Rated: 3.5 / 5
This franchise. 1st film should be a case study for how a director can take a mediocre script and turn it into a solid action/thriller. 2nd film is, eh, I don’t remember it entirely, it was ridiculous (though it did utilize the who face-mask thing that’s been used in a good amount of the films nowadays). 3rd film gave the franchise the bump it needed. 4th film finally made it solid. 5th film kept up the momentum. And this film, Jesus. It somehow tops the stuntwork in the previous entries (well, that opening airplane sequence from the last film still rivals the stuff found in this film). That shouldn’t be possible, especially with Tom Cruise, who somehow defies his age restrictions and still moves around like a guy in his 30s.
And honestly, that’s the main draw for me in regards to why this film works. The stuntwork, the choreography, the camera successfully capturing it all without resorting to unbearable shakey-cam, and not relying so much on green screen. There’s plenty of sequences shot on location, and there’s a few different locations used to great effect. Driving and running around France, and a helicopter ride through New Zealand. It’s refreshing to see a film this grounded and making this much of an effort.
Now, that being said, this film didn’t do the one thing I thought it would do, that the trailers implied it would do, that the film title indicated it would do, and that the film’s theme indicated it would do. The whole point of “fallout” is that there are consequences to Ethan Hunt’s actions. How he’s willing to compromise the mission to save his friends, though with the intent of improvising on the spot to find a way to still complete the mission. How those compromises will eventually have long-reaching effects he can’t control, which will eventually cause him to lose something he values. Whether he loses a friend or loved one, or if he loses a mission. This film cheats on that and decides at the end, “Nah, we want to keep this light-hearted and fun in the end. You’re all here more for a popcorn flick rather than an emotional gut-punch, right?” You can’t just fucking tease us like that goddamnit! That makes the title a fucking lie! Same thing with the theme. And you can’t just brush that aside with some dialogue conversation like this:
“I feel bad. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have been put in this position. I put your life in danger.”
“But you are here for me now, and you saved me, and everyone else.”
So that makes me not want to like the film as much as a do. But I’m a sucker for action and stuntwork like this. Still, the film could’ve been better if it actually let the title carry some weight.
And, honestly, that’s all I have to say about the movie. But this blog post, it’s too short. I need to put in something else. Bonus movie time.
Rated: 3.5 / 5
What the hell? Been Kingsley is in this?
What the shit? Anthony Hopkins is in this?
What the fuck? They share a scene together?
The movie had better live up to the standards those 2 just set.
Oh yeah, and Felicity Jones (the chick from Rogue One) is also in this. I don’t care if her acting is mediocre, she’s smoking hot and I’ll watch anything she’s in.
So the first third of the film is typical romantic interest to build up stakes for the action that comes later. And it’s not exactly done that well either. Not much chemistry, and neither actor/actress has the acting chops to make the intimate moments work.
Then comes the last two-thirds when this movie turns into Grand Theft Auto. I shit you not. Assuming you’ve played just one of those games since San Andreas, picture one of those missions where you have to steal some drugs or money, and make it to a safe zone, but it doesn’t go anywhere near as smooth as you would like, because gangsters and drug dealers keep chasing you down and fucking up your vehicles, and eventually the police take notice and the star wanted level climbs from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 (but not to 5, because at that point it wouldn’t be realistic; you know, like this movie), and your forced to keep hijacking one car after another to try and get away hoping you don’t get wasted, but at the same time you start getting into it and start wondering how much more damage can you and those around you cause, and how insane is it really going to get?
Yeah, that’s what the last 2/3rds of this movie is like. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t in the same league as those Raid film’s (or even the Mission Impossible: Fallout film, even if the rating indicates otherwise), but damn if I didn’t have a fun time watching this movie! I watched this film just on a whim not expecting much. The first 1/3rd makes seem like it’s not going to amount to much. But it’s just saving everything for the last 2/3rds which is nothing but non-stop action throughout.
If you want to see an honest-to-God videogame adaptation that doesn’t try to be a videogame adaptation yet does a better job at being a Grand Theft Auto movie than most films do at being an adaptation of any other videogame, give this a spin. Don’t expect a masterpiece or anything, it’s basically something to watch when you’re expecting C-grade quality, but end up getting B+ quality. No masterpiece, but still quite entertaining.
Plus it has Ben Kingsley hamming up the role as much as possible, and he’s the most entertaining character in the entire movie. He has more charisma than the 2 lead protagonists and Anthony Hopkins combined (though to be fair, the lead protagonists hardly have any, so…).
PS: This fucking movie pulled the mother of all homo-erotic cockteases on me though, which is bullshit. There’s this scene where our protagonist gets into a car dazed and exhausted and worn out and waiting for another adrenaline rush to get him going again. Meanwhile, Been Kingsley brushes off a bullet wound and gets up, presumably towards the protagonist. And our protagonist goes into a dream-state, and imagines the door opening and his girlfriend getting into the car and making out with him. Now, if this movie had a solid pair of balls, and firm buns you could bounce a quarter off of, and a solid pair of tits than anyone of any sex would want to motorboat, they would’ve shown Been Kingsley making out with the protagonist. Any other faults this movie had would’ve been forgiven, and I would’ve given an initial rating of 5 stars just on principal.
The Anomalous Host 
[…] So I’ve been curious to see this film after watching the trailer a while back. I mean, an action film with Mark Whalberg, partnering once again with director Peter Berg, and putting Iko Kuwais of The Raid film in for good measure. It’s something I had to see. Unfortunately, it suffered from the one thing I hoped they wouldn’t fuck up that they did fuck up, capturing the martial arts segments. They can’t go one full fucking second without doing a camera cut. Didn’t they watch Mission Impossible Fallout? […]
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