Review: Inception

There are few films that can appeal to a wide range of film audiences, both the casual blockbuster kids and the hoity toity cinephiles, but Christopher Nolan's 'Inception' has done just that. This 2010 follow up to 'The Dark Knight' is something of a modern masterpiece and a cultural phenomenon.

The film is set in a world where it is possible to enter peoples dreams and steal their ideas, in the hands of another director, this plot wouldn't be taken as seriously (in the hands of Uwe Boll it would've been horrendous), but Nolan creates a serious realistic world, the only over the top action sequences occur in the dream world. The plot itself is something complex, which is what appeals to the arthouse audiences, the idea being that there're several layers of dreams and inception (implanting an idea in someone) can only occur in the lowest level, therefore the dreamer believes that the idea is deeply his. The plot follows Dom Cobb and his team of experts trying to carry out inception, the dream world and limbo (a world if uncontrolled dream space) carry certain conotations of a religious afterlife, again appealing to the arthouse audience. This proves Inception to be an intelligent story arc, along with a roaring action film.

Because there are dream worlds, this permits the characters to engage in gun battles, car chases and to blow shit up (from a hotel to a mountain army base). The action sequences are well built up and don't take up too much of the film as to not deter from the plot, the scale of the sequences are mind-blowing and are a way of cementing Nolan as the best action director (move over Cameron). To counteract the action we have a nice mixture of wry dialogue (an example being the verbal barrages of Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon Levitt) and heart wrenching drama as Cobb is portrayed as a man still hurt by the loss of his wife as it manifests into his criminal career. Both the action and drama are well set with Hans Zimmer's amazing score which captivates the audience into the action.

The performances are pleasing, Leonardo Dicaprio as Cobb is possibly one of his best performances, mere facial expressions and tones of voice convey grief, sadness, anger and purpose, something is not easy for any actor. Other performances are simply standard as Levitt and Ellen Page give decent enough goes, although are outshined by Leo, the only other noticable performance is Tom Hardy as the smart mouthed Evees, who always has something depricating to say, making him memorable.

With a complex plotline and powerful drama mixed with edge of your seat action, Inception is a film that appeals to all mediums of audiences, something directors can only dream of (not trying to be funny), this is a film that will leave puzzled, thrilled and exhilerated, I know the decade just about began, but no one would blame me if I named this film of the decade.