Movie Review – Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

One way ticket to thrill

I read a comment somewhere saying, “Tom Cruise runs, rides, jumps, flies, clings to his dear life and does every possible stunt on Mother Earth. What else can he do in the grand finale?” But isn’t it the question which people have been asking since the second part, which at that time felt too good to be true. That’s what Tom Cruise can do. A true blue action junkie for the big screen. The one who makes everyone feel young and plausible. I’m sure no one who came out of the movie would have come home sane without raising the throttle at least once.

The movie begins with a submarine and a kind of superpower which was hidden in it. There was some sort of missile showing in the radar. They keep on stating that they’re invisible and don’t understand what’s that coming towards them. But the missile coming at them also becomes invisible. I thought the sequence would end then and there by Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) coming inside the submarine by being invisible and it’ll all be a little joke of the Russians but unfortunately that was the plot of the movie.

We get to the see the very first troupe of mask change at the start of the movie, followed by the template title cards. The mask scene didn’t work but the title card was lovely. In fact the best from what I can remember. Whatever the “Entity” is and what it does is not a problem for anyone because the director, Christopher McQuarrie, doesn’t let you think beyond it as an invisible villain. What a combination, McQuarrie and Tom Cruise are. Should be hailed as one of the best combos of Hollywood.

Hunt and his friends, Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) try to go after one part of the key first up but in turn get robbed by someone. It was far-fetched to see such an intelligent team getting robbed by a petty thief, Grace (Hayley Atwell), who was downright annoying, as opposed to an effervescent Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) from a much recent ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’. In fact when Hunt sticks on to her, tries to save her in a car chase and from White Widow (Vanessa Kirby), it was irritating. She couldn’t get the sympathy of me. Especially the scene where she handcuffs him to the car, was limits.

What follows is a series of Mission Impossible troupes, which keeps us engaged but feels repetitive and compulsory. There were high octane scenes of course and keeps us glued to the scene but there wasn’t any surprise element. None of the troupes give a wow moment. Be it the bike ride, the running, Benji being delirious etc. It was like watching a big star movie who does his trademark thing time and again. Fortunately or unfortunately it works but a bit of innovation would have been nice.

The other characters have nothing to do and apart from a series of action scenes there weren’t a single scene which people could connect. Thanks to the bad audio and no subtitles, audience started chit chatting and munching popcorn as soon as action scenes get over. The movie is worth the time, they forget the popcorn. But thankfully it was a whole lot of time.

Coming to the greatest action scene as advertised by the makers. It feels like the whole film happens for that. But to be honest, it happens too fast without letting anyone feel it. It’s just the one shot. The making felt lot better than the actual scene. With any other film, the train stunt post that would have felt unnecessary but the director and actors make that work too. We can see how they are seeing the film. It could have easily looked like a circus with people jumping like clowns here and there. But it’s the sincerity which propels the film to the next level. In fact god level. I don’t know whether I should be happy that everyone could feel the film as their own and root for the protagonist or worry about how the fans of certain actors could only wish that their hero makes such films.

See, in short, I can never write a good review for this movie, but I can never hate the movie. Mission Impossible series more than anything is a part of our life. It’s the last of something great. Like how, even if the final part of the Indiana Jones was a bomb, how the last book was unnecessarily made into two parts for Harry Potter, this too is one such series you can’t miss out. It’s to be watched in theatres and relished. Reviews are for another time.

Movie Review – Kingsman: The Secret Service

Fun and Frolic

Probably one of the most fun filled movie which I’ve watched in recent times. And as I had no idea about it and it took me out of blue, it was even more terrific. Films like these are the reason that you watch cinema for. With ample amount of action, sarcasm and a convoluted storyline, it makes for a terrific watch. Especially if you had watched it in theatres, your joy would have knew no bounds.

The movie has a ‘Tropic Thunder’ kind of opening and reveals what kind of film it was going to be, right from the word go. So you can’t be mistaken for what you’re in for. But with time, it gets a slightly serious tone and it confuses you. It doesn’t last long though. As it’s not a regional film for me, the opening was even more interesting for me. When a professor is kidnapped and someone fights everyone in the room and delivers a punch dialogue about saving him, we tend to believe that he’s the hero but he gets killed in the same scene. That was a beauty. Because if I had either known about the cast or had known who were the big stars, the surprise factor wouldn’t have happened.

Harry Hart (Colin Firth) gives a medal engraved with an emergency assistance number to his agent’s son Eggsy (Taron Egerton). They both make a great mentor – kid combo. Especially Eggsy, an utterly charming individual. Plus the fact that it’s a reveal of an underground organization for the first half of the movie, makes it an interesting watch. It’s like those superhero’s first part where he gets to know about his powers. No matter how many films come and go, that part would always remain interesting. It’s the same here too.

As it’s an English film, obviously the place looks beautiful, everyone is a gentleman, except for the maverick psychopathic villain Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson). How cool does that tailor shop look, even without knowing anything about it. They celebrate their drinks and every time you see a frame with someone with alcohol in hand, it looks like picture perfect moment. Any of it could be made into a poster for either the drink, the suit or the shoes. It looks like a front page GQ ad.

The surprise factor of the movie was its suddenness. One major twist which I didn’t expect was the death of Harry. Just like Valentine says, “Well, it’s not one of those movies”. It really wasn’t. We don’t get much time to lament on the death of Harry. Plus we get another shock when Eggsy doesn’t get selected as Galahad. The final task felt like he did the right thing by not shooting the done. We’d have expected him to have got the title for able to empathize with a living being and give importance to any life. But again it’s not one of those movies so he doesn’t get the job. Anyways it doesn’t matter in the end as he comes out as true savior.

Another good thing about the movie was the friendship of Eggsy and Roxanne “Roxy” Morton (Sophie Cookson). It looked like they both would be a couple but Eggsy had other ideas. The climax wasn’t a total win-win as Valentine gets to his party sometime. The satellite scene was quite hilarious. With such stylish action sequences and a highly entertaining screenplay, it’s a movie worth its mettle.