Disappointing

Rating: Null/10 (27 July 2010)

There is an exercise that many actors use to help them develop their characters. They write autobiographies as their characters to give themselves a history/family/emotional base. No one in "Inception" had any discernible backstory. It was as if each character dropped out of the sky but no reason was given for the way s/he dealt with situations. I also had no idea why or how each of the characters came to the profession of "extraction" - what motivated them or interested them in being an extractor. Visually, the movie was fun. I did have some problem understanding some lines that were swallowed (Mr. Watanabe seemed to be the prime offender) and the interminable snow scene should have lost 15 minutes. However, special effects do no make up for lack of character development. Not caring whether a character lives or dies does not an engaging movie make.