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So where does one start with a movie like Inception? It’s arguably the most anticipated film of this summer, if not the entire year. Without revealing terribly much in the clips and trailers (thankfully!) it’s been one of the most hyped films of the year as well – if not by the studio, then by movie news sites (including this one) and their readers. Following a monster hit like The Dark Knight is a heck of a task for Christopher Nolan, who not only directed Inception but wrote and produced it as well.

Well now that it’s done and hitting theaters, I believe Mr. Nolan can relax – because this film is all kinds of awesome. This is one of those movies that’s difficult to review without revealing at least some minor spoilers, so be warned. It won’t be anything that will even remotely ruin the film for you, but I do have to bring up a few things in order to describe the story. Let’s start by explaining exactly what “Inception” is in the film: It is the process of imbedding a thought in the mind of a subject in such an incredibly subtle manner, that they end up thinking that they came up with it on their own. No, don’t think hypnotism, this is a much more sophisticated thing. As a matter of fact, Nolan makes a point to get at least one “oh, I know what this is going to be” thought out of your head within the first few minutes of the film: This is much more than the old dream within a dream plot line.

Leonardo DiCaprio is Cobb, a man who works with a team stealing corporate secrets from the minds of executives while they sleep. The 1984 film Dreamscape may come to mind, but things are much more complex here. In order to retrieve what Cobb’s clients want, he can’t just enter the dreamworld of the subject and poke around until he finds it – an “architect” is required to construct a world and settings that will lead the subject where Cobb wants him to go, and there is a backup man who also goes into the dream (Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur) in...