Modern Hero's Journey

After I was exposed to the Hero's Journey, all the movies I see and books I read are subject to my Hero's Journey analysis. Its like the Hero's Journey is a universal recipe on how to make a good story and anyone who wants to write an interesting story uses these guidelines and I just analyze how each story can be simplified into the Hero's Journey.

I decided to choose Dom Cobb from Inception. This movie, although complicated, still can be broken down into the departure, the initiation and the return.

Departure
Cobb departs from his family after being accused of killing his wife. He is forced to live on the run, away from his children. His journey starts after a business man proposes that he will clear his charges and he can finally settle down with his children. All he has to do is make the business man's competition think that making a certain business choice is the right way to go. He accepts with the incentive of seeing his children once again. His guide appears as Cobb's father-in-law who guides him to finding a skilled designer of dreams. Ellen Page, the dream designer also serves as his guide throughout the movie, helping him get over the death of his wife.

Initiation
Cobb goes through many trails, relating to his mental health about his wife and also finishing the job he has to do for the business man. He is somewhat addicted to dreaming because this is where he can spend time with his wife as if she was alive again. He fails some of the tests and is forced to improvise through out the mission. He fails to kill the projection of his wife once she starts sabotaging the plan entirely.

"...the person must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate power in his or her life." "This is the center point of the journey." The center point for Cobb took place when he had to finally confront his wife's projection and tell himself that she is not real, and that he is not in a dream.

Cobb awakens out of all three dreams and this is where he experiences the bliss of being "crazy dead wife" free and of accomplishing the mission.

Return
Cobb returns home to his children and finally achieved what he wanted out of this adventure .like the Hero's Journey predicts, he lives happily ever after.