Inception Review

SPOILER ALERT!

It was a badass movie. But yes, it does have it's flaws.

Christopher Nolan is one of my favourite film makers of all time and he could be considered the Kubrick of our generation. Now all his previous films have been something of a spectacle. Everything from Memento to The Prestige and the comic-book masterpiece The Dark Knight. Inception is no different.

It is a spectacle of pure cinema. The concept of the story is simple. Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) and Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are two paid agents who are paid my giant corporations to go inside the dreams of their rivals, enter their sub-concious and steal vital information. Until Ken Watanabe comes up with an offer for the two duo to return home. (an impossibility after Cobb was framed for the murder of his wife.) The job requires inception, or planting an idea inside the heir of a corporation to break up his dad's empire. Naturally Cobb and Arthur take this job and all hell breaks loose.

The very concept itself is brilliant, dream manipulation as industrial espionage and the possibilities that exist within one's dream. One of the most memorable sequences for me personally was the montage where Cobb goes to hire an architect who will create the world of the dream where the inception takes place. Cobb is explaining the concept of shared dream and subconcious to Ariadne (Ellen Page) and thus we get an insight into the 'rules' that Chris Nolan has created for this whacky concept. Even though he doesn't fully explain why or how one can share a dream and not just that, but later on how 6 people can have a shared dream all because of a device that Nolan doesn't care to explain. But it's ohk, because that is not the important thing. What is important is that we are on a journey through the subconcious of the corporate heir called Fischer (Cillian Murphy)

Now this journey which makes up pretty much the last half of the movie is one that is filled with magic and mayhem. Ariadne the architect has created three layers of dreams within a dream, to reach Fischer's inner most subconcious. This is where the plot gets at it's most complex. There are four layers of existence, for Cobb and his team. The first is in a warehouse(First Layer) The second is in an expensive hotel and the third is in a ski field god-knows-where, all they way through they are trying to plant this idea inside this guy Fischer's head about breaking up his father's company. Now the last half an hour or so is hard to keep up with definitely because all three of the layers have a lot of action going on and our main characters are in peril throughout all three layers of dreaming.

But I kept up with it, I was there through the entire sequence, even during the parts where Cobb shared all those melodramatic moments with his dead wife, that he keeps alive in his sub-concious. But by the end of the film I was not attached emotionally all that was left was intellect. I could follow the movie intellectually, but emotionally I was out of it, right when they reached level 2 of the dreamworld.

Now, the movie is a mind fuck, no doubt. It has been dubbed 'the new matrix'. It sure requires intellect and thinking beyond the box. I still think it is a very powerful piece of cinema that deserves recognition for what it has accomplished with its complex storytelling. Maybe I need another viewing to fully grasp the film emotionally, as is always the case with films of this nature.

But, as always check it out for yourself. The film is a fucking ride!

The Karate Kid Review

My First review will be that of The Karate Kid, which stars Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith. Coincidentally this is the latest film that I saw. Now for the sake of this review, I am not going to compare it to the old Karate Kid, for that will be an insult to the effort that Harald Zwart and his team put into this film and also an insult to the film itself, which should be seen as an independant piece of art.

Now right off the bat I can tell you that The Karate Kid is a GOOD movie and for many reasons that I will discuss. First let's see how young Jaden Smith performs.

Jaden Smith, the son of Will Smith (who was the producer, along with wife Jada) is going to be a star no doubt and his performance in this film is exceptional. Right off the bat, you give a shit about this little 12 year old who is moving off to China.

His character is very loveable not only because he is a little kid but also because he has his shortcomings. Now once he moves to China that is when Jaden really shows his shit. First of all the beatings that he takes by the bullies are all very brutal so much so that me and others in the audience were yelling out "ooh" and "aah". Jaden makes you feel the shit that he is getting, so much so that you get pissed off and want Jaden to throw in a punch or two, which he does. But to no avail. There are also aspects of his character that people can relate to as a 12 year old, the relationship with his mother, his constant effort to fit in to a foreign enviroment, which are all acted very well by Jaden smith. His performance is a star making one and he will have a bright future in this industry.

Now let's talk about the real surprise, which is delivered by Jackie Chan who plays Mr Han, the kung-fu master.

Now this is not the Jackie Chan that you have grown up knowing. The one who throws himself through glass windows, high buildings and kicks people's ass, all while making you laugh till you pee. That is the Jackie Chan that I knew, the Jackie Chan who was in Drunken Master, Police Story and Rush Hour. But no sir, this Jackie Chan is more mature and way more BADASS!!!

Right off the bat, the character of Mr Han is a complicated one. We never really know his motivations, and Jackie Chan plays the character so seriously that one really feels the mystery and confusion about this character. Once his path collides with Dre (Jaden Smith) then shit really gets interesting. As he becomes Dre's Kung Fu master we see that he is a very strict man when it comes to Kung Fu making Dre do the same shit all the time until he gets frustrated. The character never really fully gets revealed, the closest is a scene where Mr Han, reveals a thing or two about his past to Dre. In a scene that melted my heart and brought tears to my eyes. Jackie Chan's performance was serene. The best performance that I have seen out of Jackie Chan, and that is a bold statement to make. But its none-the-less true. This man deserves an award for what he did in this movie and someone out there should make sure he gets it.

Now the two performances aren't the only thing that make this movie a masterpiece. There is also the amazing and distinct visual style that this film has. The beautiful colours and photography make this film feel like a true chinese opera. Which is what this film is, it is a marriage between east and west and what a beautiful marriage it is. There are so many quotes by Mr Han about the spirit and the nature of Kung Fu, there are so many moments between Dre and Mr Han that are so intense, the training, the blood, the sweat and the tears all make for one hell of a movie experience.

Well done Harald Zwart, you have truly made a masterpiece and it should be recognized as one.

Everyone should go and check out this flick again and again.