FILM SPOT - Inception (2010)

I have rarely come out of a film feeling that, somehow, I have seen something totally new. Reality has changed, my friends. Inception is special, VERY special. Whoever claims it is derivative or some sort of rip off of The Matrix and that they have seen it before are, quite frankly, total fucking idiots. This is mainly because this film has more thought, more complexity than The Matrix and its painfully dull sequels. This, and it pulls it off. It also doesn't feel the need to solve its problems with a gimmicky special effect. It takes perhaps maybe twenty minutes before you realize you are watching a masterpiece. You probably think I'm overdoing it, and a number of you maybe were not as impressed as I was, but this is my review so for these purposes, you smell.

Dreams tend to be complicated affairs in films; they are rarely exciting to watch, usually they are long rambling affairs, and are used to talk about the subconscious of the main character. The latter is true of this film, but everything else is not. The film's plot is far from easily explained, but in a way, that's the joy of it. So much of the film cannot simply be explained in a paragraph, and it needs - nay demands - repeated viewings just so that the viewer can expand their mind and absorb Christopher Nolan's film in its entirety. The first viewing is mindblowing, almost overwhelming. The film revolves around a man called Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) who specializes in a specific type of corporate espionage - the theft of thoughts. Cobb finds himself given a challenge by a slightly shady businessman, Saito (Ken Watanabe) in which if he can plant a though in the head of a business rival, Saito will arrange for Cobb to be able to return home to his family. The process, called Inception, has never been done before and for good reason; it is highly dangerous, but Cobb will risk everything to get home. Now, this may seem a little spoiler-y to you, but believe me, it is not.

Seriously, how the f**k are they doing this?

The storytelling is superlative. Nolan obviously thought long and hard as to how his story worked, and makes it work. Better than making it work, he makes it almost easy to understand - you swallow the complex ideas the film puts across because it can't make sense any other way. The film makes a feature out of the fact that, yes, you know you are lost but the labyrinth in front of you is exquisitely created and it never feels bogged down or too difficult to understand. Visually, it's also fantastic. CG or mechanical, the effects are mind-boggling. The illusion worlds created are staggering things. Not that the real ones are not of course, the whole thing looks great. The dreamworlds defy environment, physics, gravity, dimension...it's all extraordinary in its detail and how it is manipulated by the characters in the film.

Speaking of the characters, the fascinating thing here is just how many of the characters are fully fleshed out. Leonardo Dicaprio is of course, brilliant. It's one hell of a large film he has to support, and he supports it admirably. Amongst the supporting cast, things are similarly satisfying. Stand-outs are Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who on paper should have one-dimensional roles but somehow imbue their characters with warmth and believability. Tom Hardy is also exceptionally good as the 'undercover' man, but the big surprise is Cillian Murphy. Cillian Murphy, who usually plays the creepy weird looking guy in every other film he is in, demonstrates with Inception an extraordinary humanity and tenderness that just manages to make the film that bit more personal. I am perplexed by those who claim Inception lacks emotional warmth; emotion is the lynchpin of the whole story. Cobb's long dead wife, Mal, an enigmatic Marion Cotillard, is Cobb's personal emotional risk and the one person who could bring everything crashing down. Again, we see the relationship between Robert Fischer (Murphy) and a loved one becoming hugely important. No emotion? The film is mounted on it. Guilt, love, desire, redemption. It's all here.

It's like being in a micromachines set. In a good way.

The action is outrageous, and I mean that in a good way. You will rarely if ever watch another film in which you will sit open-mouthed at the sheer audacity of what the film has just unleashed upon you. Tense, multi-layered set pieces are the order of the day here, and what an order they are. It's all so beautifully shot by Wally Pfister, a man with whom Christopher Nolan has worked for several films now, and this is probably the most spectacular shooting work they have done together.

I can't talk about the fine detail, as this will ruin too much for you. Let me just say however, that everything else is in the shade. Predators, Shrek...meh to them all. They were fine, but after watching Inception it become obvious who here had the real ambition, who was really trying to create something powerful and beautiful. I'm also going to say that if Jim Cameron really wants to change cinema, he needs to do more than just create rather splendiferous looking 3D worlds. What he needs to do is look at what Christopher Nolan has achieved and realize just what can be done. This is a true masterpiece, and apart from Toy Story 3, everything else will just seem anemic. Unbelievable cinema. Prepare to be astonished.