Inception

I've finally watched probably one of the most hyped films of last year. I'm thrilled to say that it in no way let me down. Christopher Nolan's film follows a team lead by Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) who work within people's dreams to gain information from them. The film really kicks off when Saito (Ken Watanabe) asks Cobb to plant a thought (to incept) in the mind of an energy tycoon heir Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy). However, as the team goes deeper into the subconcious of Fischer, the thoughts of Cobb become ever more entwined.

I don't really want to talk much about the plot, in case there are others who haven't seen Inception either, but I loved the originality of the idea and the fact that you really had to listen; but there was still plenty of action. I'd admit that sometimes watching people explain how the 'dream within a dream' got a little boring, but it was all key to your ultimate understanding of the film. It seems to me quite suprising that Inception got such little recognition from the awards committees-especially in regards to Christopher Nolan not even gaining a nomination at the Academy Awards (I now think him or David Fincher were superior to Tom Hooper's direction), when good direction is why the film never drags, or gets overly complicated.

The performances help this as well. The ensemble cast are uniformly great. Leonardo diCaprio does seem to be bringing an awful lot of his performance in Shutter Island with him to Cobb, but it works. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy both offer strong support, and Ellen Page proves that she can do more than just Juno (although I haven't seen Hard Candy, so I'm sure she's proved it before). Plus, as always, Marion Cottilard is wonderful as Mal.

If you haven't seen Inception yet, I really urge you too. It's a great film, and not as overly complicated as some people have made out (although the ending is a bit...interesting).