Mission: Impossible

[Hannibal Scorch]

47 minutes ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

Saw Dead Reckoning Part 1 last night. It’s great. That almost goes without saying, but it is. Strong story, and a threat that feels really relevant at the moment. Hayley Atwell is a highlight. There’s a decision with a major character that I wasn’t on board with, but the final action set piece is so fantastic it nearly made me forget about that. I think there was about 15 minutes where I just didn’t stop gasping. 

I think Rogue Nation and Fallout are still the tops of my Mission ranking, but the last act of this one particularly probably puts it above Ghost Protocol for me.

The final action sequence.

Spoiler

Is stolen from Uncharted 2, but that’s not a knock because it’s incredible.

Also 

Spoiler

Didn’t like the character of Grace and confused why, after leaving him for dead a few times Ethan was hell bent on saving her

But still it’s my favourite film of the summer and in my top 3 of the franchise. Roll on part 2.

[DavidB6937]

Rewatching them also reminded me of the small Liverpool Street station sequence in the first movie so now every time I go to work I pretend to be Tom Cruise.

[LaGoosh]

I saw this yesterday. I didn't hugely enjoy it. Hayley Atwell was great, or at least I thought she was but I'm biased because I'm head over heels in love with her. The final act on the train was fun, but I didn't really care for too much else. The main villain Gabriel - the actor they chose is a complete charisma vacuum, so boring to watch and as generic as you could possibly imagine. I wasn't massively impressed by any of the action outside the final bit. For all the talk of Tom doing his own stunts they could have used a stunt man for most of it and I don't think anyone would have noticed. I think the action was cut and shot pretty badly actually. 

Some really great running bits with Tom though.

Ghost Protocol is probably my fave.

Edited July 21, 2023 by LaGoosh

[Vamp]

On 7/21/2023 at 8:52 AM, LaGoosh said:

The main villain Gabriel - the actor they chose is a complete charisma vacuum, so boring to watch and as generic as you could possibly imagine.

I feel like that's deliberate as he's kind of not the main villain. Like he's a pawn basically. 

I found of the CGI in the final action scene a bit subpar. I appreciated that some of it seemed to be model work though. 

It'd flop because our world can't have nice things but in any other world a continuation with Atwell as the lead would be pretty gun. 

[Devon Malcolm]

Dead Reckoning (Part One) is out on digital now.

I wasn't around when it came out but my thoughts are that it was everything I hoped it would be and a bit more, mainly because Henry Czerny proves to be a wonderful presence. Christopher McQuarrie hates fan service but he must be delighted he brought Czerny back into the fold, he's so good in this.

Everyone fell in love with Pom Klementieff over it, got a Lupin III homage car and screwball comedy car chase in the middle, and then the train scene. I don't know how they keep making these films so brilliantly.

[Hannibal Scorch]

2 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Dead Reckoning (Part One) is out on digital now.

I wasn't around when it came out but my thoughts are that it was everything I hoped it would be and a bit more, mainly because Henry Czerny proves to be a wonderful presence. Christopher McQuarrie hates fan service but he must be delighted he brought Czerny back into the fold, he's so good in this.

Everyone fell in love with Pom Klementieff over it, got a Lupin III homage car and screwball comedy car chase in the middle, and then the train scene. I don't know how they keep making these films so brilliantly.

We’ve just started watching these with our daughter. First time I’ve seen some of them in years, just so we could watch DR:P1 when it got digitally released. We just watched 4 and here’s my thoughts.

Mission Impossible holds up really well. Yes, it’s unique in terms of pacing being a bit slower then what’s to come, but other than the films finale chase with the TGV which does look ropey, it’s great. And the much lampooned suspended stunt is so wonderfully done. 8.5/10

MI:2 is the one I saw the most. Came out in college, and this was an easy dvd to put on whilst baking (ahem). Not John Woo’s best Hollywood film, Ethan’s haircut is pretty bad, and I don’t think Dougray Scott’s villain is that good, but it also wasn’t as bad as I remembered. Some great sequences here. The film that gave Hugh Jackman his Hollywood career 7/10.

MI III is a film I only saw once. This was much better than I remembered. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is brilliant. A really unnerving villain. It’s an important film in the series as a lot of characters and threads start here that we’re still seeing today. 8.5/10

Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation is a mixed bag. The building climb sequence is insane. Paula Patton is awful, Jeremy Renner is fine. NOT ENOUGH LUTHER. Benji has a bigger and more fun role here but didn’t enjoy it as much as some of the others. 7.5/10.

Most importantly my daughter, who we had to basically force to watch the first film, is really enjoying them. And knowing how 5-7 are, well she’s in for a treat!

[cobra_gordo]

I watched Dead Reckoning last night and it was......alright. I think. I'm not sure if it was the run time, the even-more-ridiculous-than-usual plot or what. It could be that it felt very separate to the previous three films. I loved the set pieces, obviously, and I don't think I breathed during that entire train sequence at the end. The car chase was great and surprisingly funny and every scene with Kittridge was gold. There was so much of it that I liked but I just felt a bit empty when the credits came up at the end. I'll definitely watch it another couple of times and I'm sure it'll grow on me as I'm a big fan of the rest of the series.

Simon Pegg is fucking great in this though, some really emotional scenes from him.

[cobra_gordo]

I've watched it again today and far preferred it the second time round. Maybe it was because I knew what to expect, maybe it's because Mrs Gordo wasn't sat next to me saying she was bored.

[cobra_gordo]

I've watched all the MI films again over the last couple of days. My main take away is how much I've gone off Ghost Protocol and I've no idea why. Yes, the skyscraper bit is brilliant and Léa Seydoux has a nice face but it left me feeling a bit flat and worst still, bored in places.

As objectively bad 2 is it has massive nostalgia for me as I went to see it on my first ever date when I was 15 and watched the VHS to death, in part because of  Limp Bizkit and Metallica on the soundtrack. Dougray Scott is crap but enjoyably crap. Bonus points for Tom Cruise actually kicking a stuntman in the face and them leaving it in the final edit.

I've seen 3 the least but it's solid enough, Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays the prick really well and I like that they don't go overly in to detail about what the mcguffin is. Just a reliably good action thriller.

I've seen the first film a lot but I still get sucked in by all the twists and turns and John Voight being a weirdo. It's an absolutely stacked cast and maybe tries to be too clever for it's own good but I keep coming back to watch it. Vanessa Redgrave doesn't get enough praise for how great she is in this, nor does Emilio Estavez specifically for the line "Hasta lasagne, don't get any on ya" which I quote so regularly my wife now says it.

As I said a bit further up I didn't like Dead Reckoning at first but I can see it becoming my second favourite of the series, if not first, with further viewings. It feels similar to Fallout to me. I'm still not overly convinced by THE ENTITY but it's got me excited to see what happens in part 2.

Rogue Nation is great, I love the opening scene in the record shop, it's got a great piece of shit villain, the opera house bit is great, Rebecca Fergusson is a highlight and it has probably my favourite action sequence of the series in the underwater bit.

Fallout is fucking brilliant and by far my favourite of the series. Alanna Mitsopolis as Max's daughter is a brilliant bit of casting, Cavill is great, Cavill's moustache is great, Baldwin is great. It's a great film. Great.

Current MI code: 6, 5, 7,  1, 3, 2, 4