Good Conception

I really wanted to like 'Inception' - to love it, even.

1. I like Chris Nolan's films of late ('Dark Knight', 'Momento')
2. I like Leonardo's films of late ('The Departed', 'Shutter Island')
3. I like Ellen Page ('Juno')
4. I like twist endings - I heard this had a good one

It's always a bit of a burden for a film to live up to expectations of 'Best film of the year', which had been bandied about in reviews. But then, the same had been said about 'Dark Knight' and I had come out of that impressed.

Anyhow, I didn't love it.

'Inception' has a rather nifty premise and a few interesting complications. It has some good visual effects. But that's about it.

The trickier philosophical aspects of the dream-state, which could have been explored in an interesting way, were just kinda brushed over. I found the ensemble cast a bit uncohesive, with some characters seeming random or unnecessary (especially Ellen Page's character, who served very little purpose really - it could certainly have been played by some generic actor, as I don't think the role used her real skills and she become quite annoying). The whole last section was this very loud, unrelenting chase scene. Like Richard, I found it really loud and would have liked some respite, perhaps a nice bit of dialogue or genuine character development.

The highlight for me was Jonathan Gordan-Levitt's character. That kid is becoming pretty suave.

Anyhow, not a bad movie, but for me it didn't have the emotional depth of 'Dark Knight'.