Disappointed, despite the hype and expectation

Rating: 5/10 (5 August 2010)

I am rather surprised to see so many positive - well, gushing - reviews for this movie. I found it almost outrageously derivative of both The Matrix and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Inception, to me, is an amalgam of the aforementioned two - with a dose of 'The Dirty Dozen' thrown in for good measure. Firstly I could not empathize with the main thrust of the plot: DiCaprio et al should risk their lives and sanity to help a billionaire meglomaniac to rule the world's energy supplies by ensuring his (the billionaire's) main rival breaks up his father's conglomerate gigantic energy-supply company. So there is no higher moral or ethical foundation to the plot or the struggles (and they are gargantuan!) of the characters. Which takes me to my second point - the characters are shadows, almost wafer thin - so again, as a viewer I don't really care too much about their plight. This is a serious drawback when they are almost constantly falling off cliffs, being burned etc etc. Only DiCaprio's character has any real depth, and even his character is derivative of so many lost souls 'trying to get home' movies. Third, while the action scenes are very impressive, with amazing special effects, the danger is so great at each moment - which they survive again and again - that all quickly becomes ludicrously contrived, and we never really doubt they'll survive. The bad guys are all clones and they are clearly useless at their jobs of protecting their paymasters. I was waiting for a 5th level of dream-depth, with the entire Chinese army on the attack .. that was the effect it all had on me. I left the cinema feeling quite disappointed - so much effort, so many effects, so much booming and crashing. Yet it counts for very little if the plot and characterizations are weak.