Protagonist
The Matrix's Neo is criticised quite frequently for being a hollow shell, with most people suggesting that this is a result of Keanu Reeves' perceived lack of acting ability, but that's really to miss the whole point of the character. Neo is a soulless computer programmer, and that's exactly it; he's supposed to be a shell of a human, at once jacked into The Matrix and then jacked into his cold life as a computer programmer. It is only when he is awakened by Trinity and Morpheus that he actually becomes, well, a real human being (and a pretty awesome one, too). Inception's Dom Cobb is a fascinating figure as well, a thief who is on the run because his own wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard), framed him for her murder, and he needs to complete the Inception job in order to get back to his children. He's a forthright, confident, driven character, and though the film is easily Nolan's most warm and emotional, there's undeniably the feeling that he could have done more to accentuate the angst that Cobb feels for being apart from his kids, to make that final shot even more enticing than it already is. Though Cobb is the more restrained, even "realistic" of the two, we have to give it to Neo, because it's easily Reeves' best role, and the sight of him decked out in a black trenchcoat, shooting guards to bits is just so damn awesome.
WINNER: The Matrix