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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Date: 2010-08-05 02:30 am (UTC)too much of it felt, idk, kind of shallow?
I definitely get the impression that the movie tried to tell more stories than it could handle and ended up appearing shallow and oversimplified in some respects.
I'm not sure why Arthur/Eames is the big slash pairing to come out of this movie? I mean, I kind of see it, but barely.
Maybe it's the number of quirky exchanges that determines which ship becomes the fan-favourite. XD I suppose if we use that as the guideline, then Arthur/Eames comes out as the winner (also, Eames called Arthur "darling" -- I have a feeling the ship's foundation is built around that, haha). Personally, I see the potential for ships, but I'm not feeling the shippy vibes (again, back to the point about these characters being not well-developed).
because the whole sequence was so ridiculously too good to be true, with the inspiring music and the kids in the same clothes and in the exact same position on the lawn
The ending was resolved way too easily for it to be reality! But apparently, according to some sites, the kids' shoes were different (black instead of white) and the clothing was slightly different. Some other people were saying that Cobb's totem was actually his wedding ring -- he only wears it in dreams, but never in reality -- and he wasn't wearing his ring at the end (I didn't notice at all while watching the movie ^^;;).
why did Ariadne make a chess piece? how do totems help if you are stuck in your own dream?
The friend who I watched the movie with would totally agree with you. He was all, "Why did they bother showing Ariadne going to all the trouble of handcrafting her totem? Why didn't they bring back Arthur and Ariadne's totems at the end?" I guess the point of showing Ariadne making the chess piece was to establish the importance of the totem? Maybe? And I don't think they help at all if you're stuck in a dream, but they allow you to recognize if you're in a dream or not. Here's another question: if you're not supposed to allow others to touch your totem, then why was Cobb using Mal's? (unless, of course, his totem was actually not the top, but rather, his wedding ring)
Ariadne is Cobb's grown-up daughter who is in his dream
That would certainly add another layer of trippiness! Oh man, some of those theories are really compelling... (this is going to be one trippy fandom, heh)
it's the perfect fandom for fans to step in and fill in the blanks
That's a really good point! The biggest fandoms do seem to involve canon material that are full of holes (*coughSPNcough*).