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Inception: An IMAX Experience

Inception: An IMAX Experience

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Cryptically described as a contemporary sci-fi action thriller "set within the architecture of the mind", this is director Christopher Nolan's follow-up to smash-hit The Dark Knight.

Leonardo DiCaprio is Dom Cobb, an expert in "subconscious security". He's a high-tech agent who steals ideas from his targets while they sleep, manoeuvring through their complex and surreal dreamscapes. Cobb's rare ability has made him both a coveted player in the world of corporate espionage, and an international fugitive. Now Cobb is offered one last job and the chance to get his life back. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: not steal an idea but to plant one.

His wife is played by Marion Cotillard, and Ellen Page is his intern sidekick. Joining them are Nolan regulars Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy and Ken Watanabe. The film was shot around the globe, including Tokyo, Los Angeles, Paris and London.

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe

Directed by Christopher Nolan ('The Dark Knight', 'The Prestige', 'Batman Begins', 'Insomnia', 'Memento')

Written by Christopher Nolan

Thriller, Science Fiction, Action | 2hr 30mins | Rated (M) | Contains Medium Level Violence | Origin: USA, UK

Flicks review

  • Christopher Nolan’s work has proved him an adept puzzle-maker here and world-builder there, talents that may not always lend themselves to box office success. Several times over now though, they have kept Hollywood’s tills ringing, and now with Inception Nolan has fused those various elements together for their maximum impact to date. There’s a bigger victory beyond that of the film’s financiers and creators to consider as well, a giant win for audiences and the degree to which filmmakers can respect their intelligence.

    It’s hard to think of a denser or more complex blockbuster than Inception, especially one that so consistently refuses to abate from challenging those who watch it. From the opening frames it is a dizzying rollercoaster that relentlessly manipulates one’s senses, intellect, and emotions, not letting up for some two and a half hours.

    Nolan’s team of collaborators overachieve throughout, be they cast members (DiCaprio grabbing his tragic character by the scruff of his neck, Juno’s Ellen Page surprisingly comfortable playing at this level, and Toms Hardy and Berenger great in supporting roles), Hans Zimmer and Johnny Marr’s work on the intense and incessant score, or longtime cinematographer Wally Pfister.

    Basically, Inception’s pretty damn-near perfect and demands to be seen before you hear too much about it. This isn’t a film to be discussed so much as experienced, and while it certainly doesn’t require a repeat viewing to comprehend, I’m going back a second time very, very soon.

    By Steve Newall, Flicks.co.nz

 Our Rating       5

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Press Reviews

  • Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)

    Inception does a difficult thing. It is wholly original, cut from new cloth, and yet structured with action movie basics so it feels like it makes more sense than (quite possibly) it does.
    Click to read the full review

  • Christchurch Press (Margaret Agnew)

    This film gave me a bit of a headache, but oddly, not in a bad way. It was from concentrating so hard not to miss anything while trying to take it all in.
    Click to read the full review

  • Empire (UK)

    5 5 out of 5 stars

    Like The Matrix mated with Synecdoche, New York — or a Charlie Kaufman 007. To paraphrase Casino Royale’s Vesper Lynd, it’s a meaningful pursuit in a summer of disposable entertainments. With physics-defying, thunderous action, heart-wringing emotion and an astonishing performance from DiCaprio, Nolan delivers another true original: welcome to an undiscovered country.
    Click to read the full review

  • Hollywood Reporter

    In a summer of remakes, reboots and sequels comes Inception, easily the most original movie idea in ages.
    Click to read the full review

  • Los Angeles Times

    A tremendously exciting science-fiction thriller that's as disturbing as it sounds. This is a popular entertainment with a knockout punch so intense and unnerving it'll have you worrying if it's safe to close your eyes at night.
    Click to read the full review

  • New York Times

    Though there is a lot to see in Inception, there is nothing that counts as genuine vision. Mr. Nolan’s idea of the mind is too literal, too logical, too rule-bound to allow the full measure of madness -- the risk of real confusion, of delirium, of ineffable ambiguity -- that this subject requires.
    Click to read the full review

  • NZ Herald (Russell Baillie)

    4 4 out of 5 stars

    Popcorn meets profound in mind-bending sci-fi thriller.
    Click to read the full review

  • Total Film (UK)

    4 4 out of 5 stars

    Nolan shifts the goalposts in a high-concept hybrid that fuses existential sci-fi and Bondian mayhem into one captivating whole. But you may just end up craving a little more human connection.
    Click to read the full review

  • TVNZ (Darren Bevan)

    Quite frankly though, Inception is mind blowing, mind bending kind of stuff.
    Click to read the full review

  • Variety (USA)

    If Inception is a metaphysical puzzle, it's also a metaphorical one: It's hard not to draw connections between Cobb's dream-weaving and Nolan's filmmaking -- an activity devoted to constructing a simulacrum of reality, intended to seduce us, mess with our heads and leave a lasting impression. Mission accomplished.
    Click to read the full review

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