Inception

Rating: 8/10 (11 August 2010)

Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are thieves of a very special kind. They can journey into a person's dream and steal secrets from their mind whilst their target sleeps. The reversal of this technique, the Inception - whereby you plant an idea so far into a person's psyche they believe it was their own creation - is thought to be near impossible. But when Cobb is offered a chance to finally go home, the task becomes more tempting...
"Inception" proves beyond a doubt that one of the greatest living film directors of our age is Christopher Nolan. Very rarely in his movies does he seem to put a foot wrong, from "Memento" (2000) through one of my personal favourites, "Insomnia" (2002) and the first two films of his Batman trilogy. With "Inception" we also have the proof that, if you give an outstanding filmmaker a seemingly unlimited budget, wonderful things can happen.
You really, really have to pay attention in this film - when you do you are rewarded tenfold; for length, talky psychological conversations about dreams and our own minds are counter-balanced deliciously by brilliantly shot action set-pieces, be they city car chases in the rain or a Bond-esquire snow covered mountain espionage shoot-'em-up. Towards the end of the film these do seem slightly stretched, but it is to Nolan's credit that they are quickly redeemed by intelligent scriptwriting and brilliant performances.
Though he may be the headline act, DiCaprio is nowhere without his crew. He plays the emotionally compromised Cobb wonderfully, his own sanity and the safety of his team endangered by his obsession with his dead wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard), who is arguably the villain of the piece. But at times his performance seems workmanlike - these are the kinds of roles we know he can play and play them well. It's time perhaps to see something more dangerous, the DiCaprio we witness in "Blood Diamond" (2006) for example.
Thankfully, this truly seems a team effort, for the different members of his team are given plenty to do. As well as Gordon-Levitt's no-nonsense right hand man, there's a brilliant scene-stealing performance from Tom Hardy, gaining a lot of laughs as Eames the "forger". Ellen Page is given another satisfying role for her talents, though perhaps stands out a little more than the others due to her mainly indie credentials. Time will tell to see if these are the type of films she should be performing in.
The special effects and stunt work are extraordinary. One scene in particular, where Gordon-Levitt has to navigate around a hotel corridor floating in mid-air, is believably achieved as well as the weightless scenes in "Apollo 13" (1995) for example. The music, a thundering score by Hans Zimmer, works well with the images, as does a surprising inclusion of a Edith Piaf classic.
You aren't really aware of how much time you've spent watching this film until right near the end, during the aforementioned moments where you half-wonder if the film is ever going to reach a conclusion at all. This is something of a trend of Nolan's films - brilliant as they are, they never quite seem to know when to end exactly. When "Inception" does finish, however, it comes with a delicious moment of teasing, leaving the audience gasping, laughing or expelling with frustration, and more than making up for this slight blip.
"Inception" is probably one of the best films you will see this summer. What makes it even more amazing is that, once more, Nolan has delivered an intelligent blockbuster to cinema screens, just as he did with "The Dark Knight" (2008). His next film is reported to be the final part of his Batman trilogy; though to be perfectly honest, it could just as well be a small low-budget indie rom-com - this reviewer would still look forward to it with immense anticipation. Great stuff.
8/10