Inception

A perfect delight for Nolan's pleasure. What this directorial master has most enjoyed in his films, he enjoys to the very last second in Inception. Whether it's the main character full of internal conflicts in an environment much larger than himself, ambiguous conclusions, or, not least, several plot lines alternating at the center of the action (this delight, so proven in The Dark Knight, is taken to the furthest possible maximum here). In short, we are getting all the tricks that have ever made us shake our heads - in one impressive package that wraps around you so tightly from the first few minutes that there is nothing else to do but hungrily follow the fateful story threads. And when Leonardo DiCaprio finishes his acting megaperformance and Hans Zimmer finishes the music, it is clear. A new movie life-changer has arrived. (22/07/2010)

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)

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). (21/07/2010)

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)

Inception pretends to be super clever. Through astonishment over the hitherto unseen, it gives the audience a consumerist, comfortable feeling that everything in the movie makes perfect sense. If it had contained any real emotion and some sort of message, drawn its sense of fatefulness and urgency from the story instead of from Hans Zimmer’s awesome, robust music, and enabled me to connect with the characters instead of leaving me in awe of their magical dialogue, I might have succumbed to the tempting feeling of perfection and awe of an extraordinary filmmaking event. But there is no more of these key cinematic values in this film than there is life in the image of monotonous grey skyscrapers in the background of Cobb and Mal’s fifty-year-long dream. Inception thus remains “just” an incredibly spectacular Matrix-like pose. (22/07/2010)