missiom: inpossible: dead reckoning: part fucking one? oh christ. give over

[Blinder Data]

The three films are also interesting in how Cruise hogs all of the "cool" stunts. The three films include Jeremy Renner and Henry Cavill, two men clearly well cut out for action films, consigned mostly to stand back and watch another amazing Tom Cruise Stunt™. It's particularly crazy that Renner is given one action scene in Ghost Protocol (hovering around above a robot, looking like a gimp) then consigned to a diplomatic desk job in Rogue Nation.

...

The character that comes closest to being presented on the same level as Hunt is Rebecca Ferguson's Isla. But even she is presented as bungling several missions, along with the usual sexualisation and objectification that comes with these kinds of films. Her and Cruise have this weird sexless charisma together, where they're teased as being romantically invested in each other, but over two films (accumulatively 4 and a half hours long) not once do they kiss.

Apparently Renner was originally cast to become the next star of the M:I franchise but plans changed halfway through (because Ethan Hunt is the best, is irreplaceable, we will always love you Ethan, etc.). Then his Marvel commitments stopped him from appearin in any more M:I films. It's a shame, I thought he was good at the action and the comedy

I quite like the Ilsa character and her weird relationship with Ethan. It feels like a genuine "will they/won't they" in that I have no idea if they're friends, surrogate siblings, potential lovers. The ambiguity works imo

The idea that the whole thing is a vehicle for Tom Cruise to remind everyone how he is the number one star is, like you say, clear as day - if it means he keeps riding motorbikes of cliffs and other incredible stunts, I'm fine with that

[13 schoolyards]

Yeah, it's not like anyone is out there complaining that Cruise is preventing the Mission: Impossible franchise from achieving everything it could be. They barely even bother with the mask stuff now, which was the central gimmick of the series

[mjwilson]

Yeah, it's not like anyone is out there complaining that Cruise is preventing the Mission: Impossible franchise from achieving everything it could be. They barely even bother with the mask stuff now, which was the central gimmick of the series

This makes it seem like you haven't seen Dead Reckoning.

[convulsivespace]

Rewatched the first one. Very fascinating movie because the first third is awesome and actually feels like a Brian De Palma movie (almost a horror movie), and then the end sequence on the train absolutely sucks. Feels like De Palma got bored with it. Still great overall though.

[13 schoolyards]

This makes it seem like you haven't seen Dead Reckoning.

I was thinking more of the way

Spoiler alert

right before the big mission the mask machine just stops working, thus allowing Cruise to do all the big stunts

[close]

It's interesting that Cruise kicked off the M:I franchise during that period where he was making movies where his face would be concealed as part of the plot (Vanilla Sky, Eyes Wide Shut). He seems to have gotten over whatever that was all about

[dissolute ocelot]

Apparently Renner was originally cast to become the next star of the M:I franchise but plans changed halfway through (because Ethan Hunt is the best, is irreplaceable, we will always love you Ethan, etc.). Then his Marvel commitments stopped him from appearin in any more M:I films. It's a shame, I thought he was good at the action and the comedy

There have been a few different franchises which have tried to transition like this, introducing a new younger person alongside the established star, but I'm not sure it ever works. Renner starred in The Bourne Legacy before they dumped him and got Matt Damon back for the follow-up. And wasn't Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull supposed to set up Shia TheCow as a new Indy?

[Old Nehamkin]

I thought this more or less did the job but I'm not sure why this particular story absolutely needed to be split into two parts and I think the film strains a bit to work as an action-adventure film that builds to a meaningful climax of its own while also setting up the next one. In that regard it reminded me a tiny bit of the needlessly chopped up Hobbit movies which have the same sort of structural awkwardness about them. Actually speaking of hobbits, this also kept making me think of the lord of the rings what with the ethereal, all-seeing evil entity with its fate bound to a magical device which our heroes are virtuously trying to destroy where others would seek to control it.

I found Hayley Atwell pretty endearing in this and I liked the balance of her character being super competent within her own area of expertise (doing sexy thief stuff) but also getting genuinely out of her depth as things escalated and needing to sort of step up her game and earn her place on the team rather than just being a completely unflappable super-badass at all moments as is sometimes the go-to route for this kind of character in this kind of film.

I didn't quite get what the deal was supposed to be with the Gabriel guy. The bit where he's hooked up inside that sort of sarcophagus thing made me think the idea was meant to be that he's just regularly connecting up his brain with the AI entity and being mentally rewired to the extent that he's basically become a human appendage/mouthpiece for it, but I don't think it was really developed clearly enough.

I quite like the Ilsa character and her weird relationship with Ethan. It feels like a genuine "will they/won't they" in that I have no idea if they're friends, surrogate siblings, potential lovers. The ambiguity works imo

Yeah, I honestly don't remember much of what happened between the two of them in the last couple of films but I liked their dynamic in this. Just a pair of ambiently weird oddballs with some sort of inscrutable understanding between them.

[13 schoolyards]

Honestly I assumed this story had to be told in two parts because the story is the least important thing about the series and this way they don't have to bother trying to think up a new reason for all the running around in the next one

[Old Nehamkin]

Honestly I assumed this story had to be told in two parts because the story is the least important thing about the series and this way they don't have to bother trying to think up a new reason for all the running around in the next one

Well I guess so, but I suppose the flipside of that is that you do sacrifice some of the bombastic excitement that's supposed to be contained in the climax when Ethan Hunt doesn't have a big button to press that's going to stop the world blowing up or whatever. I found the film exciting enough on the whole but I couldn't help feeling like the ending was a bit limp and non-cathartic to quite pay off all that running around.

[how do you like apples]

Agree a bit re: the slightly disappointing climax.

Spoiler alert

The whole orient express sequence is one of the most exciting of the series, and actually the only one of the franchise where it feels like they really saved the best for last. But to cap it all off, with Gabriel out of the picture, the main obstacle at the end was just.. the train cars. Would've been a good scene anywhere else in the film, but with everything we've seen this superhuman get through in the past I didn't believe the peril of the situation as much as you'd want in the very final moments

[close]

Anyway I hope Vanessa Kirby's character gets to host another one of her parties in the next one. In Fallout it was The Grand Palais and in this they seemed to be in the Doge's Palace? I want to see them turn Macchu Picchu into a nightclub

[dissolute ocelot]

Apologies for resurrecting this. The first half hour is great, nice submarine action, nice desert shootout, and a scene where lots of intelligence people played by Mark Gatiss, Rob Delaney, Cary Elwes, Henry Czerny, etc, all talk very fast. And at risk of being shallow, there are a lot of very attractive women. If it kept the early pace up, it would be the best action film ever.

But there's a fine line between suspense and padding. The action sequences are fine but nothing new (not helped by Fast X also having a demolition derby around Rome, and Indiana Jones 5 had a lot of train action). The plot is ridiculously lame (there's a key! something something something!). The stuff with the face-copy machine is something they probably have to have in every film, but I wish they'd find a better way to subvert it or make it interesting. They really need to just kill everybody. Instead part 2 (or 3) is going to end with Tommo deciding who's the nicest girl and settling down.

Till they want some more money.

[elliszeroed]

What would be awesome (or at least decent):

In Cruises last film, revealing that this time, Hunt really did betray the IMF, like his mentor Jim Phelps in the first film.

[convulsivespace]

The first half hour is great ... nice desert shootout,

That's the worst part of an otherwise flawless movie. Ethan Hunt shouldn't be allowed to carry a gun.*

* machine gun. Grappling hook guns and stun dart guns obviously acceptable, even encouraged