Christopher Nolan’s (“The Dark Knight,” “Insomnia,” “Memento”) latest visit to the dark side is “Inception,” a sci-fi thriller that must have had the CGI gurus salivating when they first read the script. The basic premise involves corporate espionage, with a predictable sci-fi twist. A crack corporate thief Don Cobb (Leonardo DiCapri) steals secrets, but not from hard copy files or software databases. Rather, he steals them from human dreams.
As often happens in these tales, Cobb’s success could also prove to be his downfall. He’s become an international fugitive, perpetually on the run. In an effort to return to a normal life, Cobb schemes to pull off a dream heist in reverse – an “inception.”
This summer release is an interesting pairing with Martin Scorcese’s last film, “Shutter Island.” While “Shutter Island” doesn’t belong to the sci-fi genre, it’s certainly in the horror realm, and both films are dark, CGI-saturated and have the DiCaprio name prominently above the title.
DiCaprio has never been a favorite of mine, but, like Johnny Depp, he seems to grow more tolerable as his screen persona matures. I first noticed that his voice finally seemed to have lost its adolescent squeak in the films “Blood Diamond” and “Body of Lies.” Likewise, his acting seems more credible. While I’m not quite ready to join the DiCaprio for Best Actor Club, I’ve gotten to the point where I can sit through an entire DiCaprio picture without looking at my watch every 15 minutes.
The film co-stars Ellen Page (fresh from her Cisco commercials), Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Tom Berenger and Michael Caine. Director Christopher Nolan also penned the script.