Inception (2010) M

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Ellen Page

KJ did a great review of this film so I am not going to go into it too much except to agree it is a sophisticated movie with a complex and layered plot. Once you see it you will understand what I mean by 'layered'.

The opening scene does what it should, gets you involved, starts you wondering and then you're hooked and just need to hold on until the end. The plot unfolds in a natural fashion so each revelation layers on the last building our understanding of the world and the characters. I didn't get lost and yet the dialogue doesn't spoon feed you the whole time laying out what is happening so you do have to stay with it but I found little difficulty even though the film was close to 2 1/2 hours in length.

The characters are strong and well rounded, especially Dom (Leonardo DiCaprio), his goals and motivations are clear and drive him which makes his actions believable. A slew of fantastic actors - I just love Cillian Murphy, he is one of those actors that should be in more movies -all give solid performances and the plot gives enough breaks for you to catch your breath before the next onslaught of action.

The plot itself is a well crafted piece of storytelling that is refreshing in its originality. The director did a good job of bringing it out visually and whilst you suspect you are watching a futuristic movie, all the locations are - for the most - realistic and contemporary. This makes it feel like there are very little effects used to get the story across and the story is the winner because of it.

My only complaint: a few times it was difficult to hear the dialogue clearly and I have never had that problem in a theatre before; DVD yes, theatre no. It was only a few times and didn't stop me understanding the movie but still I thought to mention it for those aurally impaired. I have a friend who is deaf in one ear and he would have found this movie frustrating in parts. KJ said he did not notice this as a problem. To make matters worse I had an idiot two seats from me that liked to pre-empt the plot and tell his partner what he thought was about to happen. Grrr...I ended up moving.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and it has gone to the top of my list for 2010.

9/10 - Kim