The Dream Is Real.

Rating: 7/10 (21 July 2010)

Christopher Nolan returns with Inception, the definitive summer blockbuster of the year that stands heads and shoulders above it's competition consisting of adaptations, remakes and sequels full of mindless action. With this highly intellectual film, he has once again challenged the average movie-goer by starting off with a mind-bogging and profound concept of dreams and reality, with a spectacular heist going under way, while we follow the emotional journey of the protagonist.
Inception tells the story of Dom Cobb, who is a skilled thief in the art of Extraction; stealing the darkest secrets of a person through his or her subconsciousness, or in other words, dreams. After becoming a fugitive, he is offered a chance back into his old life, but only if he can perform what is known to be impossible; the act of planting an idea into someone's mind, known as Inception. Cobb assembles a team as they prepare for a mission into the mind so dangerous that may cost them the ability to distinguish dreams from reality forever.
DiCaprio is flawless here. As Cobb, he sparks off the presence of a true expert in his field, but as the story digs deeper into him we see a conflicted man haunted by his own obsessions. Leo's star-studded co- stars threatened to steal the show, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy providing comic relief in an intriguing rivalry, and Ellen Page as the enthusiastic student who is introduced to dream sharing for the first time.
All the tricks and trademarks of Nolan that we have come to know and love are evident here, from the first scene that teases us of what's to come, to that last scene that will have us re-examine ourselves, and on these message boards, possibly years of debate. Here, Nolan combines some of the greatest aspects of his past films; from the puzzle-solving quest in Memento to the brilliantly thought out heist plans and action sequences in the Batman movies, while he masterfully unfolds the secrets of Cobb one layer at a time. Visually he succeeds in capturing the feel of dreams with scene cuts, incoherent objects and physics-defying feats. However, with Nolan being a technical film director more fond of practical methods, it leaves one thinking if this film could have been more visually spectacular had there been more use of CGI of the highest standards.
On top of being one of the few original films out there with a bold and exciting concept, Inception's greatest triumph comes in it's ability to tease the audience with more questions raised than answers given throughout the film. Even if Nolan himself denies it, there is no doubt that Inception is toying with it's audience, hinting at different takes and theories to the film throughout. But that is exactly why we will love this movie, for it sets us uncontrollably debating over the ambiguities and paradoxes that perhaps will never have a definitive answer, and question ourselves on the true meaning of the film. In an era where the typical summer action film so often contains so little depth, this is probably exactly what we need.