Ken Watanabe

It’s been a while since I wrote a movie review. This is mostly because with all the crappy films that came out recently, I lost my inspiration for a bit. I’m glad to report that my inspiration is back on track. How could it not be, with the film like “Inception“, which I went to see in the movies on Saturday night?

We, the non-14-years-old audience, were waiting for this or similar movie for a really long time now. It’s everything you want from a movie and more – it’s smart, it’s engaging, it’s entertaining, it’s thought-provoking, it’s pleasant to look at, and it gives you something to talk about for days after. I’ve heard plenty of positive reviews of this movie. And I’m sure I haven’t heard even a tiny bit of them – currently the film is #3 in IMDB’s Top 250 films of all times.

For me personally, the movie was quite a surprise. It is similar in different details to so many other movies, yet it is unique, standing on its own, and way better than most. While a lot of people, of course me included, enjoyed the twisted story, I was mostly taken away by the visuals. The combination of great visual effects and outstanding photography are break-taking. It is on par with the bullet-time photography of “The Matrix”, adjusted for a years that pasted. In particular – two scenes that were jaw-dropping: bending of the city, which is partially seen on the poster, and the fight in the hotel corridor. During these two scenes I almost totally forgot what the movie was about – it looked so great, that I had a huge “Wow!” sign occupying all space inside my head.

I’ll say even more. Do you remember when the “Avatar” movie came out? It was great, wasn’t it? But you had to use the 3D glasses which were annoying, and you sorta had to see the movie, because there was so much hype about it. These two things for me were a bit offsetting. I was expected it to be great. I had to force myself to wear the glasses. “Inception” on the other hand was totally unexpected, and it came in 2D (thank you whoever made that decision). I went to see a twisted story with Leonardo DiCaprio, and I what I got out of it was so much more.

Anyways, I can talk about this movie for hours. But I’d rather do it with people who saw it. So, don’t miss out your chance – movies of this superb quality don’t come out that often. Do yourself a favor and see it in the cinema. It pretty much requires the big screen. It’s so good that I’ll probably go see it again, and end up buying a DVD or something.

Absolutely a 5 out of 5. Highly recommended.

I am not a big fan of Tom Cruise. In fact, I passively try to avoid his movies. He is not a very good actor and there is something negative about the guy. When I saw the trailer for the “The Last Samurai” in the movies back a few years ago, I didn’t like it, and missed the movie on purpose. I though it would be some historical non-sense about an American getting into Japan, learning centuries of samurai traditions and skills in a couple of month and then showing them how real people fight. Or something along those lines.

Today I rented the film because I was really bored, because there weren’t much else to rent, and because I thought the time has come to finally watch it. Once again it seems I missed watching a really good movie on a big screen. Boomer!

There are quite a few things that would have made the experience so much better for if I went to see it in the cinema. First of all, the battle scenes and all the small fights. Secondly, some really amazing scenery and photography. The film was shot mostly in New Zealand, which has been proven many times to be one of the most beautiful countries. At least, on the big screen. Thirdly, this film has an excellent soundtrack and it would have been a bigger pleasure listening to it in something other than a pair of cheap headphones.

I also really liked the story in the film. Not that it shows something that I haven’t seen or heard of before, but it rather reminds of quite a few subjects which are very good to be reminded of. The film has its way around such topics as honor, discipline, loyalty and friendship. These should be talked about more often in the movies for the sake of making the world a better place. (Yes, the whole world, including yours truly.)

Being a complete moron in history, cultures, and traditions, I can’t judge the historical truth of the film. However, Wikipedia, as usual, has an excellent article which describes how the story is relevant to the things that took place in real life.

Overall: 9 out of 10.