Inception

The beginning could best be characterized as a combination of Cronenberg's eXistenZ and the Wachowski brothers' The Matrix. A magnificent high-budget summer blockbuster that is surprisingly smart and multi-layered for its category. Of course, like The Matrix, it can be criticized for its gratuitous action scenes, the shallow plot in relation to the promising premise, and a number of other shortcomings, such as the underutilization of the "defensive dream team" built into Cillian Murphy's character's brain. If he were endowed with intelligence and not just serving as an action element that fills the screen with a series of bullets and dead bodies, there would be a truly thrilling battle. On the other hand, given the nature of the film market and the producer's expectations, it is clear that these limitations are entirely logical and that Nolan could not have bypassed them. In fact, I can't recall any blockbuster that required the viewer to strain their brain so much. Strictly speaking, the script does contain some logical errors, but they can be brilliantly explained by the fact that the story takes place in a dream. Furthermore, the very clever final scene and the view of the moving object on the table clearly indicate how things actually are and whose head the story is unfolding in. Nolan's film offers top-notch cinematography, bombastic special effects, and a gripping dramatic plot without compromising on the high demands for other film elements. It also has an excellent cast led by one of the best contemporary American actors, DiCaprio. For me, it's the strongest film experience of this year after Scorsese's Shutter Island. Overall impression: 95. (09/08/2010)

I'm honestly glad for that light doubter prickle I went to see the film with. The beginning is undoubtedly a great, complex and ambitious work, but from my point of view it did not overcome Nolan's two previous masterpieces. Unlike The Prestige, it is strictly linear and lacks the great narrative finesse that will make me feel good even after watching it many times, and unlike The Dark Knight, it lacks that monumental fatefulness. The idea is brilliant, but the script says everything important from the very beginning, explains too much, and surprises too little. Jonathan would definitely help. And the other thing - DiCaprio plays exactly the same character as in Scorsese's Shutter Island. In exactly the same way. Regardless, these two things pulled me out of the sweet dizziness that so many people had succumbed to. (23/07/2010)

Christopher Nolan really nails it! Fantastic direction, perfect music. A film that surely messes with everyone's head. Even in the cinema you could tell how excited everyone was and how would love to see it again. Therefore, I join the opinion that this film is a drug and deserves the highest rating. A full 100% and more. (04/12/2010)

It's a good movie, but it has its flaws. I think the most annoying thing was the frantic camera work, where at times I wasn't sure what it was actually trying to show me... When I walked out of the cinema from Nolan's previous film, The Dark Knight, I had a very different feeling. A sense of fulfilment, a feeling that I had really seen something. Unfortunately, that feeling didn't come this time. Yes, I could discuss this film for hours and hours (and during that time, I'd incorporate my knowledge of Murakami's book “Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World", which would certainly be nice), but to have to watch it again because of that? Nope. Yes, totally interesting idea, good story, but I have no idea what I'm taking away, if anything. Just the knowledge that I've seen a good movie. And I certainly don't consider it the movie of the year. Still, definitely check it out, because it's worth at least one viewing – preferably at the cinema (even the home one :-)). (23/08/2010)

Nolan has failed in the most difficult cinematic discipline of filming “the reality of a dream" (although it is true that I always imagined lucid dreaming like this); Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind thus remains the only film that has succeeded at it. Nolan's dreaming is deprived of randomness, surprise, absurdity, and surrealism, and, thanks to its coldness, depersonalization, and pragmatism, it is more interchangeable with virtual reality. Which is not a criticism, just a statement. From the beginning, a complex, detailed, multilayered world is created, where a simple but not stupid plot unfolds (a classic heist movie format about a cunning plan where everyone has a fixed role). Moreover, it is perfectly crafted; it is admirable how well he works here with five (or even six?) scenarios at the same time. What I really applaud Nolan for is the final shot lasting several seconds, which in its simplicity is more perfect (and timelessly Blade Runner-like) than the best shocking punchline. And the best part is, it's built to work the same way for both theories. P.S.: I only realized after multiple viewings that for me the most attractive thing about it is Cobb's personal catharsis through the form of Mal aka the materialization of an un-self-acknowledged act that haunts Cobb and does not leave him in peace (although it may be otherwise, but for me the magic of Inception lies precisely and only in this interpretation, so thank you in advance for not taking away my illusions, however captivating and viable the “movie illusions" are). (22/07/2010)