Inception

4 out of 5 Stars



Inception is Christopher Nolan's next film after The Dark Knight. It follows the story of Cobb, a skilled extractor, someone who extracts information from people's dreams. We soon learn that after something that went wrong with his wife he has been forced to live out the United States. Now he ends up taking a job that could allow him to go back home. But this job requires inception, planting an idea into someone's brain and letting it grow inside them. This is a very difficult task but Cobb manages to assemble of team of skilled people to infiltrate a man's dreams and accomplish the task. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Ken Wantanabe, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Apparently Nolan worked on his script of Inception for ten years. And it definitely shows. The ideas and concepts in Inception are so deep and complex it could have easily been written as ultra confusion. And the fact that he was working on his script for so long I can forgive the eerily coincidental story arc of Leo's character from Shutter Island. But the reality is that Inception is incredibly well written. Few films have so directly dealt with the idea of dreams and so very few succeed. Inception is a film that not only succeeds in it's ideas but also manages by the end of the film to play with your mind, causing you to think. But really that is the best way to engage with the audience and many of the best films find ways to truly engage their audience. It's a story that delves into the deep reaches of the human subconscious that are not often thought about and plays with the ideas of dreams while continuously asking "What if?" Because after all, at it's heart it is still half a science fiction film, the other half a heist film.

Inception is also acted very well with an interesting but great cast and has a wonderful and enticing score. It's even directed pretty darn well. It's evident that Christopher Nolan put a lot of heart into this project. I must admit I really did like this film. It was a nice refresher but a big budget summer blockbuster that just explodes. Instead it actually caused you to think, something that the US might consider doing a bit more often. And really it's in the story and it's complexities made less complex by great writing and acting that make this film a real treat.

But there is one major problem. Inception isn't necessarily too long. After all, Return of the King was three and a half hours and needed to be for the importance of story. The problem is more that Inception just feels too long. A little over two hours starts to feel like almost three and by the time the movie is over the only thing that really truly draws you back is that end shot, causing you to ask so many questions. But re-watching it just brings up more questions and doesn't provide much of any answers. And it's in that feel of length that Inception finds it's flaw for no matter how good I feel a movie is, if it doesn't move enough it's hard for me to get into. I've probably seen more movies this year so far in theaters and on DVD than any other single year. And because of that I'm finding myself bored with more movies and it takes more to intrigue me. So the reality is that if Inception would have moved a little bit faster I could have given it my ultimate elusive rating. But the reality is that even The Karate Kid was over two hours and didn't feel like more than two.

The Sorceror's Apprentice

2 1/2 stars out of 5



This movie is suggested by the animated short from Fantasia, that one that many people know and love. And really that is most of this film's real draw. Except now there is more of a story than just a short. The idea is that Nicholas Cage plays a sorcerer who was one of three of Merlin's closest confidants. Only one of them turned evil and joined with Morgana. Now only the prime Merlinian can stop him and that's where Jay Barucel's character comes in. And then the quest to stop evil while still trying to have a social life kicks in.

This film is exactly what it looks like and tries to be; a fun action adventure movie. It's nothing more. It is from the same team as National Treasure after all. It was never supposed to be anything wonderful. But it is something fun. And obviously it's not believable. But all the same the cast is enjoyable, the special effects pretty good, and it's fun to see how they bring a concept to life in a bigger story. And Alfred Molina works as a pretty darn good villain.

If anything this is the film that most people won't see in theaters just because of ticket prices but will probably rent once it comes out. Because really it is fun to watch. And it's a whole lot better than it looked out to be. And every once in a while some of us just need these ridiculous action adventure movies just for the sake of entertainment so we can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

Despicable Me

4 out of 5 Stars




Gru is a super villain. He also isn't that good at it. In fact, another super villain who is new in town just stole a pyramid. That is Vector. Then Gru concocts a plan for the ultimate heist, to steal the moon. So he steals a shrink ray but then Vector steals it from him but he can't get into the heavily guarded fort. So Gru ends up adopting three little girls who sold cookies to Vector and works on carrying out his plan but things don't always go quite accordingly to plan as the girls begin to take a place in his heart. And all the while he is helped by little yellow minions.

Despicable Me is the kind of kids movie that makes movies truly fun, especially for kids. This is a film that is filled with great humor, good voice acting, and truly enjoyable characters. And with a year with so few great films it's nice that at least the animated films still hold up this year, the other films being Toy Story 3 and How To Train Your Dragon. Sure the plot is simple and predictable but it's a move geared to kids. It's not meant to be unpredictable. After all as one person I know put it about Toy Story, "You expect the toys to actually die?" There is a reality that in a kid's movie (basically anything rated G) there are just certain themes that are too intense for young kids to handle.

But what Despicable Me has is many laughs, great morals, and much heart. It's easy to know what is going to happen. But at the same time there is enough heart that you can feel for the the characters as you come along for the ride. And of course the addition of the minions makes for a clever and originally creative twist. Really it's a clever rendition of a simple plot. Really, it's the fun that somehow manages to be missed in a good many kids movies. And it's also the fun that somehow Shyamalan managed to miss in Airbender.

Predators

2 1/2 out of 5 Stars




Predators is a direct sequel to Predator. It opens on a bunch of people falling through the sky and finding parachutes they never knew they had. Soon they discover each other and are led through the jungle by Adrian Brody's character and find that they are being hunted by alien creatures known as predators. But of course some people know more than others.

Predators is from what I hear beyond a reasonable doubt much better than the former predator film sequels. I'll just have to take their word for it. All the same, this film is more of a fan film for those who enjoy the franchise more than anything. By all means it's a decent action film with fun sequences throughout the second half of the film. The cast does a surprisingly good job at acting in a film with such a ridiculous plot. It's so simple and mundane that it's storyline follows that of basically hundreds of B-movies but succeeds where they don't. And the acting really does help the films cause.

But the action in the film can't save it from it's mediocrity and slow and mundane first half. Very little seems to happen until close to the one hour mark and therefore causes a sleep inducing feeling before finally picking up the action. And when a film is known as an action film and not much more there is a problem. It was better than I necessarily expected but that didn't save it. I was still too bored. I wanted more action. I wanted more drive. Instead I got lots of walking around and exposition. At least they throw in a samurai and a katana fight.