Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Review #2384: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Cast: 

Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt), Hayley Atwell (Grace), Ving Rhames (Luther Stickell), Simon Pegg (Benji Dunn), Esai Morales (Gabriel), Pom Klementieff (Paris), Henry Czerny (Eugene Kittridge), Angela Bassett (Erika Sloane), Holt McCallany (Serling Bernstein), Janet McTeer (Walters), Nick Offerman (General Sidney), Hannah Waddingham (Rear Admiral Neely), Tramell Tillman (Captain Bledsoe), Shea Whigham (Jasper Briggs/Jim Phelps Jr), Greg Tarzan Davis (Theo Degas), Charles Parnell (Richards), Mark Gatiss (Angstrom), Rolf Saxon (William Donloe), Lucy Tulugarjuk (Tapeesa), and Katy O'Brian (Kodiak) Directed by Christopher McQuarrie (#1117 - Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, #1119 - Mission: Impossible – Fallout, #2040 - Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One)

Review: 

Once upon a time, there was just a movie that loosely adapted elements of an old television series. Sure, the original television series (as created by Bruce Geller in 1966) might have been thought of as a "mind game", and sure, some people may have thought the movie was too different from the source material (cough cough, Martin Landau), but let's be real for a second. The first film, released on May 22, 1996 (as directed by Brian De Palma and scripted through a variety of people in David Koepp, Steven Zaillian, and Robert Towne for a production that didn't have a finished script at the start), was merely cutting out the fat that came around with trying to make totally legit ideas of espionage that ranged from "making a dude remember his wife was killed by Hitler" to "cats being used as part of a detailed robbery"* and instead focus on some interesting action with dazzling execution. Sure, the movies hemmed and hawed in quality (if I rewatched the movies, perhaps one of them might have challenged Fallout is terms of being the best in that measure), going through cast members like a deck of cards (remember Jeremy Renner? Oh...), but I suppose it is nice to see a film that reckons to use the word "final" (as opposed to just calling itself Part Two to follow the original plan) for the eighth and presumably last one of these movies, at least with Tom Cruise as star. As was the case with the last movie, the script was written by Erik Jendresen and Christopher McQuarrie.

Sure, 170 minutes is a bit steep of a runtime. Sure, it might seem a bit absurd to encounter the number of flashbacks and little callbacks that come through here.** Sure, sure, sure. But it is the kind of movie that will still find ways to captivate you once it cuts down to all-around viewing when it comes to staging and action, and it does at least make for a worthy enough bow for Cruise and company to at least be proud of. Let's play a bit with some quibbles first, which namely is with the first hour: it really does seem that they wanted to make sure the bases are cleared for even the most possibly confused person, particularly with the flashback to remind that a person with a stomach scar was in fact, totally fine from the last movie. There are other quibbles, but you can check that under "spoilers", I suppose.***, but most can be summarized as just, well, not all action movies are created equal. But the underwater sequence is a generally involving one to really get things moving in interest, one with minimal dialogue that just lets you feel the pressure that comes with making the type of popcorn-chewing curiosity. With that in mind, Cruise hasn't lost a step in the conviction that arises in handling stunts and making you buy the calamity and importance with a smile. His energy is infectious and I will surely miss the audacity to want to ride a plane or go underwater for the audience's enjoyment. You might say he dominates the show, since a good chunk of the movie divides him from say, the charming Atwill and company, but at least the odyssey is worth seeing in dwelling a tiny bit on why choices and coincidences matter, as opposed to just being "it's that guy, remember?" Tillman is a pretty fair highlight alongside Saxon, admittedly. I do wish Morales was a bit more involved in the movie. The general threat being an AI and a wannabee devotee craving power can only go so far when he isn't in it that much and the general threat is really more just the sense of danger (uncertainty?) that could befall our heroes rather than one guy (there is a movement mentioned early, but I suppose they went the way of the Occupy guys). Instead, he does exactly one thing for nearly two hours before he shows right back up to cackle in a plane, and even Whigham or Czerny seem more apt to serve as accidental players in oppositional menace. The attempts at generating tension in the, shall we say, war-room, is probably a bit played out, but I guess a played out rendition is better than if it wasn't there at all. The action involving a couple of planes and wires and time (duh) is fairly satisfying, winding itself up with enough "oohs" for awe to ensure the movie will at least stick most of its ideas about making choices and actually sticking to it. As a whole, it may have been a hard mission to deliver a satisfying type of closure for a near-thirty-year franchise of movies with one key center and commitment to spectacle, but The Final Reckoning delivers a worthwhile enough experience to make one appreciate the journey.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

*Look, I've only seen the first two seasons of the original show. Hell, the "second show" had a handful of episodes that were just remakes of the original!

**Nothing is as good as remembering that yes, Hayley Atwill is in the movie.

*** (in light text, you know what to do): Okay, maybe this is a two-fold point: What's the point of introducing folks to be on the team if only one of them end up dead? I think we saw more examples of the prices being paid for being a member of the IMF in M:I III nineteen years ago. The other little quibble is that I forgot about Czerny and Whigham in terms of motivation for a good chunk, and let's be real: even when knowing someone is "Phelps Jr", were you really going to think that would matter for the end of the climax? Also, the death of Morales' character really is a bit too funny. You might say there's something to critique in what McQuarrie and company think AI is, but computer nerds aren't that interesting anyway.

The Fall Guy.

Review #2207: The Fall Guy.

Cast: 

Ryan Gosling (Colt Seavers), Emily Blunt (Jody Moreno), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Tom Ryder), Winston Duke (Dan Tucker), Hannah Waddingham (Gail Meyer), Teresa Palmer (Iggy Starr), and Stephanie Hsu (Alma Milan) Directed by David Leitch (#905 - John Wick, #978 - Atomic Blonde, #1087 - Deadpool 2)

Review: 

Sure, one may know that there was once a television series called The Fall Guy. But it is fun to do a brief history lesson anyway, so screw it; airing from 1981 to 1986, the show was originally created by Glen A. Larson (the same guy behind such television shows such as the original Battlestar Galactica) that had Lee Majors as the star involving a stuntman that moonlighted as a bounty hunter, with Douglas Barr and Heather Thomas as supporting presences. But the screenplay for this film (as done by Drew Pearce, who previously co-worked on the script of Leitch's Hobbs & Shaw [2019]) isn't really a straight-show adaptation as it is a film in the tradition of loose TV adaptations such as say, Mission: Impossible (1996). Of course, this is the kind of thing that can be interesting to encounter beyond just going for the cynical angle. In the land of adapting various shows or the toy next to oneself for a film, development for trying to make said movie had been in stasis for over ten years before eventually there were rumblings of "unnamed stuntman film" being worked on by David Leitch (who had been a stuntman for a decade before becoming involved in second unit work and eventually films such as Confessions of an Action Star [2005] and John Wick [2014]) to go with Ryan Gosling as star around the 2020s. Apparently, it was Gosling and Blunt who took inspiration from Leitch and his producer wife when it came to their romantic chemistry together.

Really this is more of a case of a charming romcom that happens to be an action film just as well for 126 minutes. It doesn't take too long to find the film as being fairly accomplished in charm that would be right at home to go along the shelf with Hooper (1978) when it comes to charm that I appreciate greatly in making one appreciate the very nature that comes to making movie magic, albeit without being as much of a "good ol' boy" type of arrangement. You get both a playful film with cannon rolls by a car and a few action sequences that doesn't seem to just be a CG screen plaything (or a deepfake, as they say). Gosling pulls off a tremendous performance in the delicate art of refreshing charm seemingly without having to make that much effort to do so. He has a breezy state to him that seems to just coast onto whatever type of encounter is thrust upon him (the narration delivered by him at times is give-or-take when it comes to things, but I go with it), and it seems to work best when paired with Blunt because of how they interact with each other that feels real. Predictable or not, it is the kind of comfort one likes to see in films that aren't necessarily just straight action films, and I'd rather have a familiar charmer anytime. Blunt apparently took her inspiration from people she had met such as Greta Gerwig when it came to playing a would-be director that handles her role with consistent grace and tenacity, probably best represented by a scene in which she utilizes the "script" to make a conversation with a recently reunited Gosling on the set that is the kind of neat chuckle to absorb. The movie utilizes a carefully crafted ensemble of a few good presences that go right down to Taylor-Johnson and his amusing daft nature that works best for the climax to go with a tremendously amusing Waddingham crafted for those who love to believe that suckers really are born every minute. Duke makes an entertaining presence to go alongside Gosling as the film gets going. The movie maneuvers itself well to achieving the shot and chaser for entertaining action that does show a few laughs to make a fun routine time without dragging itself to being too hip in awareness or self-seriously dry. As a whole, I like its approach with some worthwhile practical stunts to go with clear energy shown for the craft of filmmaking that is fit for any era but seemingly more so now more than ever because it is a feature made straight for the love of seeing people kicking other people in the ass on an ideally large screen (home or otherwise).

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.