This is your first lesson in shared dreaming. Stay calm.

Rating: 9/10 (7 April 2011)

Inception is written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Dileep Rao, Tom Berenger, and Michael Caine. The musical score is by Hans Zimmer and Wally Pfister is the cinematographer. Plot finds DiCaprio playing Dom Cobb, a specialised spy for hire who steals ideas from the dreams of people. But one day he gets a different offer, one that will enable him to see his estranged children. To get his reward he must enact Inception, the planting of an idea in the mind of the selected target. But Inception is thought impossible and should Cobb and his selected team fail? The consequences are unthinkable.
There has already been much written and pondered about as regards Inception in the relatively short running time of its life. One can only imagine what will be written and said about it in ten years time. For although it's arguably a bit too early to be talking about it being held in such high regards as the likes of 2001: A Space Odyssey, it's inescapable that Nolan's movie is this current generation's sci-fi classic. That Nolan has managed to make it accessible to the mainstream, and dazzled the eyes as much as the brain in the process, is close to being a piece of genius craftsmanship.
Inception is a film that it's better to know nothing about before venturing into it, and then it asks, well Nolan asks, for your undivided attention. It's neither as confusing as some have painted it, nor does it have any tricks-peek behind the curtain type-up its sleeve. The truth is is that Inception has something for everyone; thematically speaking, and that's before we pore over the special effects that sees Nolan raising the bar considerably. As is the case with twisty high concept movies, interpretations are many, with the director rightly abstaining from discourse about his movie. What forms the basis is your basic life and death struggles, with the grey areas during and after given a clever cinematic make over. There's also meditations on grief that this reviewer personally found easy to get involved with; that of course wont work for everyone, but that is just one of many strands that Nolan dangles for the discerning viewer.
If that all sounds a bit too serious for the man who has redefined the Super Hero genre, rest assured thrill seekers, Inception is also a loud swirly spectacle. The action is raucous, be it gun fights or zero gravity punch ups, Nolan has not lost the ability to take the viewer on an action fuelled roller-coaster ride, aided superbly by Lee Smith's editing and Pfister's perfectly broad photography While Zimmer's score blends electronic action pulse beats with saddened guitar strains (ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr on 12 string) to craft one of the best scores of 2010. As I said, there's something for everyone here, making it perhaps one of the leading nominees for title of ultimate modern day blockbuster.
Then there's the strong ensemble cast, led by a quite scintillating performance from DiCaprio. Following on from his cards played close to his chest turn in Shutter Island, DiCaprio has given 2010 two of its best lead performances. Here he gives real depth of emotion, the kind that makes it easy for the viewers to hang their hats on. His unfussy acting is easy to buy into, giving the character the air of believability, he is the glue that binds the whole film together. Murphy is wonderfully vulnerable, very much an axis in the narrative, while Levitt almost usurps DiCaprio with a neatly layered portrayal that carries a delightful whiff of duality about it. Special praise, too, for Ellen Page. Still in her early 20s, she exudes an intelligent sexiness that shines bright in a role that could have been boorishly played as a cipher in a lesser actress' hands. While Hardy provides brawny levity and Berenger leaves a favourable mark.
The Matrix meets Heat and Mission Impossible, only it's written by Phillip K. Dick and Richard Matheson; or something like that. A cracking hybrid movie that's fit to grace any summer and sure to improve and enlighten with further viewings. 9.5/10