Two very entertaining movies that give us a lot to think about and will require future episodes. We briefly discuss magic, ideas, inspiration, inception, dreams, reality, and death.

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Spoiler-free reviews

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

A great soundtrack by Trevor Rabin, who is one of Daniel’s favorite composers. Eve did not see The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, so Daniel invited Jeremy, cohost of the the Ramen Noodle™ comedy podcast.

The beginning moved fast, like a movie trailer, but The Sorcerer’s Apprentice was very entertaining. It was clean from overt sexual content, but, of course, contained a lot of magic. When you see The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, make sure you watch through to the end of the credits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VZllR44gdA

Inception

Although likened to The Matrix, Inception was, in our opinion, far better and was an impressive movie that deals with the concept of reality without the focus on technology. Inception was very engrossing, with a multi-level story that is so well done that you have no problem keeping up with everything going on. But it’s no wonder because it’s director, Christopher Nolan, has produced some incredible films: Memento, The Prestige, Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight.

Aside from some seductive clothing and “morning after” seen covered in bed, Inception was essentially clean of sexual content, but it did have some foul language and contained a lot situational violence. While the trailer show many of the coolest scenes, it ruins nothing. Don’t judge Inception by its trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Sd0ff1sbJU

Don’t forget to visit Pluggedin.com for family reviews of  The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Inception. More information abou both movies can be found at imdb.com.

The rest of these shownotes and the discussion within the podcast will contain spoilers.

Magic and science?

Obviously, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice contains alot of magic. Scripture addresses magic in two forms: miracles and demonic power. During the plagues on Egypt, Pharaoh’s magicians could duplicate some of the plagues, but they couldn’t fix them. Daniel mentions how there are some martial artists that can get into supernatural things, but that is evil. Martial arts did not originate from the evil and “dark magic.”

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice does try to portray magic as partially science (working within a natural realm according to natural rules). Eve raises a quotation, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Magic can be portrayed as a completely natural phenomenon that has yet to be explained by science, but is not necessarily unscientific.  Most of what is portrayed in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice would be what most people would consider magic.

Destiny and symbolism

Dave seems in constant denial of his “destiny,” which was a core theme. Merlin was portrayed as a kind of god. The sorcerers were ageless, but seemed like they can be killed but only by certain means.

There were also plenty of symbols used throughout the movie: Merlin’s circle, which focused energy; and the villainess used an upside down pentagram when forming her mystical “circle”

We hope to more thoroughly discuss Sorcerer’s Apprentice later when it comes out on DVD.

Ideas and inception

Inception shows stepping out in faith as being a blind action. In the Christian faith, we have a faith in Someone who has proven Himself to be faithful. It may mean closing our eyes to what we want, possibly stepping out of our comfort zone, but it isn’t blind.

An idea, once ingrained, is impossible to eradicate … an idea is contagious.

Cobb, the main character, is continually distracted by his guilt associated by the loss of his wife and his desire to see his family.

Inspiration

Pure inspiration is impossible to fake.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; (2 Timothy 3:16)

All attacks on the Bible usually start with an attack on its origins—its inspiration. But the Bible is completely consistent in the “voice” of the accounts even though it was penned by over forty men over a few thousand of years. God breathed Scripture—inerrant, inspired, infallible.

The world of the dream

A dreams is place where you are unable to recall how you got to where you are. Inception demonstrates this well in a very nonjarring way. In the same way, when you get deceived, it is often so subtle that you get lost in the deception without any idea how you into it or even to see that you are being deceived.

The dream totems that each of the team carried represents an absolute that helps them know where reality is. There are absolute truths by which we can fully understand our world. God created with order and ordained the laws of nature, He put in place absolutes that define reality.

The power of creation is addictive.

Death and freedom

Your world isn’t real … only death will free you.

This idea that only death brings freedom is an interesting twist on the Christian hope of eternity after death.

This discussion requires more in-depth discussion in a future, full episode. So send us your thoughts now!

What did you think?

Please tell us what you think about either Inception or The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. We are hoping to do full episodes on both of these movies and would dearly love your input on these future discussions. Comment on this post, email feedback@AreYouJustWatching.com (audio feedback welcome), or call (903) 231-2221. You can also follow Daniel and Eve on Twitter. And please join our Facebook Page. Don’t forget to leave us some five-star reviews in iTunes!

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