Some early thoughts about the reception on this movie and why it's awesome. No plot points or spoilers, kind of. But, just to be safe, see the god damn movie before reading this. Just for good measure.Holy shit Batman! It's not a sequel, it's not a comic book movie, it's not a reboot ... it's ... it's a really good movie. Really good. Yes, it blew me away, but I'm not going to deem it my new God. It's up there with the best of 'em, I mean come on, it's a Nolan Flick. A smart, complex, confusing, awesome new world that was dreamed up by Nolan whilst filming Memento (I think.) It's an action-y sci-fi heist-y crime movie. It's not groundbreaking, I mean maybe on some level for visuals, but I mean, groundbreaking? That's going a little far in my opinion.
But yes, it's a fantastic film. Fantastic performances all around, and the story - well, I'm not going to spoil anything - the story is something for you to see for yourself - I'm in no mood to try and explain it in a review of a movie. Review, not recap. Plus, it's like 16 stories in one, and when they say dreams within dreams within dreams, it's exactly like that: complex as hell. It was an an interesting journey - a very fast paced 2 and a half hour complex journey. Nolan has a few old timey movie tricks up his sleeve so that he doesn't completely lose you: isn't it nice when a new guy comes along and asks questions and gets things explained to them? Well, Ellen Page, thank you. The audience needed you. As well as some fun dialogue between Tom Hard's 'Forger' and Josph Gordon-Levitt's 'Point Man.' Again, so much is going on in this movie, but it's not hard to keep track of.
We are constantly taken care of, flashbacks, little pieces of the puzzle being added one at a time, slow motion, little reminders here and there. Twas quite nice. But yes, it's bumpy and aggravating at times - like any crazy movie - it takes time to unravel, you have to have (oh dear god,) patience! Yes, I'm talking to you, bitch three seats to my left texting and constantly checking the time. (Insert rant about how idiotic and rude and disrespectful and annoying that is HERE.)
Now, we are going to dive in to the people who are going to compare Inception to the Dark Knight. Here is a fact, just to get it out of the way, because you know, people probably don't already know: this movie IS NOT the Dark Knight. In some respects, this film is better than the Dark Knight, and in others, the Dark Knight wins. Big fucking surprise! In two years you'll get your next Batman installment, so just fucking hold tight and stop bitching. Anyway, while the emotional core of this movie is considered 'weak' by some, and I understand why, because in some sense it is pretty weak, but I got by that, I let that go and kept following the story. Nolan is a fantastic director and writer when it comes to the emotional core of a story. I mean look at Harvey effin Dent from DK. We all understood what had happened to him, we related to that, and it was emotionally devastating, which makes the end of that movie work ... well the entire movie actually. Now when comparing the emotional core, DK wins, but again, don't compare, two different movies. Entirely.
This movie is beautiful. The anti-gravity, the whole dream thing - how it works, the rules, the everything. It was nice. However, on another level, personally, I have had some pretty fucked up dreams. And some pretty fucking awesome dreams. In comparison, Nolan's dream world was pretty tame. It had to be realistic, and I understood that, it was a realistic setting, realistic movie - there was no room for unicorns and talking plants, and flying projections of your mother saying you're not good enough and such. I'm glad nobody is going into my head. A little part of me wanted to see all the dream craziness, but that's a different movie. For this movie, I bought it and it worked. I was thrown into THAT world, and for 2 and a half hours, nothing else mattered. I'm an escapist at heart, so I was at home during this flick. A good chunk of people will see this movie a second and third time. I have only seen it twice, and I plan on going only once more. The second time I caught more things, understood shit a boat load better, and I enjoyed it just as much.
The ending ... well, it's a decent ending. Leaves you with two sides. (Actually, it's kind of funny. You know that Shyamalan-ish, soap opera-y, "it was just a dream" fake out concept? Yah, well, usually it's a fairly negative thing, a complaint, but here? Here it works.) You will leave the theater talking. Debating. Arguing. Explaining. And that is fantastic! A movie that makes you think! Holy shit! It makes you think the entire way through, it makes you concentrate! And please, when the screen goes blank and the credits start to roll, listen. Just listen. You'll know everybody's response by the noise they make. I heard groaning, quite a few yes's, a few no's, an awwwww or two, a lot of silence, and several neutral guttural noises.
See it in IMAX. Totally worth it. Yeah, it's not in 3D, no heavy crazy IMAX cameras were used, but just the [hate to say it] IMAX experience is worth it. For the score and soundtrack alone, it's worth it. Hans Zimmer's the man. Johnny Marr, too. Oh yeah, and Edith Piaf. Haha Marion Cotillard. Does Nolan do commentaries? There better be one and some kick ass special features on la DVD. Don't wait for DVD on this one, if you must, see it in a regular theater. Nothing will beat that experience.
So, put on your thinking cap, prepare for a mind fuck, some great acting, masterful story telling, and a good time.
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