Author Topic: Inception (Potential Spoilers)  (Read 7239 times)

Chaos

  • Administrator
  • Level 36
  • *****
  • Posts: 2170
  • Fell Points: 3
  • The Original Hero of Ages
    • View Profile
    • Eric Lake
Inception (Potential Spoilers)
« on: July 26, 2010, 05:04:46 AM »
So... thoughts?

My thoughts: wow, what an excellent, well-crafted film. This is awesome.
« Last Edit: August 01, 2010, 02:57:49 PM by Chaos2651 »
www.17thshard.com - The Official Brandon Sanderson Fansite.

Oh SNAP, I'm an Allomancer.

Peter Ahlstrom

  • Administrator
  • Level 59
  • *****
  • Posts: 4902
  • Fell Points: 2
  • Assistant to Mr. Sanderson
    • View Profile
Re: Inception
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2010, 06:03:03 AM »
The whole audience gasped at the end.

I loved it. There are a couple things that don't make sense (like why the antigravity only went one level deep) but on the whole, awesome.
All Saiyuki fans should check out Dazzle! Emotionally wrenching action-adventure and quirky humor! (At least read chapter 6 and tell me if you're not hooked.) Volume 10 out now!

Comfortable Madness

  • Level 9
  • *
  • Posts: 339
  • Fell Points: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Inception
« Reply #2 on: July 26, 2010, 02:04:36 PM »
When I saw this I could only say one word: Wow! I absolutely loved this movie. The cast was absolutely phenomenal. Dicaprio is fast becoming my favorite actor with Inception, Blood Diamond, The Departed, and pretty much any movie he's made in the last 7 years. I was also very impressed with Levitt and hope he gets the nod to play the Riddler in the next Batman installment. And speaking of Batman how bout that Christopher Nolan? Is there a better writer/producer/director around right now?
“I will never serve you, Father of Lies. In a thousand lives, I never have. I know that. I’m sure of it. Come. It is time to die.” Rand al'Thor

"Mourn if you must. But mourn on the march to Tarmon Gai'don." Logain Ablar

Bookstore Guy

  • Level 21
  • *
  • Posts: 1089
  • Fell Points: 2
    • View Profile
Re: Inception
« Reply #3 on: July 26, 2010, 05:23:15 PM »
I thought the movie was great.  Was it a masterpiece?  No.  It isn't even Nolan's best film (that belongs to Memento).  But Inception was a very very good movie.  Easily better than any of the other crap out this year.
Check out our blog, Elitist Book Reviews at:
http://elitistbookreviews.blogspot.com/

Chaos

  • Administrator
  • Level 36
  • *****
  • Posts: 2170
  • Fell Points: 3
  • The Original Hero of Ages
    • View Profile
    • Eric Lake
Re: Inception
« Reply #4 on: July 28, 2010, 05:26:00 AM »
I agree, Steve, it is easily the best movie of the year, thus far. I think calling any movie so close to release a "masterpiece" is jumping the gun a bit, as that's something that takes time to reveal. But there's no question, this is an expertly crafted film.

So "not the best Nolan film" still means "this is an awesome Nolan film", and I'm okay with that.
www.17thshard.com - The Official Brandon Sanderson Fansite.

Oh SNAP, I'm an Allomancer.

Nessa

  • Administrator
  • Level 32
  • *****
  • Posts: 1918
  • Fell Points: 5
  • Giving life to demon spawn since 1999
    • View Profile
Re: Inception
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2010, 12:23:15 AM »
Yes, it was pretty good. Certainly a mind-twister like Momento. The husband wanted to compare it to the Matrix (a favorite of his), since it makes you question what's real and etc.

What do you guys think?
"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter--'tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning."  -  Mark Twain

Check out my book reviews at http://elitistbookreviews.blogspot.com/

Bookstore Guy

  • Level 21
  • *
  • Posts: 1089
  • Fell Points: 2
    • View Profile
Re: Inception
« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2010, 04:27:34 PM »
I can see a little of that comparison, though I think I liked it better than the first Matrix (which I am actually a huge fan of).  To me it was more of an SF Ocean's Eleven (again, a movie I love).  It was a smart movie that, to me, was very easy to follow (which my wife appreciated, causing her to love it).

Can't wait until it is on blu-ray.  It will look so good on a nice TV.
Check out our blog, Elitist Book Reviews at:
http://elitistbookreviews.blogspot.com/

WriterDan

  • Level 11
  • *
  • Posts: 463
  • Fell Points: 0
  • Babble from below, bubbles from above...
    • View Profile
    • Shelfari page
Re: Inception
« Reply #7 on: July 30, 2010, 07:03:28 PM »
I thought it was completely awesome.  The only bit that didn't really mesh for me was the time differences between each dream level and how long everything they were doing on each level was taking to finish.  I was totally chomping on the reality bit though.  Loved the way they handled that part of the story.  And the ending was killer, as mentioned by Peter.  I'm wondering how many shows there were where the audience didn't all gasp when the screen went black.  MAN.  Great show.  Go see it peoples.
Dovie'andi se tovya sagain

I review books at Elitist Book Reviews.  Check us out.

sortitus

  • Level 15
  • *
  • Posts: 675
  • Fell Points: 0
  • MVP of the WORLD
    • View Profile
    • I'll kick you in the face!
Re: Inception
« Reply #8 on: August 01, 2010, 06:43:33 AM »
I saw it tonight, and it was good. There was an audible response from the audience at the end in my showing too.

I went in without seeing any promo other than "OMG!" tweets and this thread title, which definitely enhanced the experience. I'm not sure that I've ever seen another movie without any clue as to its content. It was different and fun and a little disorienting at the start. I agree that some things didn't make sense, and some ideas certainly could and should have been taken further.

The end? I think it was meant to be a reinforcement of a previous indication of ambiguity that many viewers may have overlooked, not a reveal. It's hard to say much without spoilers, and I can't ever remember the spoiler workaround when I need it.
Hero of Ages: Impressive Regality Over Niceness, Y'all
좋아! This time with more ecstatic! 좋네!!! I'll say it again in french! Trois fois voiture!!! Ça va. C'est vrai. C'est bien.
High Knight of the Grand Pie of the Holy Order of Pie, The Left Hand of Pie

Chaos

  • Administrator
  • Level 36
  • *****
  • Posts: 2170
  • Fell Points: 3
  • The Original Hero of Ages
    • View Profile
    • Eric Lake
Re: Inception (Potential Spoilers)
« Reply #9 on: August 01, 2010, 02:58:49 PM »
Sort, I added a spoiler tag, so now we can discuss the ending.
www.17thshard.com - The Official Brandon Sanderson Fansite.

Oh SNAP, I'm an Allomancer.

Eerongal

  • Level 23
  • *
  • Posts: 1199
  • Fell Points: 0
  • That jaunty jackanapes with moxie and pizzazz
    • View Profile
    • Rockin' with the Erock
Re: Inception (Potential Spoilers)
« Reply #10 on: August 02, 2010, 03:53:11 AM »
so i finally saw this film. It was awesome. Easily gets my vote for the best film of the year at this point.

Sadly, i did notice as peter said a few continuity quirks between dream worlds, however, they didn't give us any real HARD rules so it's kinda hard to argue it, and considering how good the film was overall, I'm more than willing to overlook it.

[Spoiler bits]

As far as the end, i actually expected something like that overall. I actually expected to be like "OOPS! A TWIST! IT'S ALL A DREAM!" which i was going to be upset if they did. However, they left you with reasonable doubt about it being a dream or not in just the right way, and not actually saying/showing it, that i thought it appropriate for all that transpired.

While we're on the subject, through the movie I was convinced his wife is right and he's actually in a dream, and trying to pull him out. Anyone else think this?

[/Spoiler bits]


Another small niggle I had with the film was the constant narration between characters of basically the plot. While not really out of place, I just kinda felt they went overboard with the characters going "This is what's going on. This is what we're going to do. Here's a recap of the original bits, and here's the changes". I would have rather had them let things play out and let you piece all the bits of the dreams together on their own, and just kinda generally follow along with the plot as it played out instead of so much detail about how the plan was going to work. Any else feel this, or was it just me?
[shameless plug]
My site
[/shameless plug]

Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-R. Howard

Pie is clearly the most trustworthy. Pie for president. - Me.

sortitus

  • Level 15
  • *
  • Posts: 675
  • Fell Points: 0
  • MVP of the WORLD
    • View Profile
    • I'll kick you in the face!
Re: Inception (Potential Spoilers)
« Reply #11 on: August 02, 2010, 04:04:47 AM »
Coolness.

[spoilers]

The last two were never seen waking up, though the rest of the team was tracked back through the levels. To leave limbo apparently takes dying, and we didn't see the deaths of Cobb and Saito on screen, unlike everybody else who was dreaming sedated. On the timed dreams, we didn't always see them wake up either. The biggest obstacle I can see to the shown ending being in the real world is that when Ariadne wakes up, she has to go through the previous three levels to get out. I don't know what them not existing would do to that, and though Cobb and Mal were stated to have been at least two levels down before limbo, there was no wake sequence through those levels for them. There was a wake sequence for Ariadne, but she was somehow able to fall to get out.

How one could dream themselves into limbo on purpose isn't explained either. If anything, Ari and Cobb should have had to kill themselves on the third level to get to a 20^4 time multiplier limbo. I fully expected Ari to just shoot Cobb and herself when she said that they had to follow Fischer. I was disappointed about that.

[/spoilers]

Ee, I agree half way. I think it could have used a bit more exposition at the very beginning and less everywhere else.
« Last Edit: August 02, 2010, 04:07:09 AM by sortitus »
Hero of Ages: Impressive Regality Over Niceness, Y'all
좋아! This time with more ecstatic! 좋네!!! I'll say it again in french! Trois fois voiture!!! Ça va. C'est vrai. C'est bien.
High Knight of the Grand Pie of the Holy Order of Pie, The Left Hand of Pie

Chaos

  • Administrator
  • Level 36
  • *****
  • Posts: 2170
  • Fell Points: 3
  • The Original Hero of Ages
    • View Profile
    • Eric Lake
Re: Inception (Potential Spoilers)
« Reply #12 on: August 02, 2010, 05:17:24 AM »
Ee, I agree half way. I think it could have used a bit more exposition at the very beginning and less everywhere else.

Well, since I knew the movie was about dream technology, it didn't take me very long to figure out what was going on in the beginning. After that, I was never confused by the rest of the movie, perhaps due to the exposition. I never felt it went too far; I think there was a solid balance.

As for the ending, I had a long conversation with lethalfalcon about it. Personally, I want Cobb to get to see his real children again, so I wanted him in the real world, and that was how I immediately interpreted the ending. Lethalfalcon made the much better point: does it matter? No, it doesn't. Cobb settled his issues with his subconscious and Mal, so dream or not, he is ready to go home. And that's good enough for me.
www.17thshard.com - The Official Brandon Sanderson Fansite.

Oh SNAP, I'm an Allomancer.

sortitus

  • Level 15
  • *
  • Posts: 675
  • Fell Points: 0
  • MVP of the WORLD
    • View Profile
    • I'll kick you in the face!
Re: Inception (Potential Spoilers)
« Reply #13 on: August 02, 2010, 07:43:44 AM »
Lethalfalcon made the much better point: does it matter? No, it doesn't. Cobb settled his issues with his subconscious and Mal, so dream or not, he is ready to go home. And that's good enough for me.

If you choose to care about the MC only, yeah, it doesn't matter. Every named character suffers if he doesn't wake up.

The little wobble at the end could indicate that it's real, but I think it wobbled when Saito threw it at the start, and it was doing its CGI thing when we came back to that scene.

Gah! The more I think about it the more inconsistencies I find! *headasplode*
Hero of Ages: Impressive Regality Over Niceness, Y'all
좋아! This time with more ecstatic! 좋네!!! I'll say it again in french! Trois fois voiture!!! Ça va. C'est vrai. C'est bien.
High Knight of the Grand Pie of the Holy Order of Pie, The Left Hand of Pie

Chaos

  • Administrator
  • Level 36
  • *****
  • Posts: 2170
  • Fell Points: 3
  • The Original Hero of Ages
    • View Profile
    • Eric Lake
Re: Inception (Potential Spoilers)
« Reply #14 on: August 02, 2010, 02:37:41 PM »
Lethalfalcon made the much better point: does it matter? No, it doesn't. Cobb settled his issues with his subconscious and Mal, so dream or not, he is ready to go home. And that's good enough for me.

If you choose to care about the MC only, yeah, it doesn't matter. Every named character suffers if he doesn't wake up.

Considering the scope of the story is exclusively about Cobb, yeah, that's pretty much how I feel about it. This is Cobb's story.
« Last Edit: August 02, 2010, 02:42:04 PM by Chaos2651 »
www.17thshard.com - The Official Brandon Sanderson Fansite.

Oh SNAP, I'm an Allomancer.