Lyzsi SinclairCinema release review - "Inception"...
“Inception” is one of the big summer blockbuster releases for summer 2010, and it comes from director of “The Dark Knight” – Christopher Nolan. With a star-studded cast and enormous budget behind it, this mind-bending sci-fi action thriller, stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page and Marion Cotillard (“Nine”).
Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is one of the world’s most talented thieves, but jewellery and riches aren’t his target. As a skilled ‘extractor’, he goes deep into people’s minds when they are asleep and dreaming – and steals the secrets, he’s paid to take, from deep inside his victim’s subconscious. Corporate espionage at its best, it has cost him his family and home – and now he lives part-fugitive just hoping he can get back home and see his children. When the opportunity comes from a rich corporation leader (Ken Watanabe – “The Last Samurai”), with a promise that he can solve Cobb’s problems and successfully get Cobb back home without any trouble, the offer seems too good to be true. However, Cobb soon finds himself with the task of ‘inception’ – planting (rather than stealing) an idea into someone’s mind – something very difficult and extremely dangerous to do. Assembling his team (Joseph Gordon-Levitt – “Brick”, Ellen Page – “Juno”, Tom Hardy – “Bronson”, and Dileep Rao – “Avatar”), and researching his mark (Cillian Murphy – “28 Days Later”), can Cobb pull it off; or will his own subconscious sabotage him with tragedies from the past…?
This is a film that has been incredibly hyped-up for a while now, meaning it’s usually not the kind of film I’m desperate to see. I generally find the more people talk about a film – the less I want to see it – and the fact that one of the main posters for it, looks incredibly similar to Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” posters, it did nothing to boost my confidence in it. I can however say that “Inception” was definitely one of the more superb films I’ve seen so far this year.
Starting with the basics, the story itself is one that reeks of creativity in a Hollywood that seems all too obsessed with sequels and remakes. It’s crafted with care, and isn’t just passed off as one of your everyday action films. Each little detail has been thought of, each plan is followed through and each idea is carried along beautifully. The whole story is meant to have a confusing quality to it – but in what threatens to be an echo of what other critics have said – it is probably the most cohesive confusion in film. The pace of it flowed really well, and kept my eyes affixed to the screen at all times. Leonardo DiCaprio delivers a solid performance as usual in the leading man role, although at times Cobb’s interactions with his wife’s character played by Marion Cotillard seemed tiresome and repetitive. From the start I found myself taking a disliking to her character, but perhaps this was what Nolan had in mind so as to not give the audience a chance to connect with her, therefore causing them to miss out on parts of the big overall story.
Ellen Page was great in her supporting role, but its possible slight parts of her story were lost in translation near the end where lots of things were happening at once. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was fantastic and one of two more stand-out performances (at least for me) in this film. He carries everything off with such a cool calm exterior – never at all seeming overwhelmed or phased for a moment. One little scene with him and Page delivered some comic relief and a solid laugh from the audience. There were only say three or four little jokes in this film – but it added to the strength of the plot and provided a much needed chuckle for an audience sat down to watch a, rather long, two and a half hour film. Tom Hardy was the other performance that stood out for me. For parts of the plot he seemed to carry it along nicely, whether it was just using his manly charm and knowledge to interact with characters – or whether he was just being a straight talking character. I know he was a supporting actor, but he definitely stood out in the majority more for me than DiCaprio.
The directing in this film was brilliant also. Nolan made it so that everything you saw on screen was what you needed to see. With a massive budget behind him, it wasn’t hard for him to create a dreamscape world in which anything is possible. The location and the sets were refined, stream-lined, built for purpose and beautiful, what more could you ask for? A few people I’ve spoken to were not fans of the snow scene in this film – however much you enjoyed it, you have to admit the scenery and sets were breathtaking and visually pleasing. I don’t remember in particular any piece of music, but the score that was there accompanied it well and didn’t distract from the action.
Before I score this, I need to vent a little. I am completely behind people having different opinions to films, but lately the amount of stuff I’ve seen where people have compared this to “The Matrix” has annoyed me. This film is not meant to be a re-hashing or similar story at all, and I think it shows a lack of intelligence when people use phrases like 'diet coke version of "The Matrix”'. If people want to go see that particular film, then they should stay at home with the DVD, and never venture out into cinema-land to see this. It really annoys me when people use one film in a genre to measure all others by – if people are going to be so stubborn and unwillingly to accept new stuff, then that is their problem. Both “The Matrix” and “Inception” use slow-motion effects and different realities – but “Inception” uses the already known and established dreamscape that we all are subject to, and takes it onto a deeper level.
I also should say for those that think I’m heralding Christopher Nolan as one of the greatest directors in cinema, and overall critic’s darling, that I hated “The Dark Knight” (controversial I know) and wasn’t expecting too much from this. To say I was more than pleasantly surprised is a definite understatement. In another slight rant, when it came to the snow scene, I’ve seen a lot of complaints that it was too-long and not interesting enough. As explained in the film, with different levels of dreams the length of time is increased – and so to make this scene concise would have completely nulled the theory behind the main premise. This could be the mindless rantings of a 21-year-old, but I wish people would pay more attention to the plot and explanations. Would they really want to have left the cinema sooner, in exchange for selling out resulting in a poorer story? I personally would not.
Rant over, I can accept that this film is not to everybody’s taste – but I urge as many people to see it as possible. I absolutely loved it, and at the end of the day, when it’s about entertainment – this film delivers. I didn’t take my eyes off the screen once, and with each twist and reveal of the story, I was left more and more satisfied. Originally I was going to give this film a 9/10, but after a stellar and mind-blowing twist ending, that made everyone in the cinema screen gasp in shock and exasperation – I just had to give it an extra half a mark (a big thing I find). “Inception” gets a 9.5/10 from me. Flix Out.
Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is one of the world’s most talented thieves, but jewellery and riches aren’t his target. As a skilled ‘extractor’, he goes deep into people’s minds when they are asleep and dreaming – and steals the secrets, he’s paid to take, from deep inside his victim’s subconscious. Corporate espionage at its best, it has cost him his family and home – and now he lives part-fugitive just hoping he can get back home and see his children. When the opportunity comes from a rich corporation leader (Ken Watanabe – “The Last Samurai”), with a promise that he can solve Cobb’s problems and successfully get Cobb back home without any trouble, the offer seems too good to be true. However, Cobb soon finds himself with the task of ‘inception’ – planting (rather than stealing) an idea into someone’s mind – something very difficult and extremely dangerous to do. Assembling his team (Joseph Gordon-Levitt – “Brick”, Ellen Page – “Juno”, Tom Hardy – “Bronson”, and Dileep Rao – “Avatar”), and researching his mark (Cillian Murphy – “28 Days Later”), can Cobb pull it off; or will his own subconscious sabotage him with tragedies from the past…?
Will Cobb pull off the job, and get his life back...?
This is a film that has been incredibly hyped-up for a while now, meaning it’s usually not the kind of film I’m desperate to see. I generally find the more people talk about a film – the less I want to see it – and the fact that one of the main posters for it, looks incredibly similar to Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” posters, it did nothing to boost my confidence in it. I can however say that “Inception” was definitely one of the more superb films I’ve seen so far this year.
Starting with the basics, the story itself is one that reeks of creativity in a Hollywood that seems all too obsessed with sequels and remakes. It’s crafted with care, and isn’t just passed off as one of your everyday action films. Each little detail has been thought of, each plan is followed through and each idea is carried along beautifully. The whole story is meant to have a confusing quality to it – but in what threatens to be an echo of what other critics have said – it is probably the most cohesive confusion in film. The pace of it flowed really well, and kept my eyes affixed to the screen at all times. Leonardo DiCaprio delivers a solid performance as usual in the leading man role, although at times Cobb’s interactions with his wife’s character played by Marion Cotillard seemed tiresome and repetitive. From the start I found myself taking a disliking to her character, but perhaps this was what Nolan had in mind so as to not give the audience a chance to connect with her, therefore causing them to miss out on parts of the big overall story.
DiCaprio gave his usual solid leading man performance...
Ellen Page was great in her supporting role, but its possible slight parts of her story were lost in translation near the end where lots of things were happening at once. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was fantastic and one of two more stand-out performances (at least for me) in this film. He carries everything off with such a cool calm exterior – never at all seeming overwhelmed or phased for a moment. One little scene with him and Page delivered some comic relief and a solid laugh from the audience. There were only say three or four little jokes in this film – but it added to the strength of the plot and provided a much needed chuckle for an audience sat down to watch a, rather long, two and a half hour film. Tom Hardy was the other performance that stood out for me. For parts of the plot he seemed to carry it along nicely, whether it was just using his manly charm and knowledge to interact with characters – or whether he was just being a straight talking character. I know he was a supporting actor, but he definitely stood out in the majority more for me than DiCaprio.
There were a few sparks of great chemisty with Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon-Levitt...
The directing in this film was brilliant also. Nolan made it so that everything you saw on screen was what you needed to see. With a massive budget behind him, it wasn’t hard for him to create a dreamscape world in which anything is possible. The location and the sets were refined, stream-lined, built for purpose and beautiful, what more could you ask for? A few people I’ve spoken to were not fans of the snow scene in this film – however much you enjoyed it, you have to admit the scenery and sets were breathtaking and visually pleasing. I don’t remember in particular any piece of music, but the score that was there accompanied it well and didn’t distract from the action.
Before I score this, I need to vent a little. I am completely behind people having different opinions to films, but lately the amount of stuff I’ve seen where people have compared this to “The Matrix” has annoyed me. This film is not meant to be a re-hashing or similar story at all, and I think it shows a lack of intelligence when people use phrases like 'diet coke version of "The Matrix”'. If people want to go see that particular film, then they should stay at home with the DVD, and never venture out into cinema-land to see this. It really annoys me when people use one film in a genre to measure all others by – if people are going to be so stubborn and unwillingly to accept new stuff, then that is their problem. Both “The Matrix” and “Inception” use slow-motion effects and different realities – but “Inception” uses the already known and established dreamscape that we all are subject to, and takes it onto a deeper level.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt had lots of incredible slow-motion scenes...
I also should say for those that think I’m heralding Christopher Nolan as one of the greatest directors in cinema, and overall critic’s darling, that I hated “The Dark Knight” (controversial I know) and wasn’t expecting too much from this. To say I was more than pleasantly surprised is a definite understatement. In another slight rant, when it came to the snow scene, I’ve seen a lot of complaints that it was too-long and not interesting enough. As explained in the film, with different levels of dreams the length of time is increased – and so to make this scene concise would have completely nulled the theory behind the main premise. This could be the mindless rantings of a 21-year-old, but I wish people would pay more attention to the plot and explanations. Would they really want to have left the cinema sooner, in exchange for selling out resulting in a poorer story? I personally would not.
Rant over, I can accept that this film is not to everybody’s taste – but I urge as many people to see it as possible. I absolutely loved it, and at the end of the day, when it’s about entertainment – this film delivers. I didn’t take my eyes off the screen once, and with each twist and reveal of the story, I was left more and more satisfied. Originally I was going to give this film a 9/10, but after a stellar and mind-blowing twist ending, that made everyone in the cinema screen gasp in shock and exasperation – I just had to give it an extra half a mark (a big thing I find). “Inception” gets a 9.5/10 from me. Flix Out.
