Is inception over hyped?

[Woodsey]

Nope. I loved it. I had an actual grin on my face when the van went over the side of the bridge, and they kept swapping back and forth between dream worlds.

And I watched The Prestige again the other week, and Memento for the first time the other day - Nolan's my favourite filmmaker right now. By a very long mile.

I try to imagine what you look like grinning at a movie, and I always picture Vito from Mafia II, 'cause of your avatar... I think.

Anyways, my irrelevant imagination aside, I do not believe it is over hyper. It highly deserves the praise it got; it was very interesting, well written and had good acting.

Think Vito, only the Tommy Gun gives me a +2 to good looks.

 

[old account]

*standard Inception argument that people who didn't like it didn't get it*

Oh come on. First, that's incredibly insulting. Second, it's no more valid than defending a game with, "you don't like it because you suck at it."

Actually, after watching and not liking Inception, I did some research on possible interpretations of the movie. See, unlike many people (apparently), I tend to think the CREDITS mean the END OF THE FILM, so I missed a key piece. But that's fine, I looked everything up, checking into what people thought the different endings might mean, figured out which viewpoint Christopher Nolan supported and claimed to have intended to be "correct" and... I think it is incredibly stupid. I still think Inception is a big, dumb movie, only now it's pretentious.

Spoiler

Look, movies have to connect with something real. If the real story of Inception is what I think it is, the only, ONLY thing we can latch onto as something having anything to do with reality is the main character. Even The Matrix didn't spend the ENTIRE MOVIE in the Matrix. Why? Because without reality we have no concept of the virtual. There's no difference for the audience. Ah, but that's the point, is your response. Indeed, well then what is the point of Inception? If this is the thesis statement of Inception, it is a concept so simple a 5-minute AMV could accomplish the same thing.

The way I see it, Inception is either about the concept or about Cobb. If it's about Cobb and nothing is real, then I feel it's a mistake for nothing to be real because then Cobb is the only real "person" in the movie (everyone else is an actor), and all that action nonsense becomes both needless padding and shameless pandering to this mindless movie audience you mentioned, ironically. If Inception is about the high-minded concept, why all the preaching about stupid, asinine dream logic rules which have no relation to how dreams work in real life and the constant supporting actor banter?

I actually like the scenes between Cobb and the japanese guy (I want to say Retamoto, but I'm not sure), because they sort of approach that Matrix level of multiple meanings, that Neo and Morpheus kind of interplay. But the movie never settles into that groove for long before we're watching chase scenes that were crap back when Matrix Reloaded did them. Again, when the rules are a bunch of cow manure made up for the film with no logical context, I have no reason to be invested in whether they can make their completely arbitrary time limit.

Eugh, I just don't like this movie. There's something about it that smacks of faux-movie elitism. If you're a fan of Inception, don't let me put you off liking it. But don't use Inception as a vehicle to blast other people who may not share your tastes.

I never used the movie as a 'vehicle to blast other people who may not share my tastes'. If you didn't like Inception... okay, whatever, there were five other movies that came out that same weekend, tell me about one you did like.
My argument was that people (as a majority) only saw or see Inception (and every other movie since the dawn of computer enhancement) as visually stimulating. Now I'm not going to me an asshole (even though I am well known for one) and say that I only see movies for the hidden meaning of some symbolic moment so I can recall my personal experiences to that and be drawn deeper into the film; because if you look at it logically, not every movie has this motive. I can go on about how I will defend the Royal Tenenbaums because I fit right in with Richie and how it received no big advertisement because there were no giant mechs fighting or big explosions, or extremely hot girls with a five minute fan service scene (Transformers 2) because I believe that is all the majority of 'movie goers' (or at least the American public) like.
So you didn't like Inception... Fine, but at least you gave a reasonable explanation, and that is something I respect. For me, the movie was based around Cobb's redemption, something everyman can attain but never know if he does. The irony is that he must obtain it by doing the one thing that brought him the most guilt. He is battling himself with Ellen Page being his conscious. Frued's 'Id, Ego, and Super Ego' fit in this movie as well (in my interpretation) but I come into conflicts with other fans when bringing that up.
I'm sorry that you didn't like the movie. To me, it would be something I would recommend to another.

 

[CarlMin]

Terrible terrible film. Hated it.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

great film but not as confusing as it was made out to be

Agreed.

Shutter Island was far more confusing. Leo Decaprio just must be good at those psychological thrillers.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

I think it was over hyped. It still didn't stop it from being a really good film. Hype is part of the movie industry though and it sells so we will just have to put up with it.

 

[GiantRaven]

Yeah, none of it really matters or affects anything.

Kind of like most movies, no?

 

[Samurai Goomba]

Yeah, none of it really matters or affects anything.

Kind of like most movies, no?

I disagree. Movies like Fight Club, Full Metal Jacket and The Game have real-world relevance. Their thesis statements make a point about society and, more importantly, humanity. Even corny '80s movies like The Breakfast Club and The Last Starfighter try to say something about mankind, whether its a discussion of our uniqueness or a tale of heroism against the odds.

I have no problem with a movie just being a fun movie, but I think there's a difference between the kind of "depth" that is contained solely within the universe of a movie's arbitrary rules and a true depth that reaches through the TV screen, grabs you by the throat and forces you to look at life differently. So if we're talking "is Inception a decent film," then I'd say that it is. But if we're talking about depth of narrative, I'm going to have to say it is almost entirely deception. It's the Inception depth deception. Or maybe "depthception."

Definitely over hyped. I didn't even really find it hard to follow. All the talk of how it would blow my mind made me skeptical from the get go. It was a good movie, but it had the ego of charlie sheen and the same boner he has for himself to boot.

Oh, I agree that Inception feels like a movie that's in love with itself. All the endless rules with no regard for common sense are a prime example. Would it have been so bad if the whole "dream" concept had been a little more like what we expect out of dreams? Like, the dreamer has limited control over dreams, but some people can lucid dream. Or why couldn't one dream just merge into a different dream (like in real dreams), rather than all this layer nonsense?

I get that everything is the way it is by design, my question is whether those conscious design decisions were meaningful enough to actually have been worth implementing.

 

[Outright Villainy]

Usually I think things are overhyped but no, not in this case. Saw it twice, thoroughly enjoyed it both times. It's amazing.

 

[ImprovizoR]

The movie is awesome. I don't care for that "over-hyped" word. I care about my opinion. Sure you can say it's over-hyped if people that never saw classic movies like The Godfather and Citizen Kane are allowed to vote on IMDB but that doesn't make Inception any less good for me. In the end all that matters is how much YOU liked the movie.

 

[soren7550]

After seeing it a second time (the first time being w/ my family during Christmas at home if I remember right, unable to hear a damn thing that was happening since no one would shut the hell up), I thought that it was ok at best. Yes, the score was amazing, it was well directed, but the story fell flat for me since it wasn't explained well. (how did they come to discover the ability to enter dreams, how does that thing in the briefcase make them all enter the world of the dream, etc.)

 

[KaiusCormere]

Certainly the best movie I have seen in the last two years at least. I think "overhyped" is a cliche term used by movie elitists in this case.

 

[blobin]

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[blobin]

I thought DiCaprio was great in it... I'm not really a fan of him and thought this film showed new standards. TBH I reckon Inception fully earnt it's hype. If nothing else just think about how original the story is, could you have thought of that before it came out?

I'm in the group that doesn't think the story was original, just a reinterpretation of the heist movie.

 

[Gigano]

I thought it was a pretty brilliant action movie with some gorgeous scenarios and some fun ideas.

Nothing really thought-provoking or revolutionary about it though, at least not for me.

 

[mercifulwrath]

I loved it because it was actually smart and made you think. This too: http://literating.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/inception-nolans-inferno/

 

[PowerC]

However I also felt that the central trio of DeCaprio, Page and Cotillard really failed to connect and so we lost the real emotional link in the movie.

Thats kinda the point, its one of the many things that make this movie considered "artsy"

The script had several great moments but wasn't particularly memorable overall.

Huh? good for you because your one of the lucky few who didn't spend the next week thinking about it. Or laying awake at night replaying it in your head tryiing to decide whether or not it was a dream

Artsy?
Honestly I thought the last bit was just really cliched and predictable.

I liked inception. I thought it had some great set pieces, amazing effects, good supporting characters etc. However I also felt that the central trio of DeCaprio, Page and Cotillard really failed to connect and so we lost the real emotional link in the movie. The script had several great moments but wasn't particularly memorable overall.

I left the cinema thinking it was an interesting if slightly smug take on the heist movie. But now it's 8th on imdb's top 250 film and all that aclaim. why?

I think you couldn't be more wrong about the central trio. DiCaprio and Cotillard both delivered their roles admirably for my money, and Ellen Page is almost never anything less than awesomesauce, and I'm not unduly biased about that just because she's one of the cutest female humans ever to walk the Earth (although she is). I've seen her in bad movies -- one, anyway, The Tracey Fragments -- and this was a good outing for her. In fact the cast was uniformly solid.

Moreover, it isn't every heist movie where you can profitably chew over the broader points the film was making for weeks afterward. That's where Inception truly stands alone, for me. Works equally well as a heist flick, a haunting tragedy about a man becoming lost in his own subconscious, a metaphoric take on film production (with the extractors doing to Fischer what filmmakers do with an audience)... it really works on, well, a lot of levels.

Beyond that, it has tons of great action. Well, most of it is merely okay action riffing on shit we've seen a billion times before... but that bitching hotel fight sequence with Arthur, including some zero-gravity MMA for the love of almighty God, would have been worth the price of admission all on its own. It must have been insanely difficult to film -- much more so, I'm betting, than all the cool folding-city visuals -- so you in fact get great action and bona fide technical wizardry into the bargain, and a fascinating brain-teaser of a story and top-notch acting.

There are really few movies that combine all of those elements in one package. I'm not sure if I'd put Inception in my Top 10 Best of All Time list, but it's certainly in my Top 20.

So essentially you disagree completely

Certainly the best movie I have seen in the last two years at least. I think "overhyped" is a cliche term used by movie elitists in this case.

Meh i just dont think it's as good as everyone was telling me it was, 8/10 maybe, but no more

Too many people are just focusing on my use of overhyped. Does "given too much credit" sound better?"

have to agree with Kaius