Christopher Nolan is God – discuss. From the fractured narratives of Memento and the Prestige to his re-boot of the Batman franchise, the director seems to be able to do no wrong. As a thank you for earning Warner Bros over $1 billion, the studio has given Nolan free reign on their summer schedules with Inception and hopefully things will never be the same again. Has there ever been such a truly original and thoughtful blockbuster?

Dominic Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) works in the world of corporate espionage, delving into people’s subconscious to extract their secrets. The fugitive from American justice is granted a shot at redemption by taking on the perfect reverse crime, rather than stealing knowledge, he must plant an idea in his target’s head.

Quite frankly the plot synopsis could run on for several pages as Nolan takes you into a world of multiples dreamscapes. Yes the structure is dense but as long as you concentrate, the narrative is fairly coherent, even as events disappear into a third level of a character’s consciousness. Plus this gives Nolan the chance to shift locations at the drop of a hat so the film’s climax can be transported to a base in an arctic setting that would not be out of place in a James Bond film.

On another level, the film is also a heist film as Cobb recruits a team to create, maintain and ultimately break out of a fabricated world. Of course things do not go exactly as planned, especially when Cobb’s dead wife Mal (a beguiling Marion Cotillard) seems to still exert a strong influence over him, whether asleep or awake.

Visually it is one of the most astonishing movies ever made. Forget 3-D, this is totally immersive on another level as city scapes fold on top of one another and a hotel fight defies the theory of relativity. It is a sumptuous feast for the eyes that would be worth seeing even without a coherent story.

DiCaprio is the latest in a line of fractured Nolan heroes. Implicated in the death of Mal, his single purpose to get home to his children is delicately balanced against the fact that his subconscious is a palpable danger to his team. Alongside Leo, there is a stellar cast of character actors including Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy. They are all uniformly excellent without de-railing the story.

The film warrants multiple viewings to see if all the strands hold together, but knowing Nolan, more secrets may be revealed second time around. Either that or the Director’s Cut will feature Bobby Ewing getting out of the shower…..