Inception - Thumbs Up or Down?

[jonesy]

But you gotta admit, The Matrix had some pretty good action. They really ought to make some sequels.

How could they make any sequels? Neo became the One. He no longer needs to dodge bullets. And he can see and alter the Matrix source code with his mind.

 

[Mark CMG]

How could they make any sequels? Neo became the One. He no longer needs to dodge bullets. And he can see and alter the Matrix source code with his mind.

What? He needs to be stopped!

 

[Jhaelen]

Something tells me that you came into the flick with expectations that weren't met and that weren't the fault of the movie.

I agree. It was YOUR fault! Because this very thread was the reason for my expectations

As for The Matrix comparison? They haven next to nothing in common except for both being in the fantasy/science fiction genre. Inception is a love story disguised a caper film and The Matrix was about one big twist coupled with lots of eye candy actions scenes that in the end meant nothing.

This almost sounds like you came into the flick (Matrix in your case) with expectations that weren't met and that weren't the fault of the (first) movie

You really don't see the common theme of Matrix, 13th Floor, and Inception?
Imho, all of them tackle the problem of telling reality from illusion. Neo finds out that what he thought was reality is just a simulation. 13th Floor expands on that, implying that reality is just a simulation running in a simulation, etc. In Inception you're left wondering what is real, what is dream, and what is just a dream within a dream (, etc.).

All of these movies have the potential to make the viewer think about the nature of reality. Is MY world actually real? How can I be sure? Can I really trust my senses or my feelings?

Matrix and 13th Floor had that effect on me and Inception, unfortunately, didn't. Of course it wasn't exactly advertised as having that effect, but hey, it's what I hoped for!

Edit: Actually, after checking the Wikipedia entry for the movie, apparently Christopher Nolan himself seems to think Inception shares a theme with Matrix and 13th Floor:

When he first started thinking about making the film, Nolan was influenced by "that era of movies where you had The Matrix, you had Dark City, you had The Thirteenth Floor and, to a certain extent, you had Memento, too. They were based in the principles that the world around you might not be real."[23]

 

[jonesy]

Hey Jhaelen, have you seen Dark City? If you haven't, do it. And don't read about it or go into it with any expectations. It's the best movie to go to totally blind about what it is.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Finally saw the movie this weekend. I really enjoyed it. Of course now I have some issues and would be interested in hearing what others think:

[sblock]

1. Why didn't the team experience the gravity issues on the third layer? I assume the idea is that they are too deep to be affected by something two layers up.
2. Does a "kick" only penetrate one layer deep? Is that why they needed simultaneous kicks on each level above?
3. Why didn't Arthur get "kicked" from the second layer when the van on the first layer made the leap? A further question is why the van rolling over didn't act as a kick.
4. Regarding totems, jumping into the earlier discussion, the issue isn't touching the totem, but holding it enough to understand how it feels and would act. Arthur didn't want Ariadne holding his loaded die because she might learn the balance. Cobb easily could have used his ring as his totem, all he needed to do was alter the balance or create a rough spot after his wedding day.
5. Continuing with totems; I propose that the unique nature of a totem prevents somebody else from adding it into the dream and behaving correctly, but it does nothing to prevent the dreamers' own subconscious from inserting a proper totem into a deam, therefore the totem cannot protect the dreamer from their own desire for a dream to be real.

[/sblock]

 

[jonesy]

1.

Spoiler

That's what I assumed too. And it's not a straight line. It wasn't same person dreaming.

2.

Spoiler

That's a definitive yes.

3.

Spoiler

I'm guessing it wasn't strong enough?

 

[Seonaid]

[sblock]

1. Regarding totems, jumping into the earlier discussion, the issue isn't touching the totem, but holding it enough to understand how it feels and would act. Arthur didn't want Ariadne holding his loaded die because she might learn the balance. Cobb easily could have used his ring as his totem, all he needed to do was alter the balance or create a rough spot after his wedding day.

[/sblock]

[sblock]Cobb specifically praised Ariadne for not letting him touch her totem. :shrug: As for the ring, definitely. I didn't think of that. [/sblock]

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Spoiler

That's what I assumed too. And it's not a straight line. It wasn't same person dreaming.

Spoiler

OK, then I missed something (not that surprising). I thought it was the same person dreaming (Robert). That was how they penetrated deep enough to plant the inception. My undertanding was that, in order to be able to penetrate that deeply Robert had a dream within a dream, within a dream; they were all his dreams, but the team convinced him that they were in fact entering other dreams so that he would allow them the deeper penetration. Who were the dreamers on each level?

 

[jonesy]

Spoiler

Who were the dreamers on each level?

[sblock]

[/sblock]

 

[jonesy]

Spoiler

Do note that Limbo has a hard time fitting on that diagram, and I'm not really sure whether they should even have placed it there. But the dreamers and their dreams were mentioned in the movie like that.