Inception vs Tron Legacy

Just watched Inception and at the risk of undermining any respect anyone i know may of had for me; where was the life changing narrative i was promised..?

Yes its a very good film, the effects of course superb but we expect that from Nolan and for that matter Hollywood. The trailer-touted hallway fight had a real 2001 old school feel of proper stunts / camera work and the remaining CGI fest delivered immaculately but that alone doesn't make a film (I am yet to blog about Avatar as just the mention of that cinematic tragedy makes my reflux flare up).

The casting was a real winner, centring on DiCaprio who (through skill or inability) played a trans-consciously-confused lead to perfection. As the Telegraph suggested, a roll not a million miles away from Shutter Island. The rest were more than equal to their parts, especially the Juno chic and the Scarecrow who suggested they have a lot more to offer in years to come. (If i were to speak negatively then the fact i was considering their future potential at all says the film didn't consume me to the level so many others promised).

I think i wish i had seen this before the hype had hit. I was genuinely nervous about watching it, making sure I was of a state of mind to comprehend the, dare I say, highbrow narrative layer fest that would leave me questioning reality itself. None of that happened. I got it, nothing complex happened, it was a film, a very good film that delivered on almost every level but not with any particular depth. I wanted the repeat value of the level of Pulp Fiction, the sobering perfection of Gattaca and a Lynch-esque mind fuck. Instead I got Strange Days and Existenze.

With those expectations in mind i guess i don't have issue with the film but those who have seen it before me. What was it that it showed you that you didn't already know or couldn't easily accept..? Seriously where was the confusion/lesson/epochal shift of perception..? Everything was utterly resolved (for the most part in the next scene let alone over a cherry-pie dissection afterwards). If you don't get it, then watch more films, read more books, just think more and for that matter stop giving it five star ratings.

On re-reading these words i can see a real negative vibe and that is unfair. For what my opinion is worth, you should go see it but there are better movies. Case in point would be Tron Legacy. Now before all of the seven people that might read this discount any of my future blogs; I know that objectively, filmicly and conceptually speaking Inception is 'better' however…

Tron Legacy delivered a texture, nostalgia and excitement that Inception never could. Where i was willingly consumed and lost in Tron Legacy, i wanted to resolve and therefore escape Inception. For what it was, Tron Legacy was more successful, i got pulled in to another world that, although more implausible than Inception's was more alluring. Nostalgia played a huge part in this but you know what they both traded on aspects intrinsic to our lives; sleep and computers - if you like that stark condensation of my life should by itself be the reason why you should ignore all of the above.

Yours inebriated.
Bristol