to remove thing in the human body?"
"Is it flesh, bacteria, viruses, or something else? Intestinal worms?"
Saito, who was intently chewing his steak, frowned slightly and glanced at Cobb when he heard the words "intestinal worms."
The camera cut to Arthur, played by Heath Ledger. He was impeccably dressed, his chiseled face in a suit giving him a completely different aura than before.
In terms of handsomeness and looks, he was a notch below Bale, who was also in a suit next to him.
But because he had never worn a suit on the big screen, it was truly refreshing and gave the audience a deeper understanding of him.
"Cobb means—" Arthur quickly tried to interject.
"It's an idea. Both stubborn and infectious. Once an idea is formed, it's very difficult for a person to get rid of it."
"So you can steal it?"
"That's right. When a person is asleep, their defenses and vigilance are lowered, allowing us to infiltrate their dream and steal or alter their ideas."
"Mr. Saito, we can train your subconscious to resist even the best inceptionists."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because I am the best inceptionist!"
A not-so-long conversation, yet it contained a wealth of information, even directly laying out the film's core theme before the audience.
Ideas, entering dreams, Inception, subconscious, defense… "Inception. So the movie title isn't playing a mystery; it's genuinely about dreams," Patty Jenkins thought to herself.
"Dreams, changing ideas and dreams. An interesting concept, somewhat similar to what I once imagined."
Nolan couldn't help but curl his lips: "Did Eric Cooper and I think of the same thing? Well then, let me see how you tell this story."
Saito wiped his mouth and stood up to leave: "Please entertain our two guests well. We can chat again when you have time."
Seeing their target leave, Arthur and Cobb both wore solemn expressions.
"Something's wrong, Cobb. He seems to have realized."
Rumble, rumble.
Immediately, the entire building began to shake, as if a sudden earthquake had struck.
Cobb's pupils contracted violently. He looked down at his watch: "Damn it! What's going on?"
Click!
As the second hand moved, when Cobb looked up, the scene had already switched again.
Inside a residential house, Cobb, Arthur, and Saito were all asleep.
Outside, a parade celebration was taking place, with huge drums beating continuously, shaking the windows of the surrounding houses.
But despite such loud noise, the three remained asleep, which seemed very strange.
The nearby caretaker checked their condition and muttered to herself: "Why did the celebration start early?"
Then, with a close-up of the dancing girls on the parade float, the scene returned to the place where the three had been eating steak.
Cobb and Arthur were discussing how to deal with Saito, and not far away, Mal, played by Theron, had appeared at some point, staring intently at Cobb.
Theron wore an evening gown, her beautiful appearance somewhat cool, but it didn't detract from the elegant aura she exuded.
Many male viewers immediately cheered "yes" in their hearts, this is what we want to see.
Eric's women were also watching this scene: Gadot, Ashley, Mary, Elizabeth, Little Liu, Big Liu, Ajun, Daddario.
Everyone had to admit, she was truly beautiful, with an indescribable charm, the most perfect woman God ever created.
Only Nicole didn't think so, because she knew that her brilliant performance in the film would not be inferior to hers.
As soon as she appeared, everyone would be captivated by her.
"Cobb, why is she here again?"
"Don't worry, I'll handle it."
Cobb walked to the balcony and faced Mal directly.
"If I jump from here, do you think I'd survive?"
"You shouldn't be here!"
Mal turned her face, her eyes clearly revealing affection: "I thought you would miss me."
Cobb paused, his expression becoming somewhat complex, and he said with a guilty tone: "Of course I miss you."
"Are the children doing well?"
"The children. Yes, yes, they're all fine."
"So what is your and Arthur's purpose? To steal Saito's secret?"
Cobb looked down at his watch again: "Mal, I don't have much time. We can talk about these things next time."
Then came Bale's brilliant infiltration and assassination scene, taking down the guards one by one with a silenced pistol.
However, in reality, even with a silencer, the gun's noise still exists, not reaching the level of silent assassination.
Everyone, please do not try this; these are all artistic works and films adapted for the plot's sake.
Finally, Bale opened Saito's safe and retrieved its contents.
Just as he thought the mission was complete, Mal, with Saito, cornered him, and Arthur was also captured.
"Put down your weapon, and what you're holding, Mr. Cobb."
Facing the situation of his companion having a gun to his head, Cobb did not put down his weapon, but still asked unwillingly: "Did Mal tell you? Or did you already know?"
Saito suddenly laughed: "Are you referring to your identities as thieves? Or that we are currently in a dream?"
"Tell me who sent you? Who is targeting me?"
Seeing that the other party had seen through them, Cobb stopped pretending: "Killing people in a dream is useless. You cannot threaten me with that trick."
Mal smiled slightly: "Killing Arthur is indeed useless; it would only make him wake up. But what if we only inflict pain on him?"
Bang!
A shot rang out, Arthur's leg was shot through, and he immediately fell to his knees, howling in pain.
"Arthur, the pain will stay in your mind forever. Judging by the style, this should be your dream, right? I hope Cobb will value your life, unlike how he treated me."
However, no sooner had Mal finished speaking than Cobb raised his hand and shot Arthur dead.
Instantly, the entire building began to collapse, as if the final boss in a game had been defeated, and the villain's lair had to explode.
At this point, the scene began to constantly cross between dream and reality. Arthur in reality had woken up, while Cobb in the dream was still reading Saito's secret in the collapsing building.
Seeing that Cobb couldn't wake up, they used the 'kick' method on him.
But at the same time, Saito also woke up, and a chaotic fight broke out in Room, with Saito being subdued.
From the beginning of the movie until now, it had only been about ten minutes, and due to the constant scene changes, the average audience was already quite dizzy.
They couldn't quite understand what was happening and could only follow the plot.
However, professional film critics, directors, and actors could roughly grasp the cause and effect.
"Inception, what a novel concept and subject matter. Eric Cooper used a very complex approach this time."
"It's not too complex, actually. If you review those quickly shifting scenes, you'll find that it still largely follows a linear narrative."
"Cobb and Arthur were hired to steal Saito's secret, which was the document in the safe."
"It also reveals that dreams have hosts. Once the host dies, the dream collapses, and dying in a dream also leads to waking up."
"What about Mal?"
"Mal and Cobb definitely have a relationship. They have children, so they're probably husband and wife? Or ex-wife? But now they are enemies."
"But Mal wasn't among the sleeping people in Room. Why did she appear in Arthur's dream to cause trouble?"
"That's also where I'm confused. There will definitely be an explanation later."
But just as many professionals thought they understood the plot, Saito in the scene suddenly burst out laughing.
"You can't fool me. This is not my safe house at all. Polyester carpet? I would never use such low-end stuff."
"This is still a dream, a dream within a dream. You constructed two layers of dreams, attempting to deceive me, hahahaha."
Seeing their plan fail, the Inception team could only retreat.
The scene switched again. This time, the group was sleeping on a train, specifically a Japanese Shinkansen.
"Holy cow! A dream within a dream, there's even this kind of setting!"
Many professionals who thought they understood felt tricked. Suspense, sci-fi, constantly intertwining; suddenly they couldn't distinguish what kind of movie this was.
But no matter what kind, one thing was certain: it was damn brilliant.
Some movies can hook the audience firmly in their seats with just an opening. Not understanding it doesn't matter; feeling awesome is what counts. Inception was undoubtedly one of those.
"Heh heh. Charles, do you still think you understand it?"
"Not quite sure. The multi-layered dream setting creates countless possibilities for this story. This is a movie where no one can predict the next development."
"But even for us, there are many confusing plot points. I can already imagine what the average audience will feel."
"Don't jump to conclusions. This movie completely transcends Eric Cooper's past style. Let's see how he tells this story later."
The movie plot continued. Cobb and Arthur were captured by Saito in reality, who then hired them to work for him.
"You can steal secrets from my mind, but this time I want you to implant an idea into my competitor's mind."
Under the temptation of returning home, Cobb finally agreed and sought help from his father-in-law, who was also his mentor in the dream realm.
"As long as I can complete this mission for the client, I can go home and reunite with my children. You must help me."
"Cobb, you can handle everything yourself. You are an excellent architect."
"I used to be."
"What?"
"Mal. Mal has appeared again. She will prevent me from completing the mission. I can no longer be an architect."
"And the last mission failed because the temporary teammates I found were unreliable. I must assemble a stronger team. If I weren't desperate, I wouldn't have come to ask you."
"Alright, I do know someone. She is a very excellent dream expert."
"Where is she?"
"Don't rush. Ariadne is a proud woman. To get her help, you must pass a test."
Cobb scoffed: "No problem. I also want to test the strength of a new teammate."
Through his father-in-law's matchmaking, Ariadne, played by Nicole, made her appearance.
Long, golden-red hair, wearing a wool coat, black lace gloves on her hands, her eyes and eyebrows gave off an unapproachable vibe.
Then the three fell into a deep sleep. Cobb and Ariadne simultaneously entered Arthur's dream, where they would battle it out.
On the bridge over the Seine, the two faced each other.
"I found you, Ariadne. You lose!"
A breeze ruffled Nicole's long hair: "You're mistaken, Cobb. It's not that you found me; it's that I find the game of hide-and-seek meaningless."
"We are both skilled at manipulating dreams, and we are both very interested in prying into the deepest secrets of people's minds."
"Now I really want to know your secret."
"What do you want to know?"
"Why do you need two architects?"
"Because I need to oversee the entire operation and can't be distracted."
"Hmph! That's just an excuse. Tell me the deepest reason, and I might consider helping you."
Ariadne's idea of digging for secrets immediately touched a deep wound in Cobb's heart. He was somewhat annoyed: "Madam, you should be more polite."
"You invite me to do something illegal, yet you expect me to be respectful. Cobb, something must have happened to you."
"Shut up!"
Having his scars poked repeatedly, Cobb's anger was fully ignited. With a sudden wave of his right hand, the surface of the Seine instantly became turbulent, with waves dozens of meters high engulfing Nicole.
In front of the big screen, seeing this scene, the audience was stunned.
What's going on? How did it suddenly turn into harry potter? Did he learn magic?
"Cobb, in a dream, we are omnipotent. We don't have to execute missions, we have no worries. Before Arthur's subconscious wakes up, let me test you!"
Ariadne's voice echoed from all directions, and then the ground began to shake. Skyscrapers folded into various shapes, attacking Cobb.
The beautiful and bizarre scene made one feel as if they were in a kaleidoscope, with everything around them twisting and turning.
The straight buildings, clearly constructed of steel, under Nicole's control, twisted and transformed like a Rubik's Cube, dazzling the viewers.
Facing the animated buildings, Cobb was not flustered. Here, he didn't have to worry about Mal, and he was also a top architect.
He stomped his foot heavily, and the houses that were about to crush him suddenly began to twist in the opposite direction, as if a hand was twisting a Rubik's Cube backward.
Cobb stared intently at Ariadne: "The best architect? Let me teach you what 'the best' means!"