by Darren Franich <http://popwatch.ew.com/author/dfranich/> Categories: Reviewing the Reviews<http://popwatch.ew.com/category/misc/reviewing-the-reviews/> , Things That Are Awesome!<http://popwatch.ew.com/category/misc/things-that-are-awesome/>
[image: inception]Image Credit: Stephen VaughanOh, summer 2010, you sly pup. You’ve teased us for two long months now with a nonstop cinematic parade of threequels and reboots and remakes and Adam Sandler. Not that we’re complaining: some of those movies were pretty good. But now you’re revealing your prized possession: *Inception*, Christopher Nolan’s long-awaited, utterly mysterious follow-up to *The Dark Knight*. We’ve watched the trailers <http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/05/10/inception-new-trailer/>. We’ve pondered over the posters <http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/04/29/inception-poster/>. We’ve noticed that Tom Berenger is in the movie. We are intrigued. Now the reviews are hitting the internet, and guess what? *We are even more intrigued.* Todd Gilchrist over at Cinematical<http://www.cinematical.com/2010/07/05/inception-review/> speaks for most reviewers when he notes that *Inception *is “a film that benefits from knowing as little as possible about it before seeing it,” and without spoiling anything, calls *Inception* “a stunning achievement and the most completely entertaining film I’ve seen in years.” Over at IGN<http://movies.ign.com/articles/110/1103912p2.html>, Jim Vejvoda gets heavy with allusions sure to send film studies majors into the upper reaches of the geekosphere, saying *Inception*reminds him of Jean Cocteau, Stanley Kubrick, Michael Mann, *The Matrix*, and *On Her Majesty’s Secret Service*. Drew McWeeny over at HitFlix<http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/2008-12-6-motion-captured/posts/the-m-c-review-inception-bends-brains-breaks-hearts-with-equal-ease?m=p> praises the entire cast, who do “great work.” Getting just a teensy bit * SPOILER-ific* here, he also notes that “the last forty-five minutes or so of the film is just one long reality-bending set-piece,” which is not something you’re going to see written about *The Expendables*. Like many of the reviewers, Kirk Honeycutt of* **The Hollywood Reporter*<http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film-reviews/inception-film-review-1004102197.story> detects a few *Matrix *comparisons, and also notes that the movie’s core audience is basically humanity: “It’s very hard to see how a film that plays so winningly to so many demographics would not be a worldwide hit.” *Inception* is the first Christopher Nolan film since his debut, *Following*, that’s not an adaptation. Besides finding the thing extremely entertaining, Justin Chang at *Variety*<http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117943114.html?categoryId=31&cs=1> notes a similarity between the Leonardo DiCaprio character’s ability to weave dreams and Nolan’s filmmaking: both are activities “devoted to constructing a simulacrum of reality, intended to seduce us, mess with our heads and leave a lasting impression.” Devin Faraci at Chud.com<http://chud.com/articles/articles/24313/1/REVIEW-INCEPTION/Page1.html?anonymousId=1954787789902894656>echoes that assessment in his rave review: “[*Inception* is] huge-budget filmmaking harnessed to tell a personal story that’s smart and uncompromising.” And Steven James Snyder of Techland<http://techland.com/2010/07/06/inception-first-take-no-spoilers-lots-of-reasons-to-be-excited/> concurs: the movie “is so unbelievably inventive and intelligent that I’m convinced a studio just gave Christopher Nolan carte blanche to do anything he wanted.” Lest that sound too heavy, Mr. Beaks at Ain’t It Cool<http://www.aintitcool.com/node/45679> brings it home: noting that *Inception* uses the thrilling plotline of a heist movie to ensnare all audiences, he concludes, “Pure cinema at its best feels like dreaming with your eyes wide open. Cinema doesn’t get much purer than* Inception*.” PopWatchers, I didn’t think it was possible to be more excited about * Inception*. I was wrong…*dead wrong!* Why, oh why, isn’t it July 16th yet? Have these early reviews had a similar effect on you? Please do speak out below! -- spanx' blog: http://spankyenriquez.blogspot.com/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gimik" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/gimik?hl=en.
