Dom Cobb is a man possessing an extraordinary talent - he's able to break into people's mind when they are dreaming and steal valuable secrets from inside their subconcious mind, all without the dreamer realising it's happening. However, he is approached by an energy mogul who wants something a little bit different. He wants Cobb and his team to do the opposite of extraction - inception. He wants Cobb to plant an idea in the son of his rival in order to obtain his main goal, but this is something that is extremely hard to do, even for someone of Cobb's talents. He sets about assembling the team he's going to need for this specialist job, and it'll be the perfect crime, with no-one except them knowing what's gone on. However, Cobb doesn't realise that there is an enemy on his tail that knows his every move before he's even made them, someone he should have realised would know what he's doing. Will Cobb and the team be able to achieve their Inception before the unseen enemy brings them down?

This is a film that has been on my radar for a long time now, and the more reviews and things I read online about it, the more I couldn't quite wait to see it! I couldn't believe my luck when it appeared on the Sky Movies channels before my free trial ended and I eagerly sat down to watch it. I was a little bit worried because a few people, including my mum, had told me it was a bit confusing and they didn't really get it, and since I still struggle with understanding Ocean's Eleven, I wasn't holding out much hope for this. However, now it's done I have to say it's probably the second best film I've seen this year (after the final Harry Potter of course!), and it's definitely one I will be adding to my DVD collection, I loved every minute of it.

The cast were what made this film absolutely fantastic. Leonardo DiCaprio heads up the cast as Dom Cobb, a dream specialist who is able to steal thoughts from people's dreams. He is so watchable on screen, really putting himself through the mill emotionally, but really gives everything to the character and the performance. You can see Cobb is a bit of a lost soul, still struggling with the suicide of his wife Mal, and having to be apart from his young children, and DiCaprio does a fantastic job in making the viewer feel this along with him. He had absolute control over the entire film and leads it perfectly, I couldn't think of anyone else doing such a great job. I have to say he worked perfectly on-screen with Joseph Gordon-Levitt who played Cobb's partner Arthur. He is very charismatic, and is a great antithesis to Cobb's flyaway attitidue sometimes, grounding him yet their friendship is definitely paramount. I really liked Arthur, and although I haven't seen Gordon-Levitt in anything before, he's definitely one to watch throughout this film.

A surprise inclusion to the cast for me was Ellen Page as young architecture student Ariadne who is recruited by Cobb to create the dream levels in which the team will carry out their tasks. I've only ever seen Page in Juno, the film about teenage pregnancy so didn't really know what to expect from her in this movie, but she does a great job alongside some film heavyweights like DiCaprio, Watanabe and Michael Caine. Her character, Ariadne, was also very likeable and I enjoyed watching her interactions with Cobb and Arthur. Ken Watanabe plays Saito, the energy boss who wants to put Inception into play, and he, as ever, puts on a superb performance, never letting his cool facade slip. Cillian Murphy is also fanastic as Robert Fischer, the man whose dreams are being manipulated by Saito and his team of employees, and I felt Murphy did a really good job with Fischer's emotional state and conveying it to the viewers. Finally, I must mention Marion Cotillard who played Cobb's wife Mal, although she is only seen in the dream worlds since in reality she is dead. She's very hard, cool and detached from everything and everyone except Cobb, and she is actually the most frightening thing about the film, almost robotic, and Cotillard is stunning to watch.

Visually, the film was amazing, and so well done. Even more impressive is that CGI effects were only added as little as necessary, far less than a lot of films these days. Certain scenes (which I can't reveal as it'll spoil the plot!) involving gravity were amazing to watch, and the cast did a great job reacting with the scenes they were given. Not only were the effects involving the action great, but things like the scenery, different dream worlds were portrayed perfectly and the effects were used merely to accentuate what you were seeing, they never took over from the script or actors at any time. The soundtrack worked really well, being composed by Hans Zimmer just for this film, and it suited the feel and mood of it. The use of Edith Paif's famous son 'Non, je ne regrette rien' was both perfect and ironic, and had an almost spooky feeling when it was used in the way it was during the films, especially with the echo on it!

The concept of the film is so interesting, but a lot of people I know who have seen it are confused by it, and therefore haven't enjoyed it as much as I have. However, I think if you pay attention, and I mean REALLY pay attention, it's easy to pick up as it progresses. Things are explained by the characters in several places in the film so as long as you're listening, it should be fine, but if you miss them, you will probably feel lost, especially as the Inception task begins. This isn't a film you can put on and then sit on Facebook on your phone for, you need to be giving it your complete attention, and while it's long (2 and a half hours!), I found every minute was extremely watchable and not one scene or piece of dialogue was unneccessary. Nolan has created a masterpiece here, one that makes you think and opens your eyes up to a new world as you're watching, as well as trying to work out what's going on in front of you. The ambiguous ending is the perfect finish for the film in my eyes and it's up to the viewer to decide which ending they think is right.

Inception is one of the cleverest, most visually stunning and epic movies I have seen in a long time, and the cast are superb too, especially DiCaprio as Cobb. There is nothing about this movie I can put down or would want to change, it's simply perfect and it's a total credit to the fantastic mind of its writer and director Christopher Nolan. While it was a hugely expensive film to make, it is now the 28th biggest grossing film of all time at the Box Office, and has done impressively in the DVD market as well. If you've not yet seen Inception, you really are missing out and I would definitely urge you to get your hands on this and watch it as soon as you can. I was rapt for the entire duration, and it's so exciting to watch because you simply don't have a clue about how things are going to pan out for Cobb and his crew. I loved it, and as I said before, it's definitely one I'll be buying for my own collection so I can watch and enjoy it again. Simply brilliant.

Written and Directed by Christopher Nolan.
Running Time: 148 minutes
Certificate: 12

Main Cast:
Leonardo DiCaprio ... Cobb
Joseph Gordon-Levitt ... Arthur
Ellen Page ... Ariadne
Tom Hardy ... Eames
Ken Watanabe ... Saito
Dileep Rao ... Yusuf
Cillian Murphy ... Robert Fischer
Tom Berenger ... Peter Browning
Marion Cotillard ... Mal
Pete Postlethwaite ... Maurice Fischer
Michael Caine ... Miles

The DVD is available from Amazon.co.uk for £5.99 (September 2011), and on Triple Play for £12.99

Thank you for reading.