Since everyone’s talking about it and 8th St always has its hand on the cultural pulse, it was pretty inevitable something about Inception was going to pop up sooner or later. And we can all breathe a sigh of relief after being subject to the mindless Hollywood crapola (Knight and Day anyone?) or the endless sequels/remakes (Karate Kid, Marmaduke – UGH, and dare I mention SATC 2?!) we’ve been seeing in the cinema of late.
You’ve probably heard the rough storyline of Inception. Leo (just a wrinklier, manlier, more rugged version of the baby-faced Jack from Titanic), or should I say Dom Cobb, manipulates dreams along with his team comprising of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page and others. A (I’m assuming) mega-rich Asian corporate big-wig enlists this team to carry out the very tricky task of ‘inception’ – planting an idea into someone’s head - to carry out his own evil, devious and immoral/unethical business strategies.
If that’s not complicated enough, add the slight distraction of Mal (Marion Cotillard, such a French hottie), Cobb’s deceased wife, who keeps popping up in his dreams and killing other people (in the dream, that is). Clearly he has a bit of a guilty conscience.
The first half of the film revolves around Cobb teaching Ariadne (Ellen Page) about the ins and outs of delving into someone's dream. The second half is where the actual inception takes place. It’s completely messed up, but in a good Christopher Nolan-esque way. Think all the drama of The Dark Knight but a bit more intellectual.
Jo-Go. Best dream, hands down.
What the film does so well is to juggle a conceptually tricky idea yet still manage to keep the film approachable enough so that the general mouth-breathing public is able to keep up (or am I being too cynical about the intelligence levels of the wider community?). In saying that, however, it does take some degree of effort to understand exactly what is happening as the film goes in and out of four different ‘levels’ of dreams. Each level is visually spectacular and apparently each had its own colour palette to make it easier for the audience to subconsciously distinguish between them.
Trippy, eh?
The CGI effects are quite brilliant and mind-boggling, and the eye candy (I’m talking about Jo-Go, not Leo) is not too bad either. Marion Cotillard is FREAKY! But in a good way. I think she’s really stunning, though I’ve talked to some people who have thought otherwise.
To be honest, I thought Ariadne was completely redundant as a character even if I did love Juno. My other qualm was the music. Ok, it was effectively dramatic at times, but it was overkill in certain circumstances. Oh, and the much-debated ending. But I won’t spoil that for those who haven’t had the opportunity to watch this film. Besides those things, the movie was damn good. An intellectual and visual treat!
This movie gets 9/10. For realz.
~ Hurley Who?
PS. Hope I didn’t spark a ‘IS JO-GO HOT OR NOT’ debate with my above comment/s.
6 comments:
Okay just watched this today and was underwhelmed with the lack of confusion that I experienced afterwards, given all this "I don't get it" talk, open ending not inclusive.
I quite liked Ellen Page in this and actually thought her character was kind of pivotal?? And I guess also a device to preserve gender balance (Mrs French would be proud I raised this point here).
On the most important matter raised in this review, however, ie. 'Jo-Go', full points for marriageability. Who the hell does not appreciate him in all his geeky charm. Also love Michael Caine, absolute legend.
crazy! loved it. review was bang on the head.
***SPOILER ALERRRRRT***
my own pts of confusion (after having perused many articles with variations on the title "Inception Explained") revolve around why Leo alerted Cillian Murphy to the fact that he was dreaming (in Jo-Go's dream) and what the point of his godfather (can't remember his name) was in that particular dream. and if tom hardy and ken watanbe were following him, then how did they get him to say what they wanted - ie. wasn't he just a projection of murphy's subconscious?
Also, I keep reading that the 3rd dream with the snow was tom hardy's dream, but i swear they were entering the godfather's dream so murphy could find out what he was hiding from him. isn't that why tom hardy says something along the lines of "why couldn't he have dreamt of a beach" or something? because it was tom hardy's dream, then he would have been able to make it ... less snowy...
LASTLY, what i realised i don't understand is the significance of the maze. ellen page designs them, then teaches it to the dreamer, then what? are they all navigating a different type of maze in each level of dream? and i think i missed the point of what the maze was, oh wait no nevermind just figured it out - it's to avoid the inception from being traced to the person who planted the idea there, right?
phew, that was fun. also props to casting director for casting a virtually 100% mega-attractive cast.
Okay, one at a time:
1) Why they told Cilian he was dreaming
To make him question his own subconscious, so that he'd believe that his Godfather was trying to steal combo to the safe (via extraction) and thus trust Leo, and ultimately allow for successful inception.
2) Point of the Godfather
.....to assist in above plans ie. the inception..
3) "how they got him to say what they wanted"
Who is/are 'him' and 'they'
4) Tom's dream?
Yes, Tom's dream, it was Fischer who quipped about the beach. Wasn't the Godfather's dream; they just told Cilian that as part of their plan.
5) Maze
lols, don't actually remember anything about mazes, apart from Leo's test for Ellen.
OKAY now to my point of confusion - any ideas on why Ken didn't just jump off that fortress to escape limbo?? Think that article mentioned something about him believing that limbo was reality, hence why he aged and Leo didn't, but I'm unconvinced, far too contrived an explanation.
top form, hurley! so glad you included a 'jo-go defying gravity photo' - that scene was so intense i nearly got a neck crick trying to keep up!
i agree with your assessment of Adriadne; I felt like she existed to spell out to the audience that Dom had serious issues and facilitate his confrontation of said issues. But what the heck, it was a pretty complicated movie so the obviousness of that was a relief!
on the subject of this great 'Jo-Go' debate: I started out as a hater but he grows on you. which as close to a concession that he's alright as you're likely to get.
re: the wantanabe issue... maybe he stayed in limbo because he didn't know how to get out without becoming a vegetable?? to be honest, the beginning was a bit befuddling to me (ie. the old man part). maybe another reason is that because ken stays in limbo and leo is there with him, it makes us question whether or not they actually escape out together hence why the thingy keeps spinning at the end???
another thing - if mal and cobb spent 50 yrs in limbo why didnt they age like ken? because they knew they were in limbo?
one more re: michael caine. i agree. he's a christopher nolan fixture.
hurley, mal and cobb did age, remember that bit where they're walking along hand in hand as old wrinkled shrivelled little people? they did grow old together, which is why cobb feels that he had his time with mal and ought to let it go.
however, what confuses me is why they were still young when they died to get out of limbo (ie. when they lay down on the train tracks, they were young)?? because clearly they had aged significantly before cobb realised they had to get out of there....
so many questions! we're turning into those film buff geeks!
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