Well, I just got back from watching Inception, and I figure the best way for me to put together my thoughts on it is to write a review, so here it is. Note that this is my first impressions; for a film like this, you really need to see it a few times to write anything fully comprehensive.
Inception is a hard movie to watch. Its an experience that leaves you mentally tired like you just read a Platonic dialogue, in the original Greek no less! Don't go expecting something easy to unwind with. Pay hard attention though, and you will find it a very rich experience, something that starts the mind spinning ideas like a top.
The philosophy and inherit plot are brilliant; Without leaving any spoilers, I will say the ending was of such sublime genius, that I left that theater with my jaw gaping all the way until I got in my car. The characters were supurb, adding that oh so neccesary human element to deep concepts such as these, and I have no complaints for actor portrayels.
Inception wasn't a perfect film though, its flaws made glaringly obvious in relation to its shinier attributes. Perhaps when I see it again and pick up a few of the things I missed the first time, I'll be a bit more forgiving, but not now.
The concepts explored by Inception are by no means new (Look up a distinguished old frenchman by the name of Descartes) and its sole original merrit rests in its portrayel of these elements. Inception is effectively a philosophy teacher, a philosophy teacher who's lessons consist of explosions and gunfire, but a teacher none the less. For me, I most critically judged it on how well it presented its core material.
Inception understands it is a hard film, knows it has limited appeal to the mainstream, and so consequently decides to embrace its veneer of mystery. The movie should have been trying its very hardest to clarify its content without dumbing it down, while I feel that sometimes it was purposefully trying to obscure itself with rushed scenes and murkey dialogue. There is poetry, and there is purposefully writing nonsense just to draw people with a search for deeper meaning (Yes there is a difference!)
My second immersion-shattering problem was with the dream physics. This movie throws a lot of crazy concepts at you, and they were pretty hit and miss for me. Half the stuff had me going "Awesome!" and the other half "Bullshit!" Inception asks you to give it a lot of creative leeway, and it earns the most of that, but it really did push the boundries at some points.
And this is a small nitpick, more to do with personal tastes then anything, but a little more humour would have gone a long way.
Anyway, that's my first impressions. I'm planning on seeing it a second time, which I rarely do for movies if that's any indication. Good film, you really need to check it out for yourselves though.
Inception is a hard movie to watch. Its an experience that leaves you mentally tired like you just read a Platonic dialogue, in the original Greek no less! Don't go expecting something easy to unwind with. Pay hard attention though, and you will find it a very rich experience, something that starts the mind spinning ideas like a top.
The philosophy and inherit plot are brilliant; Without leaving any spoilers, I will say the ending was of such sublime genius, that I left that theater with my jaw gaping all the way until I got in my car. The characters were supurb, adding that oh so neccesary human element to deep concepts such as these, and I have no complaints for actor portrayels.
Inception wasn't a perfect film though, its flaws made glaringly obvious in relation to its shinier attributes. Perhaps when I see it again and pick up a few of the things I missed the first time, I'll be a bit more forgiving, but not now.
The concepts explored by Inception are by no means new (Look up a distinguished old frenchman by the name of Descartes) and its sole original merrit rests in its portrayel of these elements. Inception is effectively a philosophy teacher, a philosophy teacher who's lessons consist of explosions and gunfire, but a teacher none the less. For me, I most critically judged it on how well it presented its core material.
Inception understands it is a hard film, knows it has limited appeal to the mainstream, and so consequently decides to embrace its veneer of mystery. The movie should have been trying its very hardest to clarify its content without dumbing it down, while I feel that sometimes it was purposefully trying to obscure itself with rushed scenes and murkey dialogue. There is poetry, and there is purposefully writing nonsense just to draw people with a search for deeper meaning (Yes there is a difference!)
My second immersion-shattering problem was with the dream physics. This movie throws a lot of crazy concepts at you, and they were pretty hit and miss for me. Half the stuff had me going "Awesome!" and the other half "Bullshit!" Inception asks you to give it a lot of creative leeway, and it earns the most of that, but it really did push the boundries at some points.
And this is a small nitpick, more to do with personal tastes then anything, but a little more humour would have gone a long way.
Anyway, that's my first impressions. I'm planning on seeing it a second time, which I rarely do for movies if that's any indication. Good film, you really need to check it out for yourselves though.
