Why I Have No Interest in Inception

Not a great headline, but honesty is the best policy.

For those who have been living under the proverbial rock (and that must include Disney who is releasing their latest Nicolas Cage flick The Sorcerer's Apprentice against it), this week marks the release of Inception, the highly hyped science fiction thriller from director Christopher Nolan, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a "dream thief" (at least based on what I could figure out from the confusing trailers). The film has many-both critics and film geeks-drooling over its visuals, its storyline and Nolan-who some seem to feel is the greatest filmmaker ever (sorry Hitchcock, Capra and John Ford) making his first film since The Dark Knight and some thinking it will even take down Avatar as the biggest moneymaker ever. Everyone except this geek I'm afraid.

I don't know why but I just have no enthusaism for it-it reminds me too much of The Matrix with the scenes of buildings blowing up and people hanging upside down and the plot sounds like a bad Syfy TV series. Its not the only film this summer either to do that-I had no interest in Toy Story 3 either (despite the universal acclaim-all though at this point Pixar could make a movie called Fido Goes to Get Spayed and people would think its the greatest film ever). And then there are some films you would have to strap to me a chair Clockwork Orange style to make me suffer through (Twilight 3 anyone?) .

Yet I seem alone in my lack of interest in Inception. Could it be I just have lousy taste in movies (after all I enjoyed Iron Man 2, no one else seems to)? Could it be that while I like a few of Nolan's films (especially The Prestige) I didn't care much for either of his Batman films (the first one suffered from boring origin story syndrome while the second only worked when Heath Ledger was onscreen) and he isn't my favorite filmmaker-nor the greatest (for the record for me Akira Kurosawa holds that title). Or is it that the film has been built up so much that I'll walk in with high expectations and the film won't live up to them and I'll feel I've wasted my money and time on a film I didn't like or enjoy. Because for me that's the main issue with a movie-I want to enjoy it. I want to have fun and escape. I don't mind movies that make you think or want to present offbeat or original ideas-I'm all for that. But when a film is this hyped and people are carrying on like its the second coming, I begin to grow tired of it before it comes out and wonder if it is really worth all the fuss.

So I guess I'll be the exception and skip Inception. Sorry folks, maybe the dream thieves stole my enthusiasm.