Welcome to another
Where our ace attorneys review what gamers enjoy most!
Where our ace attorneys review what gamers enjoy most!
This review will be the first movie review for OBJECTION, so it's time to start. Who are the attorneys for today?
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On the defense, we have the undefeated-to-date Phoenix Wright!
Phoenix: Great to be back with a new twist today!
And on the prosecution, we have a newcomer to this courtroom, the mysterious Godot!
Godot: Powerful, yet smooth to drink in. Dark and bitter, but softened with a hint of sweetness. Strong enough to wake one up from even the most lethargic of days. An orchestra for all five senses. Overall, good from start to finish. That is my opinion of both a good cup of coffee and a good film. I have very high standards for both, which I will apply to this review as well.
Phoenix: Good to see you haven't changed...
Godot: Good to see you haven't either, Trite. I owe you a thumping in court.
Let's save the thumping for the arguments, gentlemen.
For those reading OBJECTION! for the first time, here's how this is gonna work. This is a review done in an Ace Attorney cross-examination style, arguing the pros and cons of the item being reviewed. Godot tries to pick it apart, and Phoenix tries to defend it. The facts of the item will be given in a series of testimonies. When the attorneys can find a good point to be made about the item arguing for their side, they point it out. The other side may respond with objections or in other ways if they wish to do so. In the end, I, The Judge, will pass judgment on whether or not the item is guilty of wasting a gamer's time and money.
For movies, we will hear testimonies on what I like to call the "3 P's": Plot, Performance, and Production. This review will cover the recently-released DVD edition of the biggest summer blockbuster of last year, Inception! So let's do our best to get into each other's heads and plant some ideas about the movie!
[HEADING=2]Plot[/HEADING]
Agent Dom Cobb has what would today be considered a unique specialty: raiding people's dreams and stealing information from their minds, a practice known as extraction. One day, after one such raid, a Japanese business mogul named Saito offers Cobb a chance to reconnect with his estranged children, but in return he must do the impossible in the dream raiding business. He must go inside Saito's chief competitor's subconscious and implant an idea. This is known as inception, from which the movie's name is derived, and it is thought by many within the extraction community to be impossible. And so Cobb builds a crack team to develop a complex and convoluted-seeming plot to not only plant the idea into the competitor's head, but to make it believable. Much of the story revolves around the theory behind dream raiding and inception, which may seem confusing at times.
Godot: HOLD IT! "Seem confusing at times"? That's not hard to believe. The holes in this theory are wide enough to dig this mess of a film's grave. I've died once; I should know.
Phoenix: HOLD IT! OK, Godot. Would you mind sharing for us exactly what those plot holes are?
Godot: (sniffs and sips coffee) ...gladly.
Phoenix: Gyuh!
Godot: Where do I begin? I suppose my main issue is choosing to take things into dreams or not. If the business of extraction is to steal information from somebody's mind, and the target of the dream is not the person whose dream the setting is in, then how is it that the target brings in the information that the extractor needs, especially if that person knows they are dreaming and has built up security against such a thing happening? At the same time, how is it that the extractors can bring things such as weapons and even other dream-sharing devices into the dream? It would seem that all one would have to do to protect themselves from extraction is to dream of a bigger or more effective weapon than the extractor.
Next is the matter of Cobb in relation to the other extractors, and their character development. Cobb had a terrible tragedy happen in his life with his wife and children. This tragedy grew to define him so much that it caused him to become almost consumed by it.
Phoenix: Remind you of somebody, Godot?
Godot: Why don't you look in the mirror and say that, Trite?
Phoenix: ...
Godot: I think you see my point, then. Cobb can hardly be the only member of the team that has gone through hardship in his life that would have some effect on the world of their dreams. You would have to think that any member of the team with some sort of secret would also drag their own baggage into the dream with them, yet Cobb seems to be the only one with such issues. If Cobb claims to be the best there is, why is it that he is the only one who can't seem to keep his own subconscious in check? In comparison, it makes the other characters seem about as bland as a lukewarm cup of instant coffee. I want to find what goes on in the depths of their mind like I find the flavors in the depths of fresh-roasted beans.
Phoenix: HOLD IT! This is a movie, I hope you remember. If we were to explore every member of the team that way, you would probably end up drawing it out into a trilogy or even the first season of a TV series on inception. There's only so much that can be done in two and a half hours. Plus, it's just common narrative sense to choose one character as the main protagonist and have the audience experience the story from the perspective of that character, especially in a story with a theoretical base as complicated as this one. The audience can't possibly be expected to process not only the intricacies of how extraction and inception work, but also the deep personal secrets of every member of the team, as well as their target. It would be overwhelming. We're watching a movie, not a psychology lecture.
Godot: Well, for the sake of brevity, Trite, I just want to point out that there are plenty of other plot holes found in the movie that can be easily found in other reviews or discussions on the internet. If you're anywhere decent at your job and you look them up, I'm sure you will find them.
Let's move on to our discussion on...
[HEADING=2]Performance[/HEADING]
The cast features a good number of big-name stars from both present and past. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Cobb, and he is supported by such names as Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, and Sir Michael Caine. There are no breakout performances in the acting department, but every performance is solidly delivered.
Phoenix: INCEPTION! Wait, that's not right. I mean, OBJECTION! I wouldn't really say that there are no breakout performances here, though I will agree that all the acting is quite solid. Let's look at Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He has largely gone undistinguished among younger actors in Hollywood for some time now, falling behind other stars such as Michael Cera and Shia LeBeouf. All three actors began their careers in a similar fashion, with large supporting roles in sitcoms before stepping into feature-length films. Cera had Arrested Development, LeBeouf had Even Stevens, and Gordon-Levitt had Third Rock from the Sun. Since then, Cera and LeBeouf have each been at least featured in several films, and Cera has actually been the leading man in a few. Gordon-Levitt had one prior film role to his Third Rock part, starring in 1994's Angels in the Outfield. Since then, he has largely fallen under the radar, and his role in Inception can be seen as a solid attempt at a comeback, a ?second breakout?, if you will.
Godot: OBJECTION! No, I won't, Trite. He's been far from "under-the-radar". He played Cobra Commander in the GI Joe movie last year and starred as Hesher in the movie of the same name earlier this year. And let's not forget his starring role in 2007's The Lookout, either. That's three films right there. So while this may clearly be the performance that gets him the most publicity in a few years, he hasn't exactly had a hard time finding decent roles recently.
Phoenix: OK, point taken. So it's not exactly a breakout role for him either. But would you agree that there wasn't a really bad acting performance in this film?
Godot: ...
Phoenix: Well?
Godot: Let's move on to other performance aspects, shall we? We don't have all day.
Phoenix: *smirk*
The art direction in the film is classic Christopher Nolan fare, looking very much like the Gotham City of his two Batman films. The world of dreams is largely dark and dreary, filled with deep hues and little sun. This, combined with the driving musical score by Hans Zimmer, gives a sense of urgency to the extractors' mission and instills suspense into what is, in actuality, a rather safe mission when one gets right down to it. After all, none of the characters are in any real danger for most of the movie, with the exceptions of Cobb, Fischer and Saito near the end.
Phoenix: HOLD IT! The "driving musical score" is certainly appropriate and downright necessary for such a mission. Even though they are only inside someone's dream for most of it, they are still escaping gunfire and car chases and even raiding military compounds within those dreams. You can't have a nice, easy listening track with that. It has to be powerful.
Godot: But does it need this?
Man, that was annoying. Made me want to go back into my coma after the second time I heard it, even more so after the fiftieth time when it became an internet meme.
Phoenix: Blaming the fans again, are we? That's like saying the World Cup sucked because of the vuvuzelas. Sure, that was one annoying part of it, but a very minor part that really doesn't get in the way of the main draw of the feature all that much. All things considered, I think we can agree that as a whole, the main performance and artistic aspects of the movie were quite well done.
It's time to move on to...
[HEADING=2]Production[/HEADING]
Like many blockbuster suspense thrillers, this film relies a great deal on visual effects. In a dream world, where the laws of physics can be broken (with consequences), such effects are certainly required. They cause the folding, breaking and deterioration of the very environment around the characters. Cinematography combines with these effects in order to give the illusion of such things as floating down a winding corridor with no gravity and a freight train barreling through a busy street. There is not much to say regarding sound. It is well-mixed and edited.
Godot: HOLD IT! So the visual effects are indeed quite impressive, being able to fold and play with the environment. But is there any innovation in them for this movie? Is there anything that hasn't been done before, or are we just seeing the same CGI technology we've been using for some time in this feature?
Phoenix: Well... I don't really know if there is anything particularly innovative, but what I do know is that there are a few impressive scenes using the technology, such as this one:
And here's another one:
Godot: Very impressive, Trite. It seems you've done your homework after all. But you haven't answered my question straight. What about it makes it so impressive? Give me an answer without any cream or sugar, straight as I like my coffee.
Phoenix: Perhaps the most impressive part about it is in how seamless the whole production is. There is little to no sign here, much like in an actual dream world, that what you are seeing isn't real. It is perhaps one of the best blends of CGI and actual setting that we have seen in a film to date. It makes it all the more enjoyable.
Godot: OBJECTION!
Phoenix: Gyuh!
Godot: Maybe now you'll taste some black coffee, WITHOUT sugar. Stop trying to sweeten it up. Facts and evidence, Trite, facts and evidence.
Alright, now it's time for the...
[HEADING=2]Verdict[/HEADING]
This one's pretty cut and dry, especially given the critical and audience reaction this film has received. For formality's sake, here's the breakdown:
Pros
*Original IP with a very complex yet enjoyable foundation
*Talented acting and directorial performances
*Visuals and sound create a thoroughly believable world, even with the ?dreamy? subject matter
Cons
*Plot may get convoluted and is riddled with holes
*Not much innovation in any one particular aspect of the film
In the end, I declare Inception
This is one of the best films of 2010 and is one that you certainly should not miss.
Phoenix: I totally agree with that statement. It was good seeing you again, Godot.
Godot: Though I lost, it was indeed good to give it a try.
That's all for today. Thanks for reading
Be sure to check out my other installments as well:
The Ace Attorney Series [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.198104-OBJECTION-1-The-Ace-Attorney-Series]
Super Mario Bros. Crossover [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.198306-OBJECTION-Super-Mario-Crossover#6449676]
Sonic 4: Episode 1 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.250207-OBJECTION-3-Sonic-4-Episode-1]
