Inception Review

[Pisces]

Seen it yet...? ;D If so, here's the place to post your own personal reviews, and please make sure to have a warning if you include any spoilers! Looking forward to everyone's comments on this most highly anticipated movie, and Cillian's performance in it! (Note: squee-ing IS allowed! )

[disarm79]

Im usually bad when it comes to talking about movies. I might accidentally add spoilers. So all im going to say is that I already seen the movie 2 times and I plan on watching it again next week. That's how much I like it!!!

[Kizuna]

I watched yesterday with my boyfriend (poor him, having to sit next to me as I fawned over Cillian, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Leo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy), and I utterly loved it. I've always been a fan of works that like to screw with your mind, and this has been no different.

I'm keeping spoilers to a minimum, JSYK.

Cillian, as always, turned out an amazing performance, as small as the role might have been.

SPOILER: Click to show

And at the end, as the snow fortress dream collapsed, and Fischer is by his father's bed, just that one look Cillian gave expressed so much emotion, and it looked so organic and true on top of that.

All of the other actors were amazing too, especially Joseph, Tom Marion and Ellen. I'm definitely checking out more of Tom Hardy's movies, because his character was both funny and badass. As for Marion, she's just so wonderful, and her performance was heartbreaking.

As for the story in general, I actually didn't think it was the most original thing out there; there are some stories that use dream worlds as a backdrop in their storytelling, possibly the one best known being the anime movie Paprika. However, the execution of the story and the characters were what set this apart from other kinds of "mind screw" films. Christopher Nolan has not disappointed mein all of his career; his vision, camera work, and his ability to actually treat the viewers with respect and get them to think about the symbolism and whatnot in his movies are always top notch. I can't wait for his work on Batman 3 and the next Superman movie.

All in all, I'll be giving Inception a 10/10

[ashleyrose09]

Loved the movie! Cillian gave an amazing performance as always and I was glad at how much screen time he actually got, more then he had in Batman Begins. I'm pretty sure all of you who see it will be happy with it or at least with Cillian's scenes. Go watch it as soon as you can! ;D

[iamthemaxx]

*********SPOILERS BELOW**********

I really enjoyed this movie . It was very ambitious. I really appreciate the fact that Nolan was able to illustrate the grand scale of dreamscapes while never losing the feeling of intimacy that seeing inside someone's mind entails. At times, it felt extremely emotional.

The performances were awesome. Tom Hardy damn near stole the show for me, even with as little screen time as he had. EAMES! Cillian did a great job with his character, though I wish it were a bit more fleshed out. We don't really know anything about Fischer, except that he's extremely open to suggestion . I'm glad that Fischer was able to have some closure, and that scene was beautiful to watch. I thought of Punctuator's comment after the movie was over, and I felt pleased with Fischer's outcome despite the intrusiveness of the methods used against him. My take on it is that the idea would not have been so easily planted in Fischer's head if he didn't already have desires to have a final reconciliation and be his own man. The viewer certainly gets the idea that those are the two things that he must have wanted most, and that he gets to be happy from now on. Marion Cotillard is a goddess. She gave a haunting, gorgeous, deeply affecting and at times downright disturbing performance. Ellen Page's Ariadne was very bright,bold and intuitive. I was really glad that she was there for Cobb. JGL as Arthur? had hands down, one of the coolest action sequences ever filmed. He was also very charming and sharp. Ken Watanabe I kinda felt bad for, as he was in terrible pain for most of the film, but he had great presence as always. Lukas Haas sighting, haha! As for Leo, he may well just get his Oscar for this role. All trace of boyishness was gone for me, there was just this broken man. Heartbreaking.

One thing that I don't get is why reviewers have been referring to the movie as a mind bender. I found it very straightforward and was easily able to keep up. It really felt like the sets, though spectacular, were completely secondary to the performances. This movie was just all around good and I will most likely see it one more time in theaters.

[rukia888]

SPOILERS BELOW


I just saw it today, and I absolutely loved it! ;D It was quite a complex mindbender of a movie, but I just love movies that make you think.

Cillian was great as usual. I agree with Kizuna -- I wish there was more depth to Fischer's character, but Cillian did great with what he had. Of course, he looks absolutely gorgeous onscreen. I totally got teary-eyed at that scene with Fischer's father in the dream at the end. Cillian knows how to give an emotional performance that's for sure.

The whole cast gave stellar performances. I loved each and every person! Joseph Gordon-Levitt was wonderful! He looks so gorgeous and slick in a suit -- I totally enjoyed seeing him onscreen, hee. I loved Tom Hardy's snarkiness, and Ellen Page was outstanding as well. Marion Cotillard was amazing -- her character downright scared me at times.

This was totally Leo's movie, and he gave a great, heartbreaking performance. I loved the ending -- is it reality or is he still dreaming? I guess it's up to our interpretation -- love it. ;D

[razzthekid]

Saw it last night too. It was very impressive. I found it quite confusing at times but i like movies like that- ones that you find yourself mulling over for days afterwards and new questions keep popping into your head about it.

Me and my brother kept discussing it and had different views on some things- SPOILERS!the 3 layers of the dream made it quite confusing to keep up with at times. The whole -people being dead in one layer and alive in the other by the kick and all that- was a bit weird. I think i figured it out though. A second watch would definitely be helpful.

I loved the ending too- how they left it hanging for you to make up your own mind about it. Seen as that spinning top belonged to Marion first though, and it never stopped spinning for her if she was in a dream, then it probably wouldn't do the same for him because he shouldn't have it....so i'm saying it wasn't a dream.

And i was very happy with Cillian's performance. He really did look so confused and scared and nervous in the scene where they first kidnap him and are asking for the combination. And the scene with his father was so touching. Joseph was next in line for me in terms of performance- i just love that man and everything he does. I loved the part where Tom was telling Ellen what a kick was and he knocked Joseph's chair down- the look Joseph gave him was brilliant! And then when it showed him constantly being knocked off the chair to wake him up! Funny.

Leo was amazing as usual- i don't think i've ever seen him turn out a bad performance. He's very intense and always so into each character he portrays. And Marion was very good too, she was a bit scary at times! I didn't know Lukas Haas was going to be in it at all- i wish he had a bigger role.

Much as i love Ellen as an actress i just didn't think her role was the best- she doesn't stick out in my mind at all.

So yeah, it was an amazing movie to watch and it does mess with your head a bit. I just loved the story and the whole dream world- to think that the things they do could someday be possible, who knows. It's a very fascinating subject- and i had some weird dreams last night! To think how complex your brain is and how fast it works when you're asleep, to constantly come up with these dreams and people and situations. It really intrigues me.

[rukia888]

SPOILERS BELOW

I agree, Kim. I was also a bit confused at times with the dreams. I think the kick is supposed to wake them at each dream layer, and with each higher dream layer, your time goes by faster than in the lower layer. I think with the strong sedatives, the characters can't die in the dream and wake up. When they die (as in Saito's and Fischer's cases), they go to limbo, which was the last dream layer Cobb and Ariadne were at (and the one Cobb and Mal created while they were in limbo). I think, LOL. I agree. A second viewing would definitely clear up any residual confusions. It was fun to try to figure it out as you go along though.

And of course, I agree about Joseph! I loved that action sequence during the hotel dream. It was quite visually stunning, and Joseph was amazing.

Marion was awesome! And yes, she scared me, too, at times. Her projection's always jumping out when I least expect it, but she gave quite a vulnerable, heartbreaking performance as well.

Yes, I agree about Ellen's role -- it definitely wasn't the most memorable, but it wasn't bad at all. I think the whole cast did quite well and were well-cast. Nobody gave a bad performance at all.

[punctuator]

<sup>"I'm watching sis go pitter-pat
"Said, 'I can do that.
"I can do that.'"
-- That one super-likable kid in A Chorus Line

"BRING IT."
-- Tony Horton, to whom I owe my awesome triceps</sup>

*****
*****

Being a general ramble re: Inception

*****
*****

Which I (still) liked better (a) than I thought I would and (b) when it was called Dark City.

And so:

*****

(An explanation: I found an AMC gift certificate in my wallet. Yes, though it is but a battered men's bifold-- no, I'm not that much of a misanthropic brute: we'd better say a men's battered bifold-- things get lost in it. Like AMC gift certificates with eighteen dollars and change remaining on them. So Why wait 'til the birthday? thought I. Let's go take one for the team tonight.)

*****

What I liked:

1. Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. They should have their own movie. What a pair of charmers. (Even though every time Tom Hardy was onscreen, all I could picture was him slow-dancing with Gerard Butler over the end credits in Rock 'n' Rolla.)

2. The evil little kick (no: not that kind of kick, fellow Inception-watchers) I got every time Malice was mean to Ariadne.

3. The fact that that bullhorn sound pretty much stayed the hell in the trailers, where it belonged. Seriously, I was prepared to feel exactly the same way listening to the Zimmer score as I felt the first time I heard the vuvuzelas buzzing over a World Cup match, and was convinced my thirty-year-old ColorTrak was finally going off to meet its maker in RCA heaven.

4. Our Man Cillian, who, as someone else has already said, was making the most of what he'd been given for a part. And I will say: yum. And: yum. The short-hair-and-suit look is, I'll say again for those in the cheap seats, my fave. I even loved the cufflinks. Mm hm....

4. a. [HERE BE SPOILERS OF A SORT] This wanders toward "gripe" territory, but when I realized that Fischer breaking up his company had nothing at all to do with the actual plot, I didn't mind that he seemed to be shunted offscreen for long periods-- often in the middle of otherwise tense situations-- with no explanation or intercutting, or the fact that his story received no "real-world" resolution whatsoever. Yep, there are "father issues" at the heart of Inception, but they're not his.

*****

Things at which I will grumble:

1. Mr. Nolan still has no idea how to direct an action scene. He's fine with the calm stuff, and he has Ridley Scott's eye for architecture, but, damn. Once the bullets start to fly, and people are running on the walls, he starts laying on the midshots, and pretty soon you have no idea where the hell you are or who's shooting whom. Oh, and

1. a. Mr. Nolan, a polite reminder: If you're trying to do a Bond-style ski homage, please keep in mind that there's a reason why Bond always wears a color distinctive from that worn by the bad guys. Just saying. If everyone's wearing white, and you start laying on the midshots, and the bullets are starting to fly, then please see number 1, directly above.

2. The One Big Thing That Remains a Secret Until It's (Almost) Too Late, a.k.a. Plot-Drivers 101: [SPOILER, SPOILER, and, oh, yeah: SPOILER] The fact that Cobb is obviously bat[sh]it insane. But when I realized what the plot really was, then that didn't matter. Please see 4.a., above.

*****
*****

Some folks have been saying that watching Inception is a consciousness-altering experience. Here are my first impressions upon leaving the theater:

1. A sense of nausea, mild, and, I suspect, directly attributable to the fact that I Hoovered an entire large popcorn all on my lonesome.

2. An urge to drive aggressively and/or erratically, explainable thusly:

a. I just spent two and a half hours watching people drive aggressively and/or erratically in street-level midshots that-- oh, just see number 1 under "Things at which I will grumble."

b. And that's different from my usual approach to driving how...?

*****
*****

One more thing: Leo was very good in this, but if he gets an Oscar nod, I'm thinking it's going to be for Shutter Island. I'm also thinking, sadly, that if he couldn't bag an Academy Award for The Aviator, this won't be his year-- if for no other reason than, between Shutter Island and Inception, he's going to split his own vote by having played two extremely similar parts in the same nomination season.

*****
*****

One-one more thing: If anyone wants my (thoroughly brash and egotistical) take on what the "real" plot is, please feel free to ask, or PM, or yodel, or offer up cash or other bribes. Thank you.

[Ben]

As a boy, this movie has everything in it.

1) Emotion
2) Action
3) Amazing Soundtrack
5) Amazing Acting
6) Amazing Story
7) Eye Candy (Visual Effects)
8) Eye Candy (Cillian Murphy (for my wife, duh))

Seriously though. It's become one of my favorite films of all time. Not joking. Go see it now!

[rukia888]

SPOILERS BELOW

Thanks for your review, Punctuator! I just wanted to chime in again about Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt! Yes, I think charming's the right word to describe them... especially Joseph... *swoon*.

I definitely think Leo might get an Osar nom for this role. I thought he was much better here than in Shutter Island though personally. Having read the book before seeing the movie, I thought Shutter Island was a bit of a mess of a movie. *shrugs*

What did you think of the ending? Is it reality or is it a dream? Kim says it's not a dream since the spinning top is Mal's totem, but didn't Cobb use it as his totem after Mal's death? I say it's left up to interpretation.

Thanks for your review, Ben! I agree with you -- it's definitely a must-see!

[iamthemaxx]

Wow, Ben is still here! I'm glad you really liked the movie. That's just one more with Cillian in the cast that you can stomach watching with your wife =).

[punctuator]

Jul 19, 2010 8:18:34 GMT -5 rukia888 said:

SPOILERS BELOW

Thanks for your review, Punctuator! I just wanted to chime in again about Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt! Yes, I think charming's the right word to describe them... especially Joseph... *swoon*.

I definitely think Leo might get an Osar nom for this role. I thought he was much better here than in Shutter Island though personally. Having read the book before seeing the movie, I thought Shutter Island was a bit of a mess of a movie. *shrugs*

What did you think of the ending? Is it reality or is it a dream? Kim says it's not a dream since the spinning top is Mal's totem, but didn't Cobb use it as his totem after Mal's death? I say it's left up to interpretation.

Thanks for your review, Ben! I agree with you -- it's definitely a must-see!

I think the ending is absolutely a dream. Not only is it too Hallmark-perfect and amber-filtered (not to mention far too fast-moving: we ditch all the others at the airport, and then-- hey! He's home! Do you remember how you got there, Mr. Cobb--?), but two things, which I'll keep slightly vague:

[ANNND: SPOILERS!!!!]

1. One line from a minor character (who just happens to be the guy who taught Cobb "everything he knows") about twenty minutes into the proceedings: "Come back to reality, son."

(1.a.: How quick Cobb is to say he can't just go back-- home, that is-- early in the film, when he has at his disposal people who could almost certainly fix him up with a fake passport and plastic surgery. Skip forward to the lax security at the airport at the end: I was expecting some kind of futuristic passport-slant-body-scanning that would have had us thinking, Well, of course he couldn't just have opted for a nosejob and false documentation-- they're doing DNA scans, for fright's sake!-- and the guy at customs just stamps his passport and waves him through with hardly a glance.)

(1.b. Who taught Fischer his "mental security," hmmm...?)

2. The fact that I'm thinking of the film as Intervention, not Inception.

(Or, just because I can't resist yet another wink-wink, nudge-nudge: there's an inception alright, but it's not the idea that Fischer should break up his father's [vaguely defined] "empire." [Which, as we all know, was bothering this employee of such a quaint, old-fashioned, fifty-thousand-worker-bee Engulf and Devour enterprise: for instance, for another thing, what would your board of directors have had to say, Bobby, if you just walked in one day and said, "I know: let's think smaller!"...? I believe our BOD would have thrown something of a fit. Or you, and your pretty cufflinks, right through the nearest tastefully polarized-tinted plate-glass window.])

[rukia888]

SPOILERS BELOW

I think the ending is absolutely a dream. Not only is it too Hallmark-perfect and amber-filtered (not to mention far too fast-moving: we ditch all the others at the airport, and then-- hey! He's home! Do you remember how you got there, Mr. Cobb--?), but two things, which I'll keep slightly vague:

If I had to choose, I'd like to think that the ending was reality. Just because I'd hate to think that Cobb's forever lost in the dream world. That's a bit tragic.

[ashleyrose09]

Agreed. I like my movies with more happy endings so that's the way I'd like to think of it too.