Films: Inception (2010)

Dir: Christopher Nolan

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy

The tagline simply reads, 'Your Mind is the Scene of the Crime.' That's slightly cheesy, but it will be the only negative point in this review. This is Chris Nolan at his finest. Does he want me to sleep well tonight? No. He wants me to dream about levels and limbo and projections and extractions. Lemme 'splain...

The rundown: Dom Cobb (Di Caprio) is a super specialist in the field of 'subconscious security.' He is able to take a 'mark' into a communal dream, and steal important information from their mind at its most vulnerable. Cobb is a vigilante, battling the demons of a marriage ended in tragedy and his exile from the USA and life with his children. On the verge of breakdown, a voracious Chinese business man, Saito, offers Cobb his most thrilling and complicated job yet; to reverse the art of extraction and instead perform 'Inception' - plant an idea into someone's mind. The mark is Robert Fischer Jr, heir to a multimillion pound energy corporation. The idea is that he should dissolve his father's business. Cobb assembles his team - I love a good ensemble movie! - and they delve 4 levels into Fischer's subconscious. Phew. Still with me?

Can we go back to the ensemble for a minute? Only, I'm mad for a good ensemble, and this is one of the most diverse, exciting and engaging I've seen! Leonardo DiCaprio is brooding, angry and intelligent as the tortured Cobb. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Cobb's pointman, Arthur, who is stable, calm and totally kick-ass at anti-gravity fighting. Yes. Ellen Page comes in as the newbie dreamscape architect, Ariadne. She is innocent and inventive, and she makes the viewer, as they sweat in their seat desperately trying to keep up, feel a little less like a lost sheep - she asks all the same questions! My favourite member of the crew (no points for guessing exactly why...) is Eames, the forger, played by the delightfully charming Tom Hardy. He has great screen presence and fantastic chemistry with all of the cast members - a bit of light comic relief but still in an intense sci-fi thriller kind of way! Watanabe is excellent as the ruthless Saito, who you are desperate to dislike but end up feeling incredibly sorry for!

I can't go any further without mentioning how brilliant Cillian Murphy is as Fischer, who wants so desperately to impress his dying father. Also, Marion Cotillard is sensational as Cobb's powerful and vulnerable wife, Mol. Can I stop for breath now?

*breathes*

This film is amazing. It glides so perfectly from deeply intense and emotional scenes to huge action sequences where stuff blows up and the world literally turns upside down. Shot across 6 different countries, we are transported from a blazing Morroccon street riot to the snow covered mountains of Calgary and an elaborate palace in China. And it's not just the location that changes, but the time in which the story plays out. It is never too hard to follow when we are in the dream world or reality, though, (that is, if the film ever really does show us reality...) and we are given helpful hints (or are they?) which indicate when the characters are in the sleeping or waking world.

I could go on for hours about the flawless visual effects and the dramatic landscapes. I could rave about how everything in the notion of dream extraction and inception completely resonates with real life - kick theory, projections, subconscious ideas and more. But now I'm just regurgitating jargon that you will not understand unless you have seen it.

Let me say one more thing. I hate the idea that people are brainwashed by the grandeur of a project, or the reputation of cult director. I am very wary that everything about a film like this is saying, "like me, love me, I'm everything you need in a film, because I am me..." I went without rose-tinted spectacles on. I came out with a slight headache and a stupid grin. This film is everything we need in a film. It is brilliant.

Wonder what I'll dream about tonight?

My rating: ***** 5/5 stars, duh!

Recommendation: Seriously? Please love this film as much as me. Please don't make me look a fool. Enjoy.