Review: Inception

I just don't get tired of watching this. Just finished something like my sixth or seventh viewing.

On Michael J Fox and Enchanted usually get this much of my attention.

They wrestle gorillas now?

So basically you're a hypocrite.

This is how the WWF ruined Congo - always campaigning about gorillas, by the time they get put in a film with lasers and Bruce Campbell everyone is all "seen it".

I fell asleep the first time I watched Blade Runner, about a year later I tried again, thought "Meh".

Guess that's what happens when you watch a film that everyone else has ripped off (the same way I quite like Alien but my mate only just watched it and thought it was boring as all hell, despite my claims that it was just because everyone else has been ripping it off for 30 years)

Well, that was awesome. Existentially awesome on a nearly Blade Runner scale and the two films certainly have things in common. That spinning top may as well have been an origami unicorn.

I have just marked it 9 on the IMDB. Reason I took away 1 was because visually it didn't catch me as much as I would have liked. The plotline actually required a perception of reality, which significantly limited the possibility for more scenes like Ariadne's training fliperoo trick. Kind of a shame and that's why Blade Runner is still my favourite sci-film ever.

Edited at 04:37 on 06/01/11

Absolutely one of my favourites for this year, if not *the* favourite.
Forgot I was watching DiCaprio and just got swept along with Cobb & his team - 1st time I've stopped being distracted by DiCaprio's babyface and ill fitting grownup clothes.

So, so refreshing to be given a film I knew nothing about except it was something to do with dreams.
An intelligent, exciting theoretical exploration of reality & the notion of existence - masquerading as a summer blockbuster.
The last time I was this excited about a film was The Matrix.
Forget the terrible, terrible sequals and how you've seen bullet-time etc in everything from adverts to fancydress parties.
I'm talking about when I first watched The Matrix at the cinema, before it became this phenomenon. Sitting there trying to keep up with the plot, keeping mental checks on who was where and what was going on in different levels of reality.
They are similar films in the ideas they offer, dressed like action movies to get Joe Public to swallow.

I was worried when I saw the trailers that they had shown all the money-shots (like Matrix Reloaded, where every single awesome moment was in the trailer, go back and watch) and the rest would be join-the-dot plotting.
But those moments make complete sense in the context of the story, they weren't flashy CGI for the sakes of it.
Loved it. Loved every single moment of it.

Scott Pilgrim was snappy and poppy and whizzy and geeky and kooky with an awesome lo-fi indie soundtrack.
And empty.
Inception was wordy, melancholy, low-key and had Edith Piaf as a key plot device.
Ironic Weezer fans in "Atari" tshirts, Converse lowtops & guitars that'll never be played in public can love Scott Pilgrim.

Sorry to keep referencing Pilgrim but I watched that last night, Inception today.
Both were heavily promoted studio tentpole movies but couldn't be any further apart in effect, intent and delivery.
Fuck joke fights with KAPOW! graphics and manga style chargings.
Give me a Ford Econoline falling in ultra-slow motion towards a river as 500 Days floats around a hallway and Titanic walks along a beach as dream cities collapse around him.

Blu-Ray purchase day one for me so I can watch again and see what I missed.
As for the ending?
* I think Cobb was in reality, as he saw his kids' faces for the first time. Wife killed herself because he planted the idea she was dreaming and he did flee the country. The top spinning? It was more important to Cobb at that point to see his children, whether it was a dream or not to him. He had given up the guilt of his wife and was at peace.*

Nolan can do no wrong with me. Bring on Batman 3.

Just got back from this, I enjoyed it but it'll take another couple of viewings before I truly love it (most of my all time favourite films were the same).

Being that it was mid day (had the day off work) the cinema was quite empty, however it was filled with couples, and the male half of every couple had to explain what was going on to the female halves.

No word of a lie, one guy had to explain EVERY scene, and I saw at least three guys point *at the spinning top and say "It was a dream, get it?"*

Excellent film. Fucking superb.

Not really spoilerish, but *right after the final shot I said, rather too loudly: "Argh, the bastards!" and seemingly the entire cinema, around forty people, heard me and giggled.*

Edited at 15:13 on 23/07/10

Absolutely amazingly incredible!
Have not enjoyed a film that much in ages, love a film that really plays on your mind after and makes you think.
I agree with Grix bout the final shot.
Just perfect!

Phenomenal.
I'll be able to add more when I'm not reeling from the phenomes and JGL in hot leather jackets, suits and fights.

(Also trailers were good - The Town looks exciting.)

Just got back from my second viewing. First time I've gone twice to see a movie in the theater in a long, long time. And two days in a row, nonetheless.

Re: Last shot - * Maybe it is perfect, but on second viewing I do wish we would have gotten a little more. Call me a sentimental bastard if you must, but I wanted a clear-cut happy ending for Cobb. *

Stop this all of you. Because I haven't seen it yet.

This is an incredible film. Genuinely incredible. Hard not to sound like a frothing fanboy, because I love Christopher Nolan, but I loved this movie - everything about it.

It's very rare that you find a movie with an original idea, and one that explores that idea to its fullest without leaving room for sequels/prequels etc. Also it's very rare to have a film so complex and layered yet also explained simply and by showing, not always telling (a few chunks of exposition aside).

I've sat through so many unnecessarily complicated movies that should have been straightforward (*cough*Pirates 2/3*cough*) but it was nice to watch a necessarily complicated movie that was written properly and that covered all its bases.

I want to see this again, and again, and again. It's fired my imagination like no movie I can remember. Certainly one of the best sci-fis I've ever seen and my favourite film of the year by far. The last shot? Absolutely perfect. I left the cinema trembling a little at how awesome it all was.

Frankly I don't care if Christopher Nolan makes another Batman movie any more - if all of his 'in between' projects are as good as this and The Prestige, Bruce Wayne can eat a box of dicks.

Utterly fantastic. One thing not mentioned that I loved and really got me thinking afterwards, was the way the paranoia involved in knowing where you were was handled - making that little sodding spinning thing all the more clever. And yeah, the final shot - I'd have sworn it was about to.. you know

And the point made about the spread of an idea - shown excellently in Mal, made me very uncomfortable indeed. Brill

Edited at 22:54 on 16/07/10

I have to say I avoided reading the review prior to seeing it as I thought it was best to go in without knowing too much - definitely a difficult one to gauge how much you can say.

The more I think about it, the more I enjoyed it. Yet another Nolan film I want to immediatley go back and see again.

Damn, the scene outside the cafe, stunning, that's how to hide a necessary bit of exposition.

I hate everyone who has seen this until I have seen this. I hate you two. Until Saturday.

I felt that part of this film's charm was the mystery that had built up around it and not knowing what to expect so I was deliberately not trying to give too much away plot-wise, hence the lack of Mal.

The snow seige seemed lifted directly out of a James Bond villain's headquarters, or even a level on Call of Duty. I know it seems out of the blue but I guess Nolan had to visually establish a differentiation between the 'layers' to help us follow the film.

God, there really is no way of talking about this film without sounding like you're speaking in code.

Just come from a preview of this. Absolutely stunning, agree wholehartedly with the 5 star appraisal. That said, I wasn't totatly enamoured with the anti-gravity fight scenes - the first in the hotel seemed a little clunky. Also the snow setting for the finale was a little off - with everyone in snow-suits I lost track of who was who a bit.

Surprised to find no mention of Cobb's wife Mal in the review - I found her role crucial in adding yet another layer to what was already a fantastic concept.

Last shot was just perfect.

Great review, got me even more excited. Can't wait!