Dr. DVD

While kind of off topic, does anyone else find the similarities between Leo's character in this and his previous outing, Shutter Island, somewhat interesting?

Eric D.

Just got back from an afternoon showing and loved it. I was a little surprised how straightforward the main plot was, but there was still a lot of little threads woven throughout the film that kept it very engaging. My biggest complaint is that I wish it was an hour longer. I wanted to know more about that world and get a deeper sense of all the team members. And like a lot of you, my theater let out a big gasp at the ending. I'm actually planning on seeing it a second time in theaters, and that's something that I haven't done since The Matrix.

Supermallet

I like that second theory.

There are a lot of similarities with Shutter Island, but imo, Shutter Island does it better than Inception.

Indy Jones Fan

I don't get why audiences are gasping at the ending?? The ending is certainly open to interpretation but hardly worthy of a "shocked gasp".

Dr. DVD

Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree, though I like them both. I too think it falls short of a masterpiece, but it comes close. Nolan knows how to craft an intriguing film, one cannot deny that.

I just find it disturbing that a lot of teens would most likely prefer a movie with Will Ferrell, Steve Carrell, and Zach Galifinakis that alternated between Ferrell making goofy faces and comments, Carrell saying stuff that's idiotic, and then Zach running around in a thong screaming incoherent stuff. Picture all of this in 15 minute increments with a few farts, and you have what teens want. Don't get me wrong, I think they're funny in their own ways, but I don't want that brand of movie to replace good stuff like this.

Eric D.

In my case, it was the realization that they wouldn't be given a clear ending after watching the top spin for a decent amount of time and then start to wobble. So the gasp was followed by some excited laughter and then applause.

RichC2

we had "oh shit" laughs at the end of ours - effective ending.

Very entertaining movie, but disappointingly straight forward. I didn't think it was as stoic and serious as people made it out to be, a few laughs here and there. The falling van made sense but was a little laughable in spots. Nowhere near a masterpiece but a very memorable action flick, what more can you really ask for during the Summer, especially this year.

Definitely more flat out entertaining than Iron Man 2, Predators and Toy Story 3... tho in my book, that isn't saying a whole hell of a lot.

DJariya

Probably one of the most confusing movies I have ever seen. I was lost in the beginning, kind of picked up what was happening later in the movie and then got lost at the end. The theatre that I sat in everyone was like "Oh Shit" with the ending, but I didn't see the big deal. It seemed to me like this film was a bigger budget and a little more character-driven/artistic version of the 80's film Dreamscape.

Plot-wise, I couldn't tell you what the movie was about. But, the visuals and special effects made the movie a treat to watch.

I need to watch this film again when it comes on BR, so that I can can get a better grasp of it.

Solid Snake

I got what the film was about. You do have to keep up w/ what's being said though. One of those rare movies here in the states where it's important to pay attention.

GenPion

Just got back from it. I'm not sure what I think of it yet. I enjoyed it, and I understood the movie's plot-line and how the story flows, but it just seemed so... odd. I would have loved more information on Inception and how it started (and not for more lengthy exposition, but to have had more familiarity with this world's "beats"). Anyway, definitely a good movie, but one that I was somewhat baffled by. I certainly was expecting something different. I have seen every Christopher Nolan movie, and loved them all except this one... which may grow on me, at least I hope it will, but for a first viewing just seemed somewhat distant and cold (though it has all the Christopher Nolan traits I have come to love as well).

... and I agree with those of you noting the similarities between this and Shutter Island. That disappointed me about the film too. I guess my expectations may have simply been too high for this.

Michael Corvin

Loved it but I have some of the same gripes about character development as others.

No it's not, there has to be someone for the audience to connect to, this movie was definitely lacking in that department. I think one of the contributing factors was character names. Outside of Tom, Mal & Fisher I couldn't tell you who anyone else was. They didn't use names outside of once at the beginning of the flick.

Also, even at nearly 3 hours it felt like Nolan just thrust us into the middle of the movie. There was no build up you just hit the floor running at the 0:00 mark, kinda like '9.'

My only another mild annoyance was Ellen Page's character (name? see above). There was this giant buildup of her becoming this grand architect but it seemingly went nowhere and by the third act she was nothing more than playing Jimminy Cricket, aka Cobb's conscience. Even went to the trouble of seeing her making her chess piece but never really explained what it meant or how it worked for her. Sure it wasn't her story, but part of this stems from what I said above about trying to connect with someone in the film.

This is the closest to how I walked away with it.


Rip it to shreds. I'm probably not expressing what I mean correctly anyway.

mdc3000

I think you mean EXTRACTION, because we pretty much are told what the only other case of Inception was and how it was started I know, I'm being a nitpicky jerk.

I loved the movie - it looked amazing in IMAX and the sound was phenomenal. Hans Zimmer outdid himself with a really fantastic, iconic and bombastic score. I need to get the soundtrack asap.

I really appreciated how they managed to keep most of the plot details under wraps, it was refreshing to see a movie not spoiled by the marketing team. I was surprised by how much of an ensemble piece it was. Everyone did a great job but Gordon-Levitt stole the show IMO (I guess it doesn't hurt that I've been a big fan of his since BRICK).

My three major complaints about the movie, and the things that stop my from raving about it are this:
1. Starting the movie in typical Nolan non-linear fashion. I thought it was unnecessary to the storytelling for us to start with Cobb finding Sato as an old man. The only way this needs to open the picture is if there is more going on then we're led to believe.
2. The picture is a little cold. I found Mal to be little more than annoying or obnoxious (despite being played by the gorgeous Cotillard), so I never get emotionally invested in their storyline as much as we SHOULD have. Same with the Cillian Murphy subplot with his father - the pinwheel scene COULD have evoked a greater response if we knew more about Fischer going into it.
3. The finale in the snowscape/reactor setting felt a little too James Bond/Over the top for the picture's own good. I thought it was edging slowly into action picture parody and the timing of those thoughts couldn't have been worse IMO.

All said though, those are 3 minor complaints and I'll be seeing it a second time tomorrow. If it holds up I can see it being a movie I revisit a lot. Not Nolan's best movie but in a year that has mostly sucked, INCEPTION is easily the best movie of 2010. (so far). 5/5 stars

Giles

even seeing it in IMAX - I still couldn't tell what scenes were shot in 65mm

dan30oly

Just got back from it.

Must say, the worst movie experience I have had this year.

First off, the guy next to me must have thought the movie was the funniest fucking thing he's ever seen as every 10 minutes he would just randomly start laughing until I told him to "knock it the fuck off"

Secondly I have to say, out of all the movies I have seen in the theater this year (A-Team and Iron Man 2) as a movie this was the least enjoyable. However, that is not to say Inception is a bad movie. It's a very polished, smart, and visually awesome movie - just not enjoyable.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

As far as the ending:

sleepyhead55

Agree on points and 2 and 3. I guess I can add an exploration of the Cobb-Father in Law relationship instead of the one significant scene we got between the two. There has to be an intriguing back story between those two.

On the third point, I totally agree I think the film started to drag a little during that setting.

Still a great film that explores some themes on memories and ideas. I like that they made this into a heist film as well.

I have never seen Ellen Page in a movie before (outside of those annoying cell phone commercials) but she was fine here as the rookie/ingenue and served as a representation for the audience or viewer.

I probably give it 4 or 4.5 stars. Not the best film I've seen this year though.

Giles

hmm, I thought both were highly overrated - A-Team more so

UncleGramps

Saw it tonight. Loved it.

Ending spoilers:

Patman

This is the film that I could not wait for it to be over. For me it's a 90 minute film that goes on for about 150 minutes. That's never a good thing.

For me, a lot of sizzle on the screen, but not really a lot of meat, nor compelling chararterizations, plus seeing Leonardo Dicaprio in this film, and earlier this year in "Shutter Island" playing characters with similar angsty tragic backstories didn't light my fire.

I didn't care who lived or died in this movie, it's that sort of film which is more interested in slo-mo and bombastic music scores, but it got so tedious and jarringly numb at times.

My audience let out a huge groan at the end. Ugh.

Regardless of the cool visuals packed in this film, I won't revisit it anytime soon.

I give it 2.5 stars, or a grade of C+.

Boba Fett

Initial reaction: 3.0/5.0 from me.

My thoughts on the ending:

RichC2

The only part that outstayed its welcome for me was the 3rd level, the whole Bond-ish sequence felt out of place.

slop101

The way Nolan ended the final shot was such a huge wink to the audience, it was practically telling you to come up with your own ending - it was almost laugh-worthy, actually, most of my theater did laugh.

Anyhoo, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Not quite the deep, philosophical, complex, mind-fuck people were hyping it up to be and, except for the choose-your-own-ending, I thought it was pretty straightforward stuff. The only annoying stuff was the constant slo-mo. And I swear, if someone set one more explosive before they went off, I would've lost my mind.

I mostly dug how it was essentially a heist flick; explain the con, build your crew, plan and execute the heist. And it was certainly a confident cinematic experience, which I always appreciate.

Patman

All the scenes shot in the snow were colossally boring.

And poor Ken Watanabe, who was practically laying on his back or propped up against a wall or post for most of the film.

RichC2

I was entertained enough by them but they certainly didn't add anything, didn't help that I had to piss like a race horse at that point.

AnonomusBob15

saw this tonight and didn't love it. I will give it a few more shots, but I never felt anything special was happening on the screen, often dreadfully boring. Most of the best shots were in the trailer.

I also found the similarities between Leo's character in this, and Shutter Island extremely noticeable, but it's mere coincidence. I liked Shutter Island mored, btw, and really he was excellent throughout Inception.

Loved the ending though.

its not a bad film, I think my expectations were just a tad high.

Supermallet

I love how they spend so much time building Ellen Page's character up as this super talented maze architect, only to have her tell them where all the shortcuts are.