Mission: Impossible - Fallout

This is the sixth Mission: Impossible film with Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt and only the second to have a previous director at the helm in Chris McQuarrie (the others, in order, being Brian De Palma, John Woo, J.J. Abrams and Brad Bird). I enjoyed Fallout, and that's pretty much the same sentiment for all the films in this series. Each one has something better and worse than the others, whether that's an actor, an action set-piece or a shot. My point is that they tend to blend into one another, not necessarily in a bad way. Admittedly, the bonkers-ness of the practical (as opposed to CGI) stunts has seemed to grow exponentially. But that Cruise bastard appears to have aged about 6 years in 22.

Plot-wise, it's fairly convoluted. According to McQuarrie, lots of the film was made on the fly. "I'm working on it" (or words to that effect) are uttered throughout the film, reflecting the actual goings-on behind the cameras. Presumably not unusual in films of this scale but interesting to hear nonetheless. In line with the complex nature of the story, there are some confusing character issues - White Widow? Was she a goodun or a badun? Her brother also? And were the dudes Hunt shot to death in the Paris street during the policewoman scene MI6? Hmmm. Speaking of this odd scene, there were lots of moments massaging the pureness element of Hunt (even a ridiculous "I'm truly, truly sorry" in a soldier's funeral!). OK, no need to play that scene flip, but then no need to play it at all. This film could really have been subtitled Hunt's Hagiography.

It's also a bit Bond-ish in its structure of meeting femme fatales or old flames, encountering classy bad guys in classy surrounds and having a Machiavellian protagonist pulling the strings of an Alpha hench. Not to say this doesn't work, it's what it is and the cast are all pretty good. I even liked Henry Cavill in this, which surprised me. And Cruise himself is slowly winning me around, at least to his acting prowess. I remember watching the first Mission: Impossible and noticing in one key scene that he manifestly couldn't 'sell' the emotion that he needed the audience to get. He's improved on that scale, maybe it's an age thing.

Apparently, you can't talk about this film without mentioning the action, and I admit, there were one or two moments where I felt a clenching of the sphincter. It's almost a 'greatest hits' of action set-pieces - sky-diving, car/motorbike chase, (fantastic) fist fight, shootout, Cruise running, helicopter chase, and something for the vertiginous as well. These are all done with aplomb.

McQuarrie speaking to Chris Hewitt on the Empire Podcast is fascinating. The bloke really lays it all out there, refreshingly open about his past films, 'fan service', how he functions on set and loads more. The pod for the last Mission film and the two for this one clock in at around 8 and a half hours in total but are great to listen to, even if you're not a huge fan of the films.

Finally, spare a thought for poor old Jeremith Renny. Booted by Bourne, overlooked for the Infinity War (the first one, at least) and now jettisoned by the IMF. Regarding this recent schedule clash, it would appear that he was unable to do both but ended up doing neither. At least he's not Dougray Scott, who didn't have time for the first X-Men so passed on the role of Wolverine to a relatively unknown Hugh Jackman. Thanks Dougie, mate. Oh, and the reason Scott was unavailable for X-Men - he was playing the villain in Mission: Impossible 2 when that film ran into some delays. Funny old world, eh?

See also:

The first Cruise Mission: Impossible (1996), directed with a traditional thriller feel by Brian De Palma and also starring Jon Voight, Jean Reno, Kristin Scott Thomas and Emmanuelle Beart. And Bryan Singer's The Usual Suspects (1995), which was written by Christopher McQuarrie. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled.....

SPOILERS IN POD!!

Listen to "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" on Spreaker.

Ant-Man and the Wasp

It's been nearly two weeks since I've seen this film and I'm as ambivalent towards it as I was right after seeing it. It's not terrible, just mostly inconsequential. I say mostly because there's an angle that slots into the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe that'll become integral to the resolution of the whole Thanos business. No more to be said on that.

Anyway, Ant-Man and the Wasp brings Paul Rudd's ant back to the margins of the MCU. This time he's joined by Evangeline Lilly's wasp in a story that focuses on personal themes of closure and never losing hope (or Janet, in this case). The 'ant'agonist (eh, eh?) is a multi-phasic herring really, probably one of the most innocuous baddies in these films. Ghost, played by Hanna John-Kamen, is basically just an obstacle to the mission of retrieiving Michelle Pfieffer's (original) Wasp, Janet van Dyne, from the quantum realm.

Well, it all sounds like a lot of old rope, doesn't it? It's not that bad. There are some odd little asides; 'Everyday is Like Sunday' by Morrissey as a ringtone ('First of the Gang to Die' is also in there), Ant-man watching Donald Sutherland in Animal House on TV, and the introduction of Laurence Fishburne as Goliath, another famously big Marvel hero. Actually, for a film called Ant-Man, I preferred the scenes where he went GI-ant, but this could be a comparative thing. The San Francisco car chase is probably the best action sequence in the film, helped no end by the options of shrinkage and enlargement for the main characters.

So to sum up; distracting fun but when the best thing in the film is the mid-credit sting, you may be better served elsewhere.

See also:

I've got nothing on the ant theme so have a crack at Robert Zemeckis's Romancing the Stone (1984) with a young-ish Michael Douglas ('actual' young not 'fake' young like in the above film) and Richard Donner's Ladyhawke (1985), which places Michelle Pfeiffer alongside Matthew Broderick and Rutger Hauer! How many films can boast Ferris Bueller AND Roy Batty? Not bloody many, I'd wager.

SPOILERS IN POD!!

Listen to "Ant-Man and the Wasp" on Spreaker.