Why the comparison between Matrix and Inception.

Minor spoilers:
The new movie by Christopher Nolan isn't a summer blockbuster in the sense that you can leave the theatre and know everything there is to know about it. It has a depth that can only be appreciated with a second viewing or a trained first viewing - like that of the critics, who understand the craft.

Many people, with their limited gamut movies with which to compare Inception compared it to the Matrix. I personally compared it to Total Recall and Solaris. All three of these have similar aspects with those of Inception. One notable difference between Inception and Matrix, however, is what the filmmakers wanted the audience to understand. Using the first installment of the Matrix as reference, we see a green-blue colour-hue to distinguish with reality as it is seen inside the matrix and outside of the matrix. Inception, however, is a film which strives very hard to assure the viewer that it is not clear whether or not the film-world of Inception is real or not. This is the point of the movie - once you think it is possible that something can be a dream, everything can seem that way. Once an idea is planted, it takes on its own life and can grow into anything. The viewer, then, is left in the dark as to the nature of reality in the film world.

On the other hand, my personal comparisons of Total Recall are much more sutable.

In the case of Solaris, thematic elements are practically the exact same: reality, marraige, loss, guilt, clones based on memories. Total Recall brought into question many of the same doubts about reality through many of the same mechanisms as those use in Inception. Forged identities, falsified journies through the memories or constructs of others and even the same doubts: in Total Recall, Dennis Quaid is a secret agent chased by elements of secret police forces. In Inception the character Cobb is chased at least by the United States and at least a few other governments (though these are implied). In the end, it's not completely clear if the reality of the film that the audience is left with is the "real" reality.

I might be off my mark as well, but what I hope I've shown is how Matrix is a much less apt movie to be put in the same sentence as Inception.