Inception Movie Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Originally published in 2012 and lightly updated in 2026. This spoiler-free review preserves my reaction after first seeing Inception in the cinema.

Was Inception the Best Film of 2010?

Inception is a difficult film to review without giving too much away. For anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, I’ll keep this review as spoiler-free as possible. Do you remember the line “No one can be told what The Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself” Inception is very much like that.  And just as The Matrix was meant for the big screen and all the surround sound that goes with it, so is Inception.  There is no doubt about it, Inception was the Movie event of the year in 2010.  Not since Avatar had a film demanded to be seen on the big screen with an audience.

It was July 2010 and the Summer blockbuster season was in full swing; the cinema was packed, and for the whole two and a half hours not one person shifted in their seat, let alone left to go to the bathroom… Much like a good book that you cannot put down, this is one of those films where you simply cannot tear yourself away even for a second.

Writer/Director Christopher Nolan and the producers were brave enough to make a film where they actually trust that the audience has intelligence and can work out what is going on without having to stop to have a break in the action to explain everything.  It’s much like Nolan’s earlier film Memento in that respect; Nolan is fast earning a reputation for actually respecting his audience and treating them like grown-ups.

Inception was the first summer blockbuster to reward the audience for paying attention since The Matrix way back in 1999.  There’s no doubt about it; this is one of those movies that you don’t just watch, you experience, and if you were lucky enough to see it in the theatre, it almost feels as though you are taking part yourself.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s characters use a technique of entering into a person’s dreams while they sleep, taking control of the dream environment with the intent usually to steal information from a person’s mind.  It could be an idea, or a bank account – whatever.  The concept of the main plot of Inception is not so much to steal something from a person’s mind but to actually plant an idea there.  It’s an attempt to inspire that person to do something in the real world when they wake up.  

DiCaprio’s character, Cobb, is encouraged to take on the complicated and dangerous mission that forms the main plot of the film, not for money, but for the freedom to return to the USA without being locked up, having been accused of murdering his wife (Marion Cotillard).  More importantly, he will be reunited again with his children.  The mission is to plant the seed of an idea into the head of Cillian Murphy’s character.  Sounds simple right?  But then that would be boring, wouldn’t it – and this film is far from boring.

Ellen Page (now Elliot Page) was always a pleasure to watch (with films like Juno, which I love); she is brought into the team to help complete the mission. She is the architect who will essentially design the worlds where the dreams will take place.  The early part of the film consists of a recruiting and training period where Cobb assembles a team to complete the mission, which also includes Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises).  Michael Caine is also a welcome addition to the cast list, but his part is relatively small, and he only appears in a few scenes.

Dream Within a Dream

Things get more complicated and interesting when the characters start entering dreams within a dream. “Whose head are we actually in now?”  Like The Matrix all those years before, when Neo and Trinity go into the Matrix with “Guns, lots of Guns!” – this is where most of the action takes place.

Time slows down with each level of dream state that you go down, so 5 mins of sleep time might give you an hour in the dream world; this time increases dramatically every layer you go down (a dream within a dream).

In the dream worlds, we get some fantastic action sequences, most notably Gordon-Levitt’s fight scene in the hotel as the whole world is turning upside-down and rolling over.  The actors are bouncing off the walls and ceilings in the middle of the fight… All of this was shot for real on a rotating set; it’s absolutely brilliant and made all the better for Hans Zimmer’s incredible music throughout the film and action sequences.

Is Inception Worth Watching?

Yes, Inception is absolutely worth watching. It remains one of Christopher Nolan’s most ambitious and entertaining films: visually spectacular, intelligent and designed to reward close attention. Its 148-minute runtime and complex plot won’t suit everyone, but if you enjoy science fiction, heist films or mind-bending stories, it’s an easy 9/10.

It’s no doubt thanks to the success of The Dark Knight that Christopher Nolan was given so much creative freedom to make whatever he wanted without the studios breathing down his neck saying: “You can’t do that, it’s too expensive, it’s too complicated – you need to dumb it down for audiences”. Inception went on to receive eight Academy Award nominations and won four.

Let’s hope that the success of Inception means we get more films in the future which actually treat the audience as though they have a brain.  With Nolan’s consistent track record of high-calibre films, I, for one, am always looking forward to his next major release.

Watch Inception

If, somehow, you missed this amazing film, you can watch it on Amazon here.

Watch Inception >