Seemingly every time viewers, sit down in the multiplex, the picture flashing before their eyes is a dumbed-down story catering to the second-grader in all of us. It’s a simple, profitable format: Hollywood puts forth a shallow script. The viewers enjoy two hours of mind-numbing escapism. Rinse and repeat.

Enter the innovative and audacious Christopher Nolan, writer and director of Inception. In 148 minutes, Nolan not only challenges the viewers to keep attentive but also to think beyond the world they live in. He uses stunning visuals that require a double, or triple-take. And in 148 minutes Nolan delivers a picture worthy and necessary of multiple viewings.

Leonardio DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, professional subconscious invader capable of extracting ideas from inside people’s dreams. DiCaprio, on his way to becoming the preeminent, unparalleled actor of our time, plays the protagonist role with a sense of ferocity needed to make the role believable.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur, and Tom Hardy as Eames, are comical and skillful as they make up Dom’s crew hired by large corporations to get an upper hand on the competition.

Cobb and his crew’s final task within the dream world comes at the request of a Mr. Saito who pays the gang to tap into the head of a young, thriving industrialist, Robert Fischer Jr., and plant an idea into his dreams that will alter the landscape of the business world. It’s inception and it’s their toughest and most intrepid task to date.

Ellen Page’s Ariadne is a young architecture student brought on by Cobb to create a maze to explore multiple levels of Fischer’s dreams. She, like the audience, is the curious explorer uncovering truths and hidden intricacies as she goes.

And the deeper they go, the deeper the audience delves into Dom’s perpetual longing for Mal, his wife and the mother of their two children

I won’t go further into the plot. Just know that the multitudes of Facebook statuses and box-office numbers proclaiming Inception as this summer’s must-see are not off-base.

In the 10 years it took to write the script, the six countries in which it was shot and more than $160 million to make the movie, Nolan dared to dream big. He couples transcendent visuals with an unwavering trust in the audience’s intelligence. And he rewarded the viewers with a mind-blowing experience of two-and-a-half hours that will leave you stunned for many more.

3.5 out of 4 gig ‘ems