An Exhilarating, Riveting, Mind Blowing Thrill Ride.

Rating: 10/10 (23 July 2010)

Last night I was invited to the cinema to see Inception. I was very excited to see this as I am a huge Christopher Nolan fan and I consider Momento to be one of the best films of the last decade. I was amazed by his vision of Gotham City in Batman Begins and the Dark Knight which I also adored. I also found The Prestiege to be a very entertaining film. This, along with Toy Story 3 would be one of my must see films of the year as the trailer was simply amazing. I saw the film and I was blown away.
The plot is very complex, but I will try and lay it out without giving away too many spoilers. Decaprio plays Cob who can enter peoples dreams and get their secrets. He and his partner Arthur, portrayed wonderfully by Joseph Gorden Lovett, are offered a job which could help Dicaprio get home to his children and no longer be wanted by the law. As the film goes on we discover more about why Cob is being chased and we find out more about his past with his wife and children. Ellen Page who is the latest recruit of the team suspects that Cobbs disturbing memories of his wife may effect this certain job which is going into, which involves entering the mind of Cillian Murphy.
The special effects in this film are jaw dropping. You can really tell that a lot of time and effort have been put in to this dream world. They have to be some of the best special effects I have ever seen. It shows how Nolan thinks that IMAX is the best in cinema at the moment and not 3D. Although I don't have any problems with 3D, I am glad that Nolan kept the film in 2D.
The performances by the cast are superb. Decaprio is very good and I was impressed with Tom Hardy. Everyone is putting in 100% in their performance. But one actor shines above the rest and it is the performance by Joseph Gorden Lovett. He is fantastic and when he shares the screen with Dicaprio, he clearly holds the viewers attention. I hope other critics and viewers recognise this and he gets the recognition he deserves. I was also impressed with Ellen Paige, who seems to be growing into a great young actress. It is performance like this and her role in Hard Candy that are giving her this reputation of being one of the best young actresses in Hollywood at the moment.
This is the must see film of the year by a clear mile. It has fantastic chase sequences, a complex yet clever plot and some brilliant performances. I must have spent 90% of the film on the edge of my seat. One scene in which Arthur is having a fight with some men, who are projections in Cillian Murphys mind had me holding my breath. The tension was brilliant and the room turning round in different directions just added to the awe of the moment. In fact that is how I spent most of the film. In awe.
It is clear that Nolan has put a lot of thought into Inception, as he does more then just show off some fancy effects. He makes the audience engage with humans in the film without the actors being upstaged by the impressive special effects. The film seems to share with Memento the theme of the human mind. It is clear that Nolan has much to say about how the mind works and how the mind affects, not just the characters in his films, but the audiences watching the films. If anyone benefits from this film, it will be Nolan by making his name as one of Hollywoods best directors in the business at the moment. He was the king of the art house cinema with Memento. He showed us how he can make a comic book adaptation into a truly unforgettable and stunning piece of cinema with the last two Batman films. Now he has made another Momento, with a much bigger budget.
A step above the Dark Knight, although on a par with Memnto, Christopher Nolan is becoming more then just a well known director. He is becoming a visionary who is showing cinema goers that blockbusters can be smart, action packed and entertaining without having a ton of explosions every five minutes( Transformer Revenge Of The Fallen ). I hope the film gets the credit it deserves and that the audience and critics enjoy it as much as I did. It will be interesting to see what Nolan does after the third Batman film as he is creating a reputation for himself as being the man who has given the summer blockbuster a brain.