The ultimate mind-f**k movie? Dream on.

Rating: 5/10 (4 April 2011)

At what point does a film become too complicated for its own good? In the case of Inception, almost immediately: in a bid to make the ultimate 'mind-f**k' movie, writer/director Christopher Nolan starts his film at 'bloody confusing' and, over the course of 148 excruciatingly drawn-out minutes, works his way up to 'completely and utterly unfathomable' before leaving the film on a predictably ambiguous note (thus allowing endless discussion on movie forums).
Along the way, Nolan introduces many an intriguing idea, but the ones that haven't been nicked from far better movies (eXistenZ, Vanilla Sky, The Matrix, Dark City, Cypher) are so half-baked that the film inevitably becomes a frustrating mess of contradiction and contrivance which conjures up an endless stream of questions (see IMDb's FAQs), none of which seem to have any satisfying answers (despite the best efforts of Nolan's rabid fan-boys).
Lost in Inception's labyrinthine plot, all I could do was sit back and marvel at the special effects—which are undeniably impressive—whilst asking myself repeatedly how Ariadne (Ellen Page) became such a great architect despite no actual work experience, and whether such a pretty young woman would really be happy to be sedated in a grubby warehouse by a group of suspicious looking strangers. Somehow, I doubt it.
5 out of 10 for its jaw-dropping effects (in particular, the awesome gravity-defying fight scene), and I reckon that's being generous.