Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discussion

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

That would have been quite awesome.

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

I'm trying to reconcile these two posts.
I know they were 12hrs apart.
Initial reaction, MEH.
Absorbed reaction, see it a few times.

I take few opinions into consideration and for a guy I've never met I give yours some weight based on our relationship and movie talk here the last few years. I used to post at SHH more but I digress.

So, I'm going to see it and despite our Superman Returns differences ( ) I'll like it?!

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

Yeppers. The ending's not very ambiguous, really. It's like the ending to the Prestige, in that regard--it's twisted, but it's not really debatable.

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

I thought about this possibility during rail track scene. In fact, I couldn't make out what she screamed just before the train hit them and I remember thinking if what she screamed was a revelation that it was her dream, but that didn't bear fruit.

I also noticed this and made me wonder if there was any mention how long he went into exile. That being said, we did hear the children's voices during the phone call and it sounded like the same voices we hear at the end. Add to that the children's question about when Mommy would return. I'm thinking only about six months or so passed since Cob left.

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

That is an interesting point, one I didn't think of.

The boy looked like he was wearing a really fake wig.

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

From a production aspect, using the same actors would also allow them to keep visual continuity a lot more easily.

And, yeah, that the kids are still asking when mom will be back suggests that it hasn't been much time.

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

It seemed to me that just before the screen goes to black the top was begining to totter and fail, meaning that the ending was "in reality." Yet at the same time the movie presents the question on what "is" reality. How do we know what we experience each and every day here is "real?' Hell, how many times have you woken up from a dream and could've sworn it was "real" or how many of you have memories that you're not sure are or are not dreams?

Mind-fuck of a movie and a fairly "Total Recall"-esque ending but my interpretation of the ending is that he was back in the "real world."

This is very true. For all we know only months had passed between the events of the movie and the events that cause Leo to go on the run.

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

Above average.

In one sentence, a lower stakes, overly complicated version of The Matrix.

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

Best film of the year, fascinating and oh so brilliant. Now bring on Batman 3.

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

Loved it. I found the core relationship with DiCaprio and his wife to be very well crafted. Everything else was secondary but still awesome.

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

I thought it was absolutely brilliant. I'm having trouble summing up my thoughts on it, to be honest (I only got back from it about 45 minutes ago), but it was an incredibly tense, yet deep and thought-provoking experience. Easily the best movie I've seen so far this year, that much is certain.

Beyond that... well, I think I need to see it a second time before I'll be able to say anything much else deeper about it. I can tell you that Christopher Nolan is amazing, and I cannot wait to see more from him: Batman 3 and beyond, I trust it will be incredible.

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

Wow! Best movie of the summer hands down, if not the whole year. All I got to say. I couldn't help but think the snow scenes were plucked straight out of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 though, haha

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

Just got back from seeing it. I voted above average, but it probably is more in between average and above average. My impression was essentially this: a fun, entertaining summer film that holds your interest throughout, but as a thought provoking or groundbreaking film it falls flat due to the silliness and shallowness of its internal logic.

No question the film is entertaining, with an attractive and engaging cast, an interesting premise, and taut direction. Leo tends to play the same character in all of his films but he really has that character down now. Tom Hardy also shines in a very different role from Nemesis. The film lacks a certain punch though. Except for a Matrix-like anti-gravity battle the film lacks a truly memorable action scene or really mind-blowing special effects.

The films main failing is in its often convoluted storytelling. One gets the feeling that much like a dream the film is making up its own rules as it goes along. It cheats a little by putting so much of its exposition upfront that by the time the action scenes role out we are trying to remember what was said a half hour ago and eventually just give up and concede to the movie its own logic and where it wants to take us. My girlfriend thought this film might have been heavily edited down from a longer version as certain scenes make little sense in the context of the movie and certain scenes are brought up and dropped without real explanation. And by the way what is it lately with Leo DiCaprio and films with crazy, suicidal wives. I am beginning to think the guy has issues.

Ironically my main complaint about the film is exactly the complaint I had about Leo's last film Shutter Island. The theme of the "dream world vs. reality" is another sci-fi concept that has become so overused by now that almost nothing interesting or fresh can be said about it anymore. The genre now has its own set of cliches that are repeated here as well. Watching films like this or Shutter Island can instantly hearken you back to half a dozen episodes of various Star Trek series like Frame of Mind, Hard Time, The Thaw, and Waking Moments. It will also inevitably be compared to the Matrix which had a much more original and interesting twist on the concept and this film kind of pales in comparison to it.

Also a spoiler about the final scene:

Spoiler: Last scene

While Nolan is obviously trying to continue the "dream vs. reality" theme of the movie, the collective titter from the audience indicated that it fell flat on its face. In this post-Sopranos-ending world the ambiguous last scene just may be the latest example of the patented Hollywood Twist Ending.

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

I personally loved the ending, although I think it's the real world Cobb is in, the ever spinning totem was somewhat of a nod to him living his dream in the end, hence the totem spinning like a dream. I reckon if the shot had carried on for 3 seconds longer we'd have seen it fall, but I knew it was going to cut short, just to leave us hanging.

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

First "reaction" was a joke.

Go see it! You'll love it. Well, you might not love it, but I do think you'll like it.

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

The credits had two sets of kids, one at 20 months and three years old, and one at three and five years old. Either they used two different pairs in the flashbacks (one for the beach and one for the goodbye), a different pair at the end, or the same ones visually throughout and a different pair during the phone conversation. I wouldn't expect an audio-only role to be credited, but they credited Old Dom and Old Mal, and they were only on-screen for a few seconds, and then from behind and a distance.

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

I don't see what the big deal is. I didn't think it lived up to the hype of everyone saying it was a masterpiece that saves a so far dismal summer movie season. It has some of the same problems as Nolan's other movies like too much exposition and incoherent action scenes, and the exposition was even more annoying this time because it was made of confusing jargon about the imaginary technology of the movie. Also, to echo an opinion I've read elsewhere (and agreed with), Dicaprio was doing the same schtick he's done in several movies now ("The Aviator", "The Departed", "Shutter Island") where he's basically 'intense guy, haunted by some personal demons'. Not the most interesting or original protagonist.

The movie has such a great cast and doesn't give most of them enough to do. Ellen Page, who was so endearing and funny in "Juno" plays a pretty dull character. She just gets stuff explained to her and feels sorry for Leo. Joseph-Gordon Levitt who showed tons of charisma in "(500) Days of Summer", gets two cool moments "paradox!" and "worth a shot", but mostly stands around looking serious. Tom Hardy, who was so charismatic in "Star Trek: Nemesis" that the sheer force of his performance convinced me that the movie and his character were great the first time I saw it, has a few fun wise-cracking moments, but sometimes his dialog is drowned out by the soundtrack.

I've heard it described as 'James Bond meets the Matrix', and in some ways, I think that's a problem. For example, the constant explosions and scenes like the van being shot at by thugs and endless thugs shooting at the heroes in the snow felt like generic James Bond action. I got bored of seeing entire cities crumbling too. The novelty wore off after awhile.

There were lots of positives, though. I found the soundtrack delightfully foreboding and always enjoyable (except when it drowned out dialog). I really liked how time was shown going at a different rate in dreams by having so much going on while the van is going over the bridge in mere seconds (although again, the snow scenes bored me at times). While the snow scene was weak, I was so happy every time the movie cut back to the zero gravity scene. I thought that was the best part of the movie.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt's physical performance was terrific (although again, I wish his character had more development and dialog), and the way the fight was shot with climbing the walls and flying through the air was the one action part of the movie that did feel really original and exciting. I also thought the visual of him stringing together all the sleepers and dragging them into the elevator was amazing.

Also, I thought the ending was awesome, so I left the movie feeling positive, but when I look back on it, there were things that bugged me. I admire the movie most for the neatness of some of its visuals and overall I liked it and am glad I saw it, but I don't think it's the visionary masterpiece many are calling it. I also don't think it's Nolan's best film so far. I would rank it below all of them, except "Following", which isn't much of an accomplishment since that was his first movie and he still had a lot to learn when he made it.

In general, the plot bugged me because of all the excessive exposition (like "The Dark Knight", although I thought that movie was much better than this one), but I did think the inception plan itself was brilliant and I like the way it worked on Cillian Murphy's character. I said it disappointed me that Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Tom Hardy didn't have more to do, but I liked how Cillian Murphy and Ken Watanabe had much bigger roles than they did in Nolan's other movies. This allowed Murphy to show his acting chops more. Overall, I think the movie had too much of some things and too little of other things, but the things that worked about it were extremely impressive and made it worth watching.

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

I loved "Inception" saw it last night and will be seeing it again next weekend. I thought it was one of the best films I've seen in the last several years right up there with "Moon". I have been excited for this film much like Jackson Archer but for myself because of the subject matter of dreaming that the film forms it's plot around but "Inception" is about much more than that. This is easily my favorite Leo DiCaprio film who gave a really great acting performance and Nolan's meaty script gave him a chance to show off his wide variety of acting skills not to mention his enjoyment of physical acting which he's talked about in the past. Ellen Page's character is vital to helping to understand the character of Dom Cobb and I thought was charming and used to help explain the concept of the dream world and how it works. I'm forever now a Joseph Gordon-Levitt fan...his performance in "Inception" is brilliant as it was in "500 Days of Summer" and he too is given a chance to demonstrate a different side of his acting ability in this film. In fact all of the characters and actors that "Inception" features has their own chance to shine in their own way in this movie. Tom Hardy's character too in particular while being the comedic element was serious as well and worked. Hans Zimmer's haunting and almost sad score is excellent and the cinematography. I feel like I'm doing the film an injustice by given this rudimentary quick review but I've not fully composed my thoughts about the film yet and probably won't have a proper review up until after I see it a second time, this will have to suffice. The best film of the year so far and as I stated one of my favorite films period. I give it four of four stars.

 

Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss

Great movie overall, although I do have to agree with those that say it's a bit overloaded with exposition (it seems like all anybody ever does is explain the "rules" to each other), and perhaps more complicated than it really needed to be. And the final act did get a bit too chaotic and hard to follow (at least on first viewing).

But just for the ingenuity and brilliance of the concept, and for the fact I was absolutely RIVETED to the screen the whole time, I'd still have to give this an excellent. There was something almost hypnotic about the whole experience, as if you were falling deeper and deeper into a dream yourself right along with the characters. I love that.