Inception – Theatrical Review

Distributor: Warner Bros.

UK Release Date: 16th July 2010

Certificate: 12A

Running Time: 148 Minutes

Director: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Ken Waranabe

Well Nolan returns after his huge hit The Dark Knight and lets face it, it was only a huge hit because people now are overly obsessed with celebrity, so to have a celebrity that dies under suspicious circumstances just before your film is released, guarantees a hit.

On to Inception which before we start has to be one of the best films of 2010 so far.  You might be forgiven for thinking it has to be totally original to earn that title…. it’s not, in fact you’ll get that strange feeling of dejavue and you’ll wonder to yourself where have you seen these aspects before?

Inception follows Cobb (DiCaprio) and his team of urrr dream invaders as they try to convince a ‘mark’ (Murphy) that his father wants him to disolve his company and become his own man upon his fathers passing.  This isn’t what the man wants but if Cobb ever wants to return to his children again he must pull together a team who could pull off the concept of Inception.

Making a person believe in something that isn’t true while they’re in a dream state, simple you’d think but the idea has to be originally thought up by the mark, if it comes from an external source the sub concious that they’re invading could attack the team and because of the risk of inception that could result in the deaths of those involved.

It’s not as complicated as it sounds and the film itself is easy to follow as the main content is basically the Matrix meets Oceans 11 and the opening is basically a rehash of Tiime Cop except in the dream world instead of skipping through time, they’re skipping through someone’s dreams to get information.

The Dejavue can be forgiven though as clever writing, a director with vision and a cast that’ll go down on you and make you spurt within 20 seconds all work to make you flustered by the time the credits start rolling.

Inception is stunning in visual style and if you’re in the IMAX, you’ll find your gaze shifting around the screen to take in all of the effects as explosions scatter and fill the screen.  As Arthur (Gordon-Levitt) fights in zero gravity, in what must be one of the most complex wire work stunts to adorn the cinema screen.  Truly stunning in most aspects.

I'm sure they could walk on water if they wanted... ooo Blasphemous!

That’s without mention the acting style of DiCaprio as the tortured Cobb whose guilt keeps seeping into the teams dreamscapes and could end up killing them all. Ariadne (Paige) is the newbie to the team, fresh out of college she learns things she never knew about the human mind and becomes a remarkable architect, happy to take risks but upon finding out Cobbs secret, she becomes concerned for the task at hand.

Then there’s Marion Cotillard, if ever I see her name attached to something I have to go and see it.  She was the sexiest thing in NINE and in this she brings an air of femme fatale to the role.  Superb, one day she’s going to be given a role that will be remembered for years to come… She is truly awesomeness in a sexy little bundle.

(Possible Minor Spoiler)

I followed the film with great ease until the closing scenes, for me that fell like someone said “We need a curve ball” and it’s a curve ball because to me it just doesn’t make sense… the final scene did but leading to that with the old man, it just seemed like it was put there to cause discussion when the closing shot would have done that perfectly fine on its own.

Highly recommended! Go and see it!