Did anybody else find the character motivations a little vague? Eames, Ariadne, and Yusef in particular. Was there a discussion about how much everyone is going to get paid that I missed or could this be a clue...
They don't have a particular sum. Obviously Cobb does it so he can go home. The other guys clearly seem to be in it for money, which one can assume would be substantial since Saito is someone who can just buy airlines on a whim (great line that was). Money's been good enough for every other heist film. Ariadne seems to be in it for the sheer wonder. The architect's mind in being able to craft all these things she couldn't in the real world was quite a bonus (one assumes she could use the money as well). And of course they are all in too deep before they realize the stakes.
Shutter island spoilers: Is it possible that the twist in Inception is the same as Shutter Island, i.e. every character besides Cobb (and I guess Mal) is an actor in an elaborate ruse to snap Cobb out of his own delusions (or in this case, dreams)?
It seems possible that the attempt at inception was actually directed at Cobb. I mean, if they are actually in Fischer's dream with Ariadne as the architect, why do they get into Cobb's dream at the fourth level?
Speaking of which. After the set up of the "maze", I did feel a little let down that we don't much get to see one in action. Admittedly they have to short-cut it based on time at least on the third level.