As a matter of fact, the screen in the London South Bank IMAX is the biggest screen in the country. It was my first time at the IMAX today, and an excellent chance to see a film in crystal clear detail. The only problem witht eh size of the screen though, was that it was impossible to look at everything at once. Other than that, though, there were no problems at all. It also has to be noted how comfortable the seats were, and also how well behaved the audience was. It's been ages since the last time I was in a completely full cinema, but there were no people talking, or rustling, or using their mobile phones anywhere near me, which was very refreshing to see.
I know it's comments like this that make me seem really old, in a bad way, but little things like this are important.
The film my family and I saw was Inception. I had been looking forward to this for over a year, eve rsicne I read the final details on casting. For once, unlike the Nine (2009) disaster, all my expectations were met, and some were even surpassed, hence why I've given the film 96/100.
Directed by Christopher Nolan, Inception centres around the concept of creating a new world through dreaming. After being enthralled by one of Nolan's earlier pieces of work, The Prestige (2006), which is another intelligent concept thriller, which is importantly also character driven, I was expecting more of the same standard, and was not disapointed. The ending was of course a final twist which ties everything together for the viewer. Much of the cinematography was also the same as The Prestige, and the special effects were good - there were not too much, and all served a purpose, it wasn't just a case of the CGI people seeing how many explosions they can cram into one film.
The Dark Knight (2008), another film by the same director, is fairly violent for something rated 12A. Luckily, Inception was less violent, and was not set as darkly at The Dark Knight,amking for much easier watching. The script was excellent, because it moved the story along and ensured that I never became bored. Many articles in the press claimed how ahrd the plot was to follow/understand, even comparing it to The Matrix, but it was actually easier to follow/understand than The Prestige.
Now, I can finally talk about the cast that I was so excited about. Having graduated to watching more serious films through Leonardo DiCaprio's performance in Titanic (1997), his is a career that I've always been interested in following. Although his character was similar to some of the characters that he's played before, he still carried the film and delivered an engaging performance. He managed to play a character who didn't understand himself very convincingly, which is probably difficult, because an actor interpreting a role would obviously understand their character, so to convey that was really quite an achievement.
Marion Cotillard as the wife of Leo's character was stunning in what little screen time she had. When I watched La Vie en Rose (2007), I hated everything about the film, except for her performance, and she quickly became one of my favourite French actresses. There was this one scene, in Inception, where her feeling of desperation just connected with me, and really made me feel for her.
Of the ensemble cast, the two real standouts were in Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, two quirky young actors. Whilst Page tends to play a lot of similar roles, she does play them well, and I always seem to be able to relate to her characters.
So far, I've only seen three 2010 films, and it's over halfway through the year. Of the three I've seen, I can firmly say that Inception has been the best by a long way, and will have a good shot at the Oscars, although the July release may hinder this a little.
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