This was probably the first movie I've actually wanted to see since Dark Knight and what a coincidence that it's by the same director. I was a little worried when MovieBob gave it a good review, because I haven't been terribly impressed by the last bunch of movies he thought was good (He *did* hate Twilight, but this only requires two functioning brain cells, so he doesn't get points for it).
Cutting jibes at MovieBob aside, for the first time in a good long time, this was a movie that didn't provide me with any real disappointment. I was disappointed by the fact that I don't see any upcoming movies in the near future being this good except possibly Harry Potter, but that is more of a mark in the movie's favor than against it.
So, it's very tempting to just say go watch MovieBob's review because everything he says is more or less true, but that wouldn't really be reviewing the movie. Also, I want to make a few points.
First of all, what this movie does really well is the blending of concept, plot and character. While this is definitely a science fiction film of the classic variety - something Isaac Asimov would have been proud to call his own if he'd come up with it - and the characters are built around serving the concept and theme of the film, the characters are interesting and presented well enough that you won't notice they are contrived for that purpose. Furthermore, the character around which the movie centers is complex and emotionally endearing. Even as his emotional problems drive the plot and build up just how the technology can go wrong, they make you care about him more as a character because his problems are the kind that everyone faces at some point. Everyone knows what it's like to have regrets and anyone old enough to get into this movie without a parent accompanying them knows what it's like to loose someone you care about. The characters may not be the most important part of the plot, but the movie doesn't take the easy road by relying on stocks or stereotypes.
Second, unlike most movies, this isn't a film that treats you like a moron who can't pay attention to anything unless you get a fart joke every five minutes. Hollywood has this idea that its average viewer is on the same stage of evolution as a paramecium and either they make movies where they stop to explain it to you every five minutes through redundant expeditionary dialogue, or they make a movie simple enough that you can watch it without needing to think a single thought because it's something you've seen before in one form or another. This movie doesn't do that. It treats you like an intelligent, thinking creature and while a few people might be left behind by this, I believe that the majority of the audience will be able to follow the plot just fine and will actually feel good about it because they *were* able to follow a difficult movie. In short, this movie respects its audience by not talking down to it; it takes those who are willing and raises them up to its level.
Finally, this is also a movie that knows about film structure. For starters, it makes use of the visual elements that is the mediums strongest point to tell the story in a way that no other medium can, especially with the mind-hammering, delightfully ambiguous ending that allows its audience to decide for itself exactly what happened. It's opening scene comes full-circle at the end in a very thematically significant way, which I can't explain without giving away the plot. I was busy paying attention to the plot on my first viewing, so I'm not sure how it holds up with the lost art of mise-en-scene, but the cinematography was top notch and I've seen more than a few occasions in Nolan's previous works, so I'll bet it's there. All in all, this was a story that had to be a movie to be told right and in a setting where producers have clearly been thinking "what book can we rape next?" for a long time, that is quite refreshing.
In short, if you haven't seen this movie, it's one that you must see because there hasn't been a movie like this in a long time and probably won't be another any time soon unless we give it our support.
Cutting jibes at MovieBob aside, for the first time in a good long time, this was a movie that didn't provide me with any real disappointment. I was disappointed by the fact that I don't see any upcoming movies in the near future being this good except possibly Harry Potter, but that is more of a mark in the movie's favor than against it.
So, it's very tempting to just say go watch MovieBob's review because everything he says is more or less true, but that wouldn't really be reviewing the movie. Also, I want to make a few points.
First of all, what this movie does really well is the blending of concept, plot and character. While this is definitely a science fiction film of the classic variety - something Isaac Asimov would have been proud to call his own if he'd come up with it - and the characters are built around serving the concept and theme of the film, the characters are interesting and presented well enough that you won't notice they are contrived for that purpose. Furthermore, the character around which the movie centers is complex and emotionally endearing. Even as his emotional problems drive the plot and build up just how the technology can go wrong, they make you care about him more as a character because his problems are the kind that everyone faces at some point. Everyone knows what it's like to have regrets and anyone old enough to get into this movie without a parent accompanying them knows what it's like to loose someone you care about. The characters may not be the most important part of the plot, but the movie doesn't take the easy road by relying on stocks or stereotypes.
Second, unlike most movies, this isn't a film that treats you like a moron who can't pay attention to anything unless you get a fart joke every five minutes. Hollywood has this idea that its average viewer is on the same stage of evolution as a paramecium and either they make movies where they stop to explain it to you every five minutes through redundant expeditionary dialogue, or they make a movie simple enough that you can watch it without needing to think a single thought because it's something you've seen before in one form or another. This movie doesn't do that. It treats you like an intelligent, thinking creature and while a few people might be left behind by this, I believe that the majority of the audience will be able to follow the plot just fine and will actually feel good about it because they *were* able to follow a difficult movie. In short, this movie respects its audience by not talking down to it; it takes those who are willing and raises them up to its level.
Finally, this is also a movie that knows about film structure. For starters, it makes use of the visual elements that is the mediums strongest point to tell the story in a way that no other medium can, especially with the mind-hammering, delightfully ambiguous ending that allows its audience to decide for itself exactly what happened. It's opening scene comes full-circle at the end in a very thematically significant way, which I can't explain without giving away the plot. I was busy paying attention to the plot on my first viewing, so I'm not sure how it holds up with the lost art of mise-en-scene, but the cinematography was top notch and I've seen more than a few occasions in Nolan's previous works, so I'll bet it's there. All in all, this was a story that had to be a movie to be told right and in a setting where producers have clearly been thinking "what book can we rape next?" for a long time, that is quite refreshing.
In short, if you haven't seen this movie, it's one that you must see because there hasn't been a movie like this in a long time and probably won't be another any time soon unless we give it our support.
