Characters: 2
Screenplay: 4
Cinematography: 3
Emotional: 4
Overall: 3.5
Although not without its flaws, the premise and execution stands out as an epic. To draw unnecessary comparisons, it had Taken's pacing (not action scenes) and excitement with Matrix's imagination and depth, combined with good directing and immersion. The film had bits of action, suspense, drama, and of course thrills while touching on worthwhile subjects like love, family, meta-thought, and the evil of that men do. It does a great job of getting the viewer invested in the outcome of the movie.
Its weaknesses include mostly flat characters, unrealized ambition, unimaginative action scenes and a bit of hand-waving.
I'd think it was a competent release. Close to excellent, but not quite. An intelligent, thrilling ride that immerses you from start to finish.
Characters:
One of Inception's weak points is its characters. Amongst the one-dimensional characters, weak character development, and minimal character exploration is the character-driven story. I never was able to identify with characters or care about their outcomes.
The story revolves around the classic dark and mysterious protagonist. To me, it is a slight dissapointment that the other characters remain within the shadows. It does keep the movie focused and from getting too complex, as well as give headway to one interesting interpretation.
DiCaprio does -okay- with the only role requiring strong acting. I would've liked to see more emotion in him, given what he was dealing with. You could attribute the other parts of his personality being played by his projections. The rest of cast does a good job of filling in their respective characters. I really wanted to see bigger shoes to fill for Page, who did feel a bit miss-cast.
Screenplay:
A smashing success. This is what made this movie such a big hit across the board. The viewer is thrown into the action, and runs along with the movie. From the opening scene, the film establishes that you will have the pleasure observing something special, grandiose, and unique. It succeeds in maintaining that level of novelty throughout the majority of the film. The last hour of the film is complex and beautifully done. And there are little gems of depth are sprinkled throughout.
However, there is no downtime to process, and if you get caught up on the psychological insights, it can be a little hard to digest. The pacing could have used a bit more variety. There are points where it felt the story was being pushed along. For example, Cobb and his team constantly seemed to jump around all over the world. Also, due to the narrow focus of the film, there world of Inception seems a small and obscure and is juxtaposed against the grandiose premise.
Overall, plot was very pleasingly intricate, with a twist-and-turn, keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat type feel. The beauty of the screenplay is its symbolism and the open interpretation of the story. There are red herrings placed all throughout. Analysts and film buffs can be gluttons for discussion. I have included a list of theories in the ROT13 spoiler section.
Cinematography:
The world of Inception is captured quite well. This film was very good at drawing me in for hours and transporting me to an alternative world. The viewers, having been explained parts of the concept, get to both see and feel premise and rules of the world around them. Suspension of disbelief becomes natural. The music flows wonderfully, save the never-ending climatic music at the end.
That said, in the aftermath, I was left wanting more imagination in a dream movie. The premise was novel, but the sets, action/fight/chase scenes could have been much more.
Emotional:
Despite the weak characters, Inception had everyone invested in the outcome of the story. Why? It felt so epic, with nuggets of insight, imaginative expansion on what we experience every day, and pacing.
It set out to be very ambitious and very deep, but the ideas are never developed and aspects remain unexplained. I didn't care about what happened for most of the characters and whether or not their lives were at stake. I just liked watching it because it was well put together.
View comments with spoilers.
Cobb's subconscious was the only one to enter in the dream worlds. Six characters' subconsciousness with everyone's own issues would be a convoluted mess.
Cobb's issues tie intimately with the premise. We see the impervious and knowledgable yet fragile and flawed man fight with his demons and jepardizing his heist.
Arthur really gets to step up and steal the show in the Matrix-feeling climax of level-2, and you feel a bit proud watching the young man from 3rd rock kick some butt. He gets one comic relief moment, his move on Ariadne, which was otherwise unnecessary, except for proving that they may not be projections.
Ariadne is expectedly introduced as an outstanding born-with-it prodigy, and it just kind of happens. Instead, the spotlight shines on the fact that she is the only one that even wants to come within 10 feet of Cobb's mess.
The rest of Cobb's heist-style team consists of the standard experts. Fischer's character also is portrayed as a little weak.
And what the hell Mal? Calm down, Stabby McStaberson. Okay, okay, she's a projection.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/board/nest/167276283?p=1
If anything shows the strength of the screenplay, it is the conception of the paradox theory: Inception was made to be an impossible staircase. It was crafted in such a way that there red herrings whether we walk up towards the idea that it is reality, or down towards the dream theory.
The film leaves much up to the imagination. The dream-sharing phenomenon/technology and architect's process is never explained, along with the time and place.
High points of the screenplay are the opening scene, explanation of the premise, Cobb being caught between two buildings while being chased, and Mal's suicide. I also enjoy the allegory of shared-dreaming to shared-movie-watching that occurs when we all enter the theater together.
Low points for me are Ariadne's training (went on too long, basically turned into her showing off 3d rendering. Although, the mirror thing was neat.), militant dream projections (I feel it is out of place for a movie of this premise, but certainly helped it's mass appeal), and parts of exploring Cobb's issues.
Mal's arc, an underlying drive for the whole movie, was also disappointing to me.
Everyone enjoyed the links between the dream world and the one above, with the water, music, and of course the van flipping around.
One question: why did the 3rd dream not experience free-fall? Also, Ariadne's physics bending is never used, not even in limbo. It felt like a tease. Okay, we do get a freight train.
The concept of the movie resonated very well with me. I used to be very into lucid dreaming, where you manipulate and control your dreams. Obviously the concept of this movie borrowed some from the art of lucid dreaming, which can include dreaming within a dream.
Although, it has a lot in common from this Scrooge McDuck comic "Dream of a Lifetime" circa 2004:
http://disneycomics.free.fr/Ducks/Rosa/show.php?num=1&nzc;loc=D2002-033&nzc;s=date
http://comicbookmovie.com/fansites/blinkuldhc/news/?a=21055
We are never told much about the corporation, and in turn the whole operation feels like a bit of a sham and a vehicle for Cobb's emotional trip.
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