Friday, July 23, 2010

Inception

InceptionIn yet another reason to love my public library, guess what? I participated in their adult summer reading program (trying to be a good reading example to my children and all) and I won movie tickets! Yes, tickets! Tell me that makes sense--read your books and we'll give you tickets to a movie. I don't understand it but boy do I love it, no complaints here.

So Andrew and I decided to check out Inception and I'm still trying to wrap my head around the thing.

My impressions? It was long . . . and full of big name stars who do a fine job of acting . . . great special effects . . . long . . . did I mention it was long? But don't let that worry you--it's long and great. Two thumbs up from Andrew and I.

So if it sounds as if I'm complaining I'm not--it's two and half hours of intense, mind-warping bang that sends you around and around as if you're wandering a maze (a common theme in the movie so I'm sure it's not unintentional).

If you had trouble following the first Mission Impossible movie (I'm over here raising my hand) then you may have trouble following this story-within-a-story-within-a-story-within-a-story-within-a-story (I've lost track of how many that is? Am I to five levels yet?) Oh, within-a-story.

The writer and director, Christopher Nolan, was responsible for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight and this isn't nearly so dark but it's as suspenseful and intriguing and full of interesting human characteristics and emotions. The plot, while long, keeps you focused and connected to the screen though there was a point about 7/8 of the way through where I started to think "Okay, my brain is getting a little tired now, please--for the love of all that is alternate reality--wrap this up quickly now!"

Strange to think that the woman who was able to read the unabridged Anna Karenina and Atlas Shrugged started to get antsy with a movie but yet there it is. A clever story with great actors that's well done in every sense of the word. So what if it started to get a little heavy on explosions 7/8 of the way through? It was terribly clean (you can't count dream guys getting shot as true violence because it's not real. It's just dream guys, right? I'm joking--kind of) so by clean I mean without gore, sex or profanity though it is intense and children will lose interest most assuredly. It makes you remember why DiCaprio is so fun to watch on screen and it makes you want to go back and see it a second time to understand it even better (pretty smart of the movie industry to make a movie that you want to automatically see again the minute you walk out of the theater). So go catch it now--it's the best summer movie we've seen.

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11 comments:

Peruby said...

My custodian and I swap movie talk a lot. He told me to skip this one. Hmmm. I DO like Leo's acting range.

Lara Neves said...

I really loved this movie. I followed it pretty well, but I want to see it again so I can catch more nuance.

Heart2Heart said...

Michelle,

Thanks for sharing the review with us, I was wondering if I wanted to see this one and my hubby said it would be something like the Matrix which I didn't care for at all.

I think I'll wait for rental on this one, and perhaps see the Sorcerer's Apprentice a third time!

Love and Hugs ~ Kat

Kim said...

I saw it and really liked it. I would like to watch it a second time on DVD to see if every scene starts in the middle. Leo's character questions the architect about whether she can remember how she got there, and it seems like maybe that's how every scene in the movie begins—without a sense of how the characters arrived.

Amber M. said...

Perfect timing...I've heard a lot of buzz about this one and liked the whole concept. We might have to hire a sitter and see this one!

Nancy from 2 Mountains said...

I went to see it with my 14 year old son and we both loved it. We left smiling and discussed the movie until we reached home where we started raving about Inception. We tried explaining the movie to the other family members but lost them somewhere so we told them to just go, go see the movie that is. LOL I wouldn't compare it to the Matrix though...

Kelli said...

This is the exact quote from my 16 year old son : "Inception is not a movie that you walk out of, but rather this: You stumble out of the theater, look up and down the hallway, and wonder if that actually just happened.".

Sounds like you both had the same general reaction :)

Now? I must go see it. Period.

Janelle said...

I've heard so many good things about it, but a lot of them are people who also loved Avatar, which I didn't care beans about. I'm glad to hear that you liked this movie, and in fact, recommend it.

Stephanie said...

I saw that trailer a few weeks ago and I DO want to see it...even more that I've read your review.

stephanie@metropolitanmama.net

Stephanie said...

Oops! I meant to write..."even more NOW that I've read your review." ;)

stephanie@metropolitanmama.net

Anonymous said...

I saw it opening weekend and at first I was like "2.5 hours? Are you kidding me?". But honestly, it flew by for me! I thought I'd be completely lose, but I wasn't at all. It was mind-blowing and I loved every minute of it! :)