Review: Inception

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Jospeh Gorden-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine

Release Date: July 16, 2010

4/4

Christopher Nolan, director of The Dark Knight, returns to the realm of the summer blockbuster with his latest film Inception. Inception is a sci-fi suspense thriller with a brilliant cast and intricate plotline. The storyline is strangely imaginative, yet leaves the audience on the edge of their seats, waiting for the next mind-blowing twist and pieces of cinematic eye candy.

Cobb (DiCaprio) and his crew members consisting of Ariadne (Ellen Page) and Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) enter the dreams of Robert Fischer Jr. (Cillian Murphy) to understand his psyche and plant new ideas in his subconscious. They soon realize the potential dangers of these forms of “dream hacking” known as extraction and inception, which carries dire consequences should their plan fail.

Due to the strange and avant-garde nature of the film, however, Inception is difficult to follow at times and the multiple layers of dreams that the characters work their way through can be confusing. Frustratingly, the viewer is continually trying to distinguish between what is real and what is not – but this is the film’s best quality. The characters and plot twists toy with the audience’s mind throughout and by the end of the film, several interpretations are possible, each one as fascinating and as puzzling as the last.

Far surpassing the lacklustre quality of most summer blockbusters by producing a thought-provoking, action-packed thriller, Inception lives up to the hype it has garnered over the past few months.