Quoted from sniper Especially when it comes from someone who hasn't seen the movie.

Is it not true that they create reality for the marks?


Breanne

A version of reality, sure. We wouldn't they? Does your dreams not take place in a "real world" setting? Places that seem normal on the surface? Even familiar?

Your dreams - not your nightmares.

Quoted from sniper A version of reality, sure. We wouldn't they? Does your dreams not take place in a "real world" setting? Places that seem normal on the surface? Even familiar? Your dreams - not your nightmares.

Yes, my dreams are modeled off real experiences. The differences between my dream world and reality, however, would be obvious to anyone who is fully conscious.

The failure to tell the difference between dream and reality is due to the level of consciousness, not the accuracy of a dream when compared to reality. A dream experience may be indistinguishable from reality to a person who’s dreaming but a person who is fully conscious should quickly notice numerous differences.

Viewers of the film are (presumably) conscious. What do viewers see on screen that distinguishes the dream world in the film from reality? From what I understand about the film, the “dream world” is essentially the same “reality” you would see in a conventional espionage flick.

Doesn’t mean the movie isn’t good. I just don’t see how the dream premise is fully exploited. Does Leo find himself walking around in public in his underwear? I’d pay to see that for sure.


Breanne

A "thought-provoking" or "intelligent" film should provoke thought, or "intelligent" conversation, about real-life ideas beyond the film...not debate or discussion of the film itself.  Inception, so far, seems only to inspire discussion about itself...not even, in fact, its ideas, but about its plot.

That's what I think I've been trying to say this whole time.

Rick, I find it amusing that I agree with every one of your points, but we have such a fundamentally different view of the nature and quality of the film.

Quoted from Heretic A "thought-provoking" or "intelligent" film should provoke thought, or "intelligent" conversation, about real-life ideas beyond the film...not debate or discussion of the film itself.  Inception, so far, seems only to inspire discussion about itself...not even, in fact, its ideas, but about its plot. That's what I think I've been trying to say this whole time. Rick, I find it amusing that I agree with every one of your points, but we have such a fundamentally different view of the nature and quality of the film.

Always the way.

I feel bad about not liking the film to be honest. It was a very ambitious attempt and technically it was a superb achievement. The effects were very good and the folding Paris scene was genuinely amazing (shame it was "wasted" on the trailer...but that's the name of the game). The zero grav scene was also a great achievement.

The cinematography was outstanding, particularly the slow motion stuff. Really very excellent work.

Nolan should certainly be commended for the level of ambition that he tried for and I think it's also refreshing for a studio to go for something a bit different to the usual summer blockbuster.

The film at least proves that mass audiences are open to be stretched a bit more than they have been in the recent past.

So, it's certainly a very impressive and admirable film in lots of regards. I just didn't enjoy it.

The biggest shame is that it was the only film of the year I was particularly looking forward to. Harry Potter is about the most exciting thing on the horizon, which isn't saying a lot....

Quoted from Heretic A "thought-provoking" or "intelligent" film should provoke thought, or "intelligent" conversation, about real-life ideas beyond the film...not debate or discussion of the film itself.  Inception, so far, seems only to inspire discussion about itself...not even, in fact, its ideas, but about its plot. That's what I think I've been trying to say this whole time.

That pretty much sums it up. 'Vanilla Sky' explores this territory in a way 'Inception' failed to, which is to give you a platform to explore your own life.

'Inception' is a good film, maybe very good, but it just missed out on giving me any true emotion. That said, I don't think Nolan intended for this to be highly emotional. He's broken a lot of the screenwriting rules with this film and yet many seem intent on crushing him for that whilst in other places calling for Hollywood to be 'fresh'. That's the funniest thing.

The score to this movie was incredible, particularly the last 30 minutes or so - it was the music that brought any sense of feeling in me, as opposed to the performances, I think. When Leo said goodbye to Marion, I wanted more from that scene, ditto the very end.

As ever a lot of this comes down to expectations and what you want from a film. Personally, I don't need to relate to a character to enjoy the film as long as there is something else going on. To me, 'Inception' achieved that.

Wow, 65 posts, and other than the "oh come on" idiot, all very valid and interesting points, but the fact that, to my knowledge, no other review has had this many posts and that must mean something! To have so many people discussing a film im sure is what nolan wanted, in fact, im surprised so many people liked it, when i saw it on its opening day i thought it was great, but thought after the opening weekend it would die like A.I from bad word of mouth, but that is my own fault for underestimating the audience, seems like most people get it with such a strong second week, and it looks like it will have a strong third week as well.   I  thought this movie was amazing, i agree for the most part with johnny boy other than i thought avatar and the dark night were stronger, but thats just opinion, this movie is truly epic, and like blade runner, it will last a very long time

Avatar is the current daddy with 122.

Hostel is the second most talked about with 83.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films Always the way. I feel bad about not liking the film to be honest. It was a very ambitious attempt and technically it was a superb achievement. The effects were very good and the folding Paris scene was genuinely amazing (shame it was "wasted" on the trailer...but that's the name of the game). The zero grav scene was also a great achievement.

This sums up my opinion of the film...a remarkable feat of screenplay architecture, but not very enjoyable.  Nolan's audacity is impressive in itself.  The idea of having three different simultaneous stories, with the same characters, all bonded together by this nebulous idea of inception.  This must have driven Nolan batshite crazy assembling all the pieces together so intricately.  But, I found myself bored as the late second and third acts dragged on and on.  I didn't care about Leo's character in the slightest, or his wife and kids.  Really all of the characters seemed fairly cardboard to me.  Which was disappointing, because I liked Memento and both Batman films, especially the first.  

Thinking about it now, the structure almost reminds me of that 3-dimensional chess set that Spock used to play on Star Trek.  Three different levels being played simultaneously.  Every single move by every piece has to be carefully considered, because it affects all three levels and the ultimate outcome.  

I also agree with Scartissue when he said that he almost feels bad for not liking this movie.  So much thought and effort went into this, I really wanted to like it.  But, I was just bored as the novelty of the story began to wear off and the James Bond elements took over.

Just back from vacation, and I had the opportunity to view Inception and Toy Story 3 back-to-back.  The whole family agreed -- even the 17-year-old -- that Toy Story was the superior film by far.

There is some great eye-candy to be found in Inception, sure, and buzzing through all the posts I missed, I think Andrew captures the biggest flaw:

Quoted from Andrew 'Inception' is a good film, maybe very good, but it just missed out on giving me any true emotion.

And that is key.  The motivations and goals of the characters were morally bankrupt in Inception, and the stakes were simply not compelling or worthy of any emotional investment.

Inception never gave me anything in my gut -- they way good storytelling does -- that says, "please, please let these characters succeed!"

In Toy Story, those characters were making choices that affected everything they had ever stood for -- and everything they would ever stand for in the future.  The stakes could not have been higher.

Call me silly, but I was 10 times more invested in that stupid Woody doll than I ever was in the character played by Leo -- and truth be told, I cannot even remember the guy's name!

I can see why people might love Inception and why others might hate it -- but how many haters are there for Toy Story 3?  So far, I count zero.

Inception told a very clever story, but it did not tell it right.

Everyone praising Inception should also see Toy Story 3 -- then re-evaluate the components that they think actually makes a good movie work.

"Call me silly, but I was 10 times more invested in that stupid Woody doll than I ever was in the character played by Leo -- and truth be told, I cannot even remember the guy's name!"

The name's Cobb, something Cobb.

I'm still high on this movie two weeks later.  Think it is one of the more original movie ideas to come down the pike in some time.  Anyway, just wanted to point out that there was a good article in the last issue of EW regarding "Inception".  Might be worth a read.

P.S.  Not the one with Julia Roberts (oy, am I the only one who can't stand that woman) and that incredibly crappy looking movie on the cover.

Craig

Completely agreed Bert. Like you I had no emotional connection with anyone in the film and couldn't care less about their attempts to fix the world for a callous mobster. I didn't remember a single character's name from the film either.

It got all the difficult stuff right, but unfortunately, the basics just weren't there.

It was a great idea, but I agree, it just wasn't told well enough.

I'm not sure it's fair to compare Inception to Toy Story 3. I haven't seen it yet (don't worry, I will) but everyone I know who's seen it has loved it, regardless of their movie tastes, not to mention it has a 99% tomato reading at over 200 reviews. It seems like one of those rare movies that's been able to unite all moviegoers everywhere. The Dark Knight didn't do that. Avatar couldn't even do that and it's the biggest movie of all time. It's not a matter of apples and oranges. It seems like any other movie this year that gets put next to it is gonna pale in comparison, no matter what. I hate to use numbers to validate a movie's quality, especially if I haven't seen it, but as Bert said, I've yet to hear from a single detractor. I, myself, can't say anything bad about the first two.

Is this a fair assessment or what?

Quoted from James McClung I'm not sure it's fair to compare Inception to Toy Story 3.  It seems like any other movie this year that gets put next to it is gonna pale in comparison, no matter what.

I was kind of worried about that when I drew the comparison, but then I thought, "Two summer blockbusters...that is apples to apples, or close enough."

The point I was trying to make was not really a direct comparison, though...it was just about the power of good storytelling...and where that comes from on an emotional level.

I was simply encouraging those who thought Inception to be flawless to take a look at Toy Story 3 -- then examine what their gut told them about a movie with "flair" versus a movie with "substance".

Quoted from bert I was kind of worried about that when I drew the comparison, but then I thought, "Two summer blockbusters...that is apples to apples, or close enough." The point I was trying to make was not really a direct comparison, though...it was just about the power of good storytelling...and where that comes from on an emotional level. I was simply encouraging those who thought Inception to be flawless to take a look at Toy Story 3 -- then examine what their gut told them about a movie with "flair" versus a movie with "substance".

I certainly didn't think Inception was flawless. But I did think it had some substance. I thought the theme of living in the past was a very human one as well as the theme of guilt. I think the film made the classic mistake in assuming that just because a guy has a wife and kids, he's worthy enough of the audience's sympathies. It's the same mistake that's made some of the Saw movies so awful. But I did think there was some emotion there. I'm not sure if it's that there wasn't enough or that it just wasn't all warm and fuzzy. Maybe both.