Average criticWIRE rating: A-
Arguably one of the year’s most anticipated films, Christopher’s Nolan’s follow-up to “The Dark Knight,” “Inception,” finally hits theaters this week, and the positive buzz surrounding this movie couldn’t be stronger, as indieWIRE reported earlier this week. The film boasts a starry ensemble that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Caine, Cilian Murphy, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard. DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a ‘dream extractor,’ who goes in and steals valuable secrets from the subconscious of big corporate players while they dream. “Inception” tracks Cobb as he embarks on his most challenging mission yet; to actually plant an idea into the subconscious, an ‘inception’ if you will.
The first review to hit the press was from Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers whose early praise caught on like wildfire. “The mind-blowing movie event of the summer arrives just in time to hold back the flow of Hollywood sputum that’s been sliming the multiplex,” Travers writes. “”Inception,” written and directed by the visionary Christopher Nolan, will be called many things, starting with James Bond Meets “The Matrix.” You can feel the vibe of Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” in it, and Nolan’s own “Memento” and “The Dark Knight.” But “Inception” glows with a blue-flame intensity all its own.”
The Hollywood Reporter’s Kirk Honeycutt offered his take on the film’s box office appeal: “Following up on such ingenious and intriguing films as “The Dark Knight” and “Memento,” Nolan has outdone himself. “Inception” puts him not only at the top of the heap of sci-fi all-stars, but it also should put this Warner Bros. release near or at the top of the summer movies. It’s very hard to see how a film that plays so winningly to so many demographics would not be a worldwide hit.”
Similarily, Time’s Richard Corliss forsees the film doing great business, mainly due to the labaryth plot which might require multiple viewings to fully uncode. He writes: “… seeing “Inception” – or seeing it twice, which we suggest – does not answer all the riddles. This is a film more to admire than to cherish, one that aims to fascinate rather than to satisfy familiar impulses. It’s a beautiful object, like a perpetually spinning top, not a living organism.”
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
