A Spectacular Mind-Bending Surreal Experience

Rating: 10/10 (19 July 2010)

Inception is a viscerally breathtaking, emotionally engaging, thought provoking, preposterous but at the same time ingenious creation from the mind of one of the most creative, talented and amazing directors existing today, Christopher Nolan, who has also directed other great movies such as "The Dark Knight", "Batman Begins", "The Prestige" and "Memento". It is an impenetrable, lucid and psychologically complex investigation into the various layers of the sub-conscious dream state, combined with some amazing, fascinating and spectacular action set-pieces with superb special effects. The multi-layered labyrinthine plot may be too obscure to comprehend at the first viewing and requires subsequent multiple viewings with great concentration to fully grasp and decipher this engaging, bold, complicated and often intentionally ambiguous plot. The Cast and their performances are superb, spearheaded once again by Leonardo Di Caprio who is fast transforming into one of the greatest actors of this generation, aptly supported by Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cottilard, Ken Watanabe & Dileep Rao. Also, brilliant cameo performances by Michael Caine & Tom Berenger helps to transcend this captivating movie into greater heights. The superb cinematography by Wally Pfitser and the sublime music by Hans Zimmer is spot on and blends nicely with the overall feel and atmosphere of this movie, adding to the spectacle. I don't want to go into the specifics of the plot for its best to watch this movie with absolutely no idea about it, the way Nolan wanted it to be. Still the basic outline consists of this: Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a master thief with a shady past who specializes in breaking into people's dreams and stealing their ideas, is given an opportunity by a mysterious businessman Saito (Ken Watanabe) to redeem everything he's ever done, and in the process reunite with the children he left in the U.S. when he was forced for shady reasons to flee the country. Saito's offer includes completing an impossible mission, for which Cobb must assemble the best team ever compiled for such a mission. Saito's particular offer involves planting an idea in the head of the heir (Cillian Murphy) of his greatest rival (Pete Postelthwaite), a process called "inception". The rest of the movie is up to the audience to watch, grasp, enjoy and interpret, especially the conclusion which is one of the most interesting, innovative and original "open to interpretation" ending that is sure to keep many viewers mesmerized and bewildered for days and weeks after the initial viewing. Finally, In a nutshell, this without a shadow of a doubt is the greatest achievement in movie-making in the year 2010 and it firmly deserves all the accolades, plaudits and honours it will receive in the future. Definitely a must watch for movie buffs, this future "Oscar contender" will most certainly provide all the audiences with a "Riveting, once in a lifetime, roller coaster ride" experience that must not be missed for anything else in the world.