I Just Watched (Films)

[Lenny Solidus]

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning.

Well fuck me this was a poorly received disjointed messy and meaningless outing, Tom himself for the first time ever looking more his true age tired dishevelled and nowhere close to as manly perfect as we are oh so accustomed to. I'm also well aware of the troubles the production had.

Anyway, MI: Fallout it has to be said is one of my favourite movies, I binge-watch that movie regularly and highly consider it nigh on unbeatable in the genre. But this movie, the tone my word its tone is so completely all over the place especially as it creeps into the second half after suffering what has been quite rightly said is a full hour or more of flat out exposition dumping - but when it does finally begin to get into gear it I will admit picks up tremendously but still never reaches the heights of pretty much every outing that came before. The much talked about Sub scene in particular I will say is one of the best and most memorable visual scenes I've seen in a movie in a long time, it also must have been an absolute logistical nightmare to actually film. It still very much feels like a scene out of a different movie.

Cruises' yes very much exceptional mental as anything won't see anywhere else stunts yet along with it some of the most unflattering visual shots of an actor you ever will see, so much so I burst out into hysterics at one point during a close up and could not prevent myself from laughing uncontrollably which then started my daughter off and made me even worse - masked only by the continued sounding of loud plane noises thank god. On top of this, the actual intentional attempts at comedy were met with absolute silence from everyone sat in the room and are so very left field you'd swear it was a parody movie release you'd accidentally walked into. I have no idea what they were thinking going in this direction, especially in a franchise finale as big as this was. The stakes have never been higher here yet felt so very thin right along with it, the entity I still believe is frankly a crap plot device in spite of the fact nothing has ever been more relevant in the age we now live in and the very mention of the stolen Noc list takes you right back to what once was and makes you pine for it so very hard.

I will end this by stating that Gabriel is the weakest link the Mission movies have extended too much toward since he was first introduced, I won't go as far as to say he brings the entire thing crashing down but he most certainly utterly fails to prop things up in any considerable way which is a damn shame as Tom is as always clearly giving it his all but cannot carry the weight that has been bestowed entirely upon him with the weakest entry by far, splitting it into two parts truly takes its toll. I kinda feel bad for Mr Cruise because this vehicle was clearly a passion project for him all along, but this one just does not deliver for the majority. I very much wish it did, and yes I know I'm practically shitting all over it - I really wanted this to go out with a bang.

Spoiler

The entire throwback subplot connection to CIA Analyst William Donloe is actually quite good and I was so oh so happy they decided to include it, but it goes without saying that it's his wife who absolutely steals the show in every scene she is in.

This message will self-destruct in 5 out of 10. Mission Implausible: The Final Weakening.

Edit: The movie as of today has only raked in a mere $540 million with a severely tailing domestic of less than $200 million, I totally blame the lack of any Rebecca Ferguson. Yes I do.



Oh my word do I love her.

[Wrathbone]

I haven't seen Final Reckoning yet, but I did rewatch Dead Reckoning recently and really enjoyed it more than the first time. Have to say, I thought Hayley Atwell's character was far more interesting than Ferguson's, but then it's been a while since I've seen her earlier outings where her background is laid out.

[Lenny Solidus]

Sadly, in this one she's very much used as nothing more than background fodder and mostly given a confused expression that the camera stays on far too long. I found Ilsa Faust rather fascinating myself....for reasons...unexplained.

Basically all of the legacy and newer characters get to do very little in this one. As expected in a finale, it's a full on Tomathon.

[Rusty]

I do like the MI films, they're all fun stuff but could I tell you what the fricking hell the story is in any of them? Nope.
I suppose it doesn't really matter as most of it just an excuse to get to the next stunt.
Still haven't seen the latest film but will do. It'll be more of the same. I'm sure.

[Raid]

Wait, they called the previous film "Dead Reckoning Part 1", and the immediate sequel is called "Final Reckoning" and not "Dead Reckoning Part 2"? The naming scheme for MI films has confused me in the past (I accidentally watched a later film before the preceding one a few years back), but that's just criminally negligent.

I love the MI films, other than maybe the second one which was awkwardly over-stylised from what I remember. Say what you want about Cruise's personal life, he's a bloody dedicated actor and it's led to some of Hollywood's best action sequences. I'm just not sure I care about the plots; I could tell you what happened in Dead Reckoning Pointless Subtitle only because I watched it a few weeks ago, but other than that I couldn't tell you even one of the story beats from any of the others since the second. But hanging onto the side of a plane, climbing the outside of the Burj Khalifa, motorbiking off a cliff and parachuting onto a train? Very memorable.

[Wrathbone]

I love the MI films, other than maybe the second one which was awkwardly over-stylised from what I remember.

It was maximum John Woo, doves and all (okay, one dove). It's not a good MI film, but it's a fun action film in its own right and has such laughably overt early-2000s energy that I can't help but enjoy it.

Also, the cliff climbing scene at the start - even taking into account that there was some amount of safety involved - is one of Tom Cruise's most impressive stunts in my book. Genuinely astonishing how he managed that jump.

[Stormbringer]

Couple of Westerns I watched on Netflix this week:


Organ Trail

A brutal tale of a pioneer family's run-in with a band of vicious outlaws. I believe they're on the infamous Oregon Trail. It was a strange film; very brutal, violent, with some moments of bizarre absurdity and there isn't much in the way of story or character development, but it was certainly very tense and entertaining, and beautifully shot.


The Kid

A story about a couple of teenagers who escape their cruel father and his evil uncle and wind up travelling with legendary outlaw Billy the Kid and also with legendary lawman Pat Garrett. The tone is more realistic and does offer up more in the way of character development. Ethan Hawke is superb as Pat Garrett. This might be my favourite role he's done so far (that I've seen).

[Stormbringer]

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

A strange collection of short Western tales, by the Coen brothers, mashed together into a single film, where all are told back to back, each one stranger than the last. My favourite was actually the one called The Girl Who Got Rattled. I thought it had the best overall narrative and tone.

My biggest complaint about the whole film is that each individual story, no matter how beautifully filmed it is, or how well acted (and all of them are), is too short to really be worth the telling, and nothing ties them together as a whole except a generally bleak overtone. Overall, I would say it doesn't really work as a film, and I hope nobody tries to imitate this style.

[eny]

Have you watched Old Henry? If not, go into it blind; it is an awesome outing for Tim Blake Nelson.

[Stormbringer]

I have not even heard of it. I will watch it tonight.