Starring:    Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy

Directed:    Christopher Nolan

The statement that can only really sum up this movie after my first viewing is, “what the hell?”.  Batman helmer Christopher Nolan’s vision of a dreamscape and reality in which ideas are stolen for nefarious use by others is a stunning vision that really begs the question as to where do movies go from here.

In a summer dominated by remakes and rehashes, Inception is a movie that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go for the running time and will definitely garner repeated viewings in order to figure out the complex and multi layered plot.

And as for the plot, I will humbly make an attempt to explain it. Dom Cobb, played by the ever improving Leonardo Di Caprio, is a man who steals idea’s from people’s minds for a living and lives a barren lifestyle where he is constantly moving and never staying in one place for more than a day. Along with his partner Arthur, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, they cross the globe extracting these ideas for money. 

When he is given the chance to return home to America and see his family, Cobb realises that there is a catch. He must use his skills to implant an idea in someone’s mind as opposed to steal it, and and realises that this last job, may be the most dangerous one he has ever undertaken.

Director Nolan’s superb vision brings peoples minds to life and with a brilliant support cast that includes Ellen Page, Tom Hardy and even Cillian Murphy as the central pawn in this game this is a brilliantly realises movie that will engage you as a viewer as you try to make sense of what is happening on screen.

Having already given us the brilliant Memento and two wonderful Batman’s installments, Nolan’s star is definitely in the stratosphere and shows us just why he is one of the most exciting directors in years.

The man on whose shoulders the whole movie rests, Di Caprio, goes from strength to strength with another powerhouse performance and you can really see why critics are calling him the new De Niro or Pacino.  He shows maturity beyond his years in this role and has an amazing ability to take a script and make it his own to such an extent that you really believe in his pain and confusion in this movie.

If this is Nolan only filling a gap until the next Batman, I am salivating at the thought of what the next Caped Crusader outing will be like.

A truly wonderful movie and a benchmark for a cynical Hollywood.

If there were six stars I would give them.

5/5