Thinky thoughts about Inception
Aug. 3rd, 2010 11:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fishpatrolSo I went to go see Inception today and it was fantastic and shiny and pretty, but...
The entire premise (i.e. the mission) revolves around planting an idea in Fischer's mind, even if the lives of the team members are risked. Is such a high-risk mission necessary to bring down Fischer's company? Are there no other means to prevent Fischer's company from taking over? I found that part of the plot particularly weak and was a bit of a logic!fail.
The other issue I had was the characters' motives. Okay, Saito and Cobb, I get. Yusuf was being paid quite a lot -- presumably that was Eames's incentive as well. And Arthur? Idk, maybe he enjoys working with Cobb? Maybe he's also getting paid a lot for this job? But Ariadne? Especially in Dream Level #3, where she was adamant about going after Fischer in limbo, despite the others' protests (even Cobb hesitated!) -- what was that all about? What is she getting out of the deal?
Despite the logic!fail of the main plotline and the characterization fails (and as an aside: why is it that the character who makes the stoic and mysterious male protagonist get in touch with his ~*emotions*~ always female? The only female character in this movie --not counting Mal because she was technically not real-- and her main purpose was not her designing skills, but rather, her persistence at convincing Cobb to ~*examine his feelings*~)...uh, so despite all that, I really did enjoy the movie. :D;; I loved the idea of having layers of dreams and needing a "kick" to get out of each layer (I lovelove the fact that there needs to be this "designated driver" in each level to wake the others). The music was awesome, as expected -- Hans Zimmer never fails to deliver!
Lastly: did the top topple or not, at the end? I know it was supposed to be ambiguous, but my friend argued that it definitely toppled since it clearly wobbled at the end (he also insisted that there should've been a slo-mo sequence at the end that depicted Ariadne and Arthur testing their respective totems). I think it was still part of a dream, though -- the resolution was far too easy! The children were too young! And they had the same clothes on! Idk, it was all kind of trippy! \o\
I've been avoiding spoiler posts for the most part, so tell me what you guys think? (or point me to your reaction posts?)
And next week, I think I shall go see Salt. :>
The entire premise (i.e. the mission) revolves around planting an idea in Fischer's mind, even if the lives of the team members are risked. Is such a high-risk mission necessary to bring down Fischer's company? Are there no other means to prevent Fischer's company from taking over? I found that part of the plot particularly weak and was a bit of a logic!fail.
The other issue I had was the characters' motives. Okay, Saito and Cobb, I get. Yusuf was being paid quite a lot -- presumably that was Eames's incentive as well. And Arthur? Idk, maybe he enjoys working with Cobb? Maybe he's also getting paid a lot for this job? But Ariadne? Especially in Dream Level #3, where she was adamant about going after Fischer in limbo, despite the others' protests (even Cobb hesitated!) -- what was that all about? What is she getting out of the deal?
Despite the logic!fail of the main plotline and the characterization fails (and as an aside: why is it that the character who makes the stoic and mysterious male protagonist get in touch with his ~*emotions*~ always female? The only female character in this movie --not counting Mal because she was technically not real-- and her main purpose was not her designing skills, but rather, her persistence at convincing Cobb to ~*examine his feelings*~)...uh, so despite all that, I really did enjoy the movie. :D;; I loved the idea of having layers of dreams and needing a "kick" to get out of each layer (I lovelove the fact that there needs to be this "designated driver" in each level to wake the others). The music was awesome, as expected -- Hans Zimmer never fails to deliver!
Lastly: did the top topple or not, at the end? I know it was supposed to be ambiguous, but my friend argued that it definitely toppled since it clearly wobbled at the end (he also insisted that there should've been a slo-mo sequence at the end that depicted Ariadne and Arthur testing their respective totems). I think it was still part of a dream, though -- the resolution was far too easy! The children were too young! And they had the same clothes on! Idk, it was all kind of trippy! \o\
I've been avoiding spoiler posts for the most part, so tell me what you guys think? (or point me to your reaction posts?)
And next week, I think I shall go see Salt. :>
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no subject
Date: 2010-08-04 02:16 pm (UTC)Thank you for criticising the film! Haha. I'm seeing a lot of squee but for me the meta is more interesting.
I quite like Ariadne being the only one to question Cobb. Like you, it kind of bothered me that it had to be about emotions because, y'know, she's female - but I do think it balanced itself out in that her confrontation of him and his authority was bold and ultimately correct.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-04 06:31 pm (UTC)I do like Ariadne questioning Cobb and not fully trusting his judgment as well -- but I also wish that she didn't become such a flat character at the end, serving only as a motivator (or perhaps a voice of reason) for Cobb. She seemed to lack her own motivations, unlike the other (male) characters.
Thanks for linking to your reaction post! You raised a lot of interesting points that I hadn't even considered! I loved the concept of the story, the play between reality versus dreaming -- but what didn't quite work for me was the assumption that the seed of idea can be planted and will grow in a specified way (i.e. giving Fischer the idea that he should not be like his father and having this idea definitely grow into "Fischer will break down the empire") -- that is simplifying the human mind way too much for my taste. XD I definitely agree with you re: lack of cohesion. Inception tried to incorporate more concepts and storylines than it could possibly handle. The Matrix followed the basic plot of "hero saving the world", but Inception lacked this basic plot. Was it a story about a man overcoming his guilt? Or a man trying to save the world from an evil company? And oh man, the whole "we must plant an idea in Fischer's mind OR ELSE" thing didn't make sense at all, considering the risks that were involved. I completely agree with everything you said about Saito's story. \o\
/rambling ^^;;;