DiCaprio plays Cobb, a man who has the ability to enter people’s dreams for a living and he is hired by Saito (Ken Watanabe) seemingly to enter the dreams of Robert Fischer Jr, the son of magnate Maurice Fischer, to force him to alter the path of his life and follow in the footsteps of his now-deceased dad. So Cobb assembles a team that includes the suave Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Leavitt), Englishman Eames (played by Tom Hardy) and a very young Ariadne (Ellen Page) to get inside the mind of Fischer Jr. We are thrown into a world of many layers watching the team at work. But not everything is as it seems: Cobb has a wife, Mal (the gorgeous Marion Cotillard), who appears to have disappeared.

Visually, Inception is incredible with everything from the sound editing to the production design working in concert to offer a fully-immersive experience and the performances are very consistent. The one wrong note on the acting front is Ellen Page, who feels miscast here amongst a more accomplished and experienced group. But this is a minor quibble and Nolan shows why he is one of Hollywood’s best stylists, creating a series of well-realised interlinked worlds.

Inception does have its progenitors in films like The Matrix but there is no epic conspiracy at play here. Inception deals with far more intimate and emotional concerns, despite scenes that are obviously homages to the Bond films and even a little nod to Planet of The Apes. There is a lot going on in the film, especially when the team are operating on several dream layers at the same time and it is essential for the viewer to concentrate when watching. In fact, it could be argued that Inception is a film that needs to be seen more than once to pick up everything that Nolan has intended to do with it.

It is the ultimate antidote to flabby summer blockbusters filled with noisy explosions and battling robots. And although sometimes the director’s reach exceeds his grasp, at least he is striving to do something a little bit different. With Shutter Island and Inception under his belt recently, DiCaprio is also firmly established as one of the best actors of his generation. Inception is a film that will be discussed for years to come and, dare I say it, was worth the wait…

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