Inception

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)

And the top keeps spinning... Inception is like, erm, an apricot, perhaps. So many layers, sweet, so rich (in ideas, not in vitamins) and holds together beautifully. I should be economical with the word original, because the “only" unique thing is the combination of all ingredients into a whole that works like clockwork, surprises, innovates and, most importantly, is entertaining without losing any of its cleverness. But there’s no denying that we’ve already seen movies about dreams and really high quality ones. But in the places where The Matrix, for instance, lost its viewers in its complexity, Inception swims along smoothly, and avoids copying it at all. Nolan sticks firmly to the story within clear limits, doesn’t lose control over the world invented for the story and never breaks its rules. Everything works on a strictly logical level and the dreams are depicted accordingly. It doesn’t forget about physics, the manipulation of which creates scenes that you could never imagine in your wildest dreams. You see, dreams usually try to cling to reality and so most of the action reminds me more of Heat than Speed Racer, which suits me. Damn, I wanted to avoid comparison with other movies. Too bad. The main essence of the story, Cobb’s story where we gradually find out what happened (to him) in the past and why he is in the situation he is, is very original. I thought I knew the answer, but in the end it turned out to be slightly different (but I was close, seriously) and better in the overall context. In fact I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about that and about inception, about its potential and how Nolan handled it with such genius, but also so simply. You see, it wasn’t so much about dreams, but about memories, decisions and guilt. A simple story in a maze of dreamlike realities. The cast, headed by DiCaprio who simply must win an Oscar this year, fit their roles perfectly and everybody is given a chance literally to shine. The action scenes are a feast for the eyes, which makes me even more annoyed that the Czech distributors weren’t able to buy even one copy for the IMAX, because the fight in the lobby throws your guts about even in 2D. Quite possibly movie of the year. Cameron played the emotional card last year, this year Nolan gives us reason. I am impressed. (26/07/2010)

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)

We wish to make our dreams come true. We can't really materialize them unless we use film technology to do so. Inception is a perfect example of when dreams become reality and we can escape from reality into a dream. Unfortunately, we perceive it as exactly the opposite of the characters in the film. Two and a half hours go by like only a few minutes. (25/07/2010)

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)