Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One Review

        We’re near the end of the Mission: Impossible franchise. It’s almost crazy just how much the series has changed and pivoted to where it’s one of the best Hollywood action franchises. While it’s not on par with the Marvel or Star Wars with the pop culture sense, it still holds a spot in the action realm. Initially I thought that the series wrapped up with Fallout, foolishly knowing that there was no chance that it could continue or be topped. Since it almost grossed a billion, it was inevitable that Paramount wanted a continuation. 

1. The Entity

        After nearly marathoning the series, it only made sense that Ethan has met his match when attempting to find and stop the MacGuffin. In case nobody knows what that is, it’s a story telling device that drives the plot forward. Meaning that every time Ethan is made aware of an item that the IMF tells him about, that’s what that is. We went through the NOC list, Chimera virus, and nuclear weapons where it just seems that Ethan has seen everything and did everything to stop the world from potentially ending. 

        And it only made sense for A.I. to rear it’s head in this franchise. One would think that this would be a jumping the shark moment. Meaning that the series has exhausted every possibility to make the story engaging and to keep it fresh, do something stupid to get more butts in the seats. And how I perceived it was that I was for it. Seeing how Ethan can solve anything made me curious to see how he was gonna stop this new faceless threat. Until I noticed that it was going to be split up into two films. We’ll talk about that in a moment. 

        In any case, I love how this film just shows how formidable The Entity is. We see that a Russian submarine using the A.I. has been tricked to attacking itself. Inevitably, Ethan is made aware of a cruciform key that when joined provides the clues of the entity. Soon he’s chased from other parties including one from his past who wants to have it. This is a different Mission: Impossible from the last one and it shows. We see the trio back together once more as they help Ethan do the thing that we go to the movies and get our money’s worth. 

        Hayley Atwell is brought in as Gracie. It’s crazy that seeing her in the Captain America films and this one makes her one formidable character. And I like her introduction since she’s completely neutral with everything involving Ethan. The unintended team up between them is one of the highlights in the film. It’s clear that Ethan can match her pickpocketing skills, to the point where it’s a constant where she runs and he goes after her. And it takes a good chunk of the movie for her to switch sides and ally herself with Ethan when presented with a chance to just handover the cruciform key for money.

        I think the best moment between the two of them is the car chase in Rome. It starts chaotic as Grace escapes and Ethan pursues her. Soon, they are chased by the main antagonist’s right hand woman and they soon must share the same car. Albeit it’s a small yellow Fiat car, and when it’s driving away from a massive Hummer it’s near comical due to how much intensity it is with such a small car. The action doesn’t miss is what I’m trying to say, even in the film’s signature when Ethan launches himself to catch a speeding train. People usually say that it’s a downgrade from him piloting a helicopter, but at this point I’m down to what Tom Cruise will do for the sake of the stunt. 

        Now, I’m really conflicted with how the film handles the side characters, especially one since this is the last time that we see her. Ilsa is one of those characters where I grew a liking toward her. She made a return to this one and essentially helped Ethan attempting to get the key. The way they handle her, to me felt wrong since they essentially kill her. Having the villain kill her and Ethan seemingly moving on from her didn’t really felt right to me. Since they had a mutual liking to each other, I felt that Ethan would be more shaken than just coldly moving on. 

        Might as well talk about the threats that’s now on Ethan’s list. Gabriel is the human threat and he threw me for a loop since he’s involved with Ethan’s past. It got to a point where I was looking online to see if he popped up in an earlier movie. While he wasn’t, he’s the perfect opposite of Ethan since he’s very combat effective. Him and The Entity make the overall mission even more tough since they manipulate the tech the team’s using. It’s evident that there’s a machine analogue at play. 

2. Barbenheimer: Quest for a Billion

        Since the movie was in development during the pandemic, Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick came out and grossed a billion dollars. It shocked me since I didn’t think that it would gross that much considering it’s a sequel to a 40ish year old movie. Like, the level of discourse around it was crazy and it was even nominated multiple times at the Academy Awards. So when it was time to release a part one of the Mission: Impossible finale, it only made sense that lightning would strike twice for Paramount’s franchise. 

        Unfortunately, Dead Reckoning was sandwiched between a pop-culture cinematic phenomenon. The “Barbenheimer” craze was something to see since we had two distinctly different film catering to two different types of audiences would suck any potential box office revenue from Dead Reckoning. Now, one could point that it was a bold move for Paramount to release this film during that period, to the affect that it could do the same numbers that Maverick did. That wasn’t the case since it flopped harder than a fat guy diving in a pool. What made it worse was the delay the production encountered that made the budget balloon even more. 

        With the points already presented, the big thing that is the reason why the film didn’t do so well was that it was marketed as a Part One. It made the audience feel labored by having to watch this one to understand what’ll happen in the next installment. You had other films that are marketed as one movie, only until seeing it when the title pops up that it slides in a part one. With this one, it didn’t need to show it up front. Lastly, it was a bad look to have the subtitle removed when it came out on video. 

3. Overall

        Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is a good entry for the first half of the final mission. 

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

        Mission: Impossible - Fallout is often considered the best in the franchise. It was my first exposure to the franchise proper since I was curious to watch it. Even though it was the sixth entry, I immediately understood what was happening, to the point that the level of engagement I had was phenomenal. Like, it’s one thing when you’re all in to the movie, but to have it be where there’s the right amount of action set pieces and keeping the story pounding is what I think is the representation of the franchise. 

1. Hunt and Agent Walker

        Let’s get started with this one. It really says something where this one particular entry is ranked highly in my favorite films list. Like, of course only I would get into a series way later, but hey it’s incredibly something to marathon these and to tell y’all just how this franchise elevated itself. I think what sets this one apart, aside from being a direct sequel, is the camaraderie between Ethan and the new agent that’s been tasked with shadowing him. Henry Cavill joins the franchise as Agent Walker, to think that his moustache would be a contributing factor to a change in another franchise, but that’s a talk I already had. 

        We see Ethan as he’s been tipped by the IMF that three plutonium cores have gone missing. The Syndicate from Rogue Nation, now go by The Apostles have continued with the mission to subjugate the world through chaos. I think just the opening moments help set up the film by having it be where it amps up the plot in order for Ethan to track the cores. Just the moment involving Benji in a clever disguise practically set me up that I was going to have a good time with this one. 

        So let’s talk about Cavill’s character. He’s a worthy addition to the cast and he can actually stand up for himself without Cruise having to carry his performance. It seemed like an Odd Couple situation where Ethan is attempting to do his thing while Walker is trying to go another method. And if you saw the movie second time, there’s clues that clearly show just how Walker was meticulously and unintentionally for the casual viewer messing up on Ethan’s accord. Both of them have good chemistry and the fight scene in the Parisian club bathroom is one of the film’s highlights. 

        I should highlight too that the action is probably the franchise’s best just after Rogue Nation. Something about the action set pieces in this one feels even more crazier than the prior entries. There’s no flashy style to it, but the level of stunt work that Cruise goes through is something else. While I’ll elaborate on that, I should highlight the stunts that are used in the film. Much like the last one, this film has two of them. The best one in my opinion is the Halo jump when Hunt and Walker skydive and parachute down to Paris. Even though it has that illusion of being shot in one take, I like how it adds to the excitement as Walker gets zapped and Ethan tries to save from being pavement splat. 

        The side characters do their usual job as Benji and Luther help out Ethan. I was surprised that Jeremy Renner’s Brandt didn’t come back in this one. While his absence was noted, the movie didn’t even mention it. Rebecca Ferguson’s Ilsa makes a return as she tries to find the mole that is attached to the missing plutonium cores. I like that there’s tension between her and Ethan, since they seemed to hit it off in Rogue Nation. I liked that she was back, but this time she’s on Ethan’s side. 

        This is my first introduction to Vanessa Kirby. She portrays Alanna but is known as the White Widow. She’s in the grey section where she’s not completely bad but is mostly in the neutral realm. Her interaction with Ethan is something akin to a flirt but also that he needs her to get what he needs. And I like that it shows just how Ethan has to maneuver through an arms dealer to get information for the plot to continue. Like, it’s one thing where it’s expected to believe that Hunt just happens to get something, but I like that he’s very procedural with his methods. In a way, he uses the Widow to get the villain from the last movie. And that leads to a great chase in Paris. 

2. The Youthfulness of Tom Cruise

        If there’s one thing that I don’t think I mentioned in the past five entries is that Cruise is on another level when he’s in these movies. Now, I won’t be too rose tinted in my perspective. Although I will highlight just how much he goes through the craft to make these movies be interesting and not too interwoven where you have to watch the prior entries to get an understanding of what’s going on. It’s clear that the main reason we watch the movies is to see him do these death defying stunts. And it’s apparent that he keeps upping the ante as he goes from climbing a massive building, to hanging on to an airplane. 

        With these it’s like a double whammy of him doing a High-Altitude skydiving and piloting a helicopter. But the key thing that doesn’t get address is the age that he’s doing these things. Now, it could be just that genetics has blessed him to look youthful that any actor in his age, but he’s willing to commit to the stunt in order to give the audience what it wants. And I’m sold since it’s not just stunts in the context of the movie, but scenes to show us where Ethan has to go. In a way, I thought that the series would end here. A saga where Ethan and the IMF saved the world in six entries. Unfortunately, with the box office success of this one, it made sense for Paramount to milk this one. 

3. Overall

        Mission: Impossible – Fallout is the best of the franchise. 

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation Review

My apologies for taking a while with the next Mission: Impossible entry. With the success of Ghost Protocol, it only made sense to keep the train moving by having Tom Cruise do an even crazier stunt. For awhile, between the last entry and this one is where Cruise had a run of box office disappointments. You had films like Oblivion and Edge of Tomorrow that were trying to do something different but not making a dent financially. Albeit Edge is one of the best sci-fi films of the 2010s and Oblivion is underrated from what I gathered. In any case, Rogue Nation is easily up there with the best franchise. 

1. The Syndicate

        It’s one of those things where the trailer easily sold me with wanting to watch the film. With that famous shot of Tom Cruise hanging on to dear life on the side of an airplane. And the fact that we see it takeoff the runway and veer was just one of those things where Cruise was certified insane as a stunt man. And it took awhile to finally watch this one, I’m weird where the sequel to this one was my first exposure and then I watched Rogue Nation. I’m peculiar what can I tell you. 

        We follow Ethan as he and the IMF have been disbanded after the events of Ghost Protocol and III. I think I put down that the sequels operate as independents, but if you’re a purist such as me, prior events are brought up at the detriment of the IMF. Ethan gets word that an alliance of former agents have banded together to dismantle the world order through assassinations. And the way he receives that news I think is one of the best reveals of the villain in the franchise so far. It’s practically needed that every entry has to have a mission brief and for Hunt to be told that the message will self-destruct. 

        Not in this one, I love how it gets subverted when the message starts off innocently enough, but soon turns antagonistic when Ethan finds out that the Syndicate is aware of him. By following them would result in his death and to the point that he’ll be disavowed of any knowledge. And I love how Ethan along with Benji now have to work within their own means to uncover the Syndicate. It’s a callback to the last entry, and I think it’s the best way since we see Hunt and Benji operate as a team. Between them and the CIA’s Brandt along with Luther is like a cat and mouse plot line where the former comes out on top. 

        We have a different female lead as Rebecca Ferguson seemingly joins the team as Ilsa. Her character is interesting where her actions lead us to think that she’s helping Ethan and helping the Syndicate. She’s sort of playing both sides but one where we’re interested with how she get one up as far as both parties are concerned. Her introduction is great since we see the physicality on display when she frees Ethan from capture. But the best scene involving her is when both her and Ethan are at the Opera. It gives us an understanding that Ethan must choose weather to kill her or stopping the rogue agents. More so that she leads Ethan along to trip him up. 

        Lastly, there’s a new level of action on display that is cranked up in this entry. It’s sort of in line with what 2 was doing but it still manages to make it more engaging without going over the top. Most of it feels gritty since we see Ethan’s physicality on display as well as with the car and motorcycle chase. The stunt work is impressive since we Ethan take out the rival cyclists all while having the car in reverse with Benji. It manages to balance being a spy film with an action film without any discombobulation. 

It’s hard to even rank which stunt in the film is the best. With every entry, there’s one stunt that practically encapsulates the film. This one has the distinction of having two. While the airplane scene is great, to the point where the digital cover has it emblazoned, I feel that the underwater stunt is also great. Ethan is tasked with going underwater in a secure vault to swap a data file. Just reading with how Cruise had to do intensive training to hold his breathe made the scene intense. More so that there’s obstacles in the way and that he gets help from Ilsa to do the swap. I think it works since it sets up a twist and inevitably leads to a car chase.

2. Christopher McQuarrie 

        I didn’t mention this before when talking about Ghost Protocol but director Christopher McQuarrie had a hand with the writing process. Though uncredited, he was brought in to tighten up the script and to shape how the stunts would appear on film. He got his start as a writer in the 90s and then transitioned to director in his debut The Way of the Gun. Him and Cruise have been frequent collaborators way back in 2008 with Valkyrie and it would stay like that as McQuarrie would helm the remainder of the Mission: Impossible films. One thing that separates him and Brad Bird is that he’s a very straightforward director. 

        And it’s not a bad thing since the film isn’t bland and I’ll even say that the action is noticeably better in Rogue Nation. You got the action setups, but the one thing that keeps the movie going is that character intentions constantly change due to the nature of the story. I like that both Ethan and the film’s antagonist Solomon try to one up each other but know that either side is expecting them to do what they want to achieve. It has that thriller angle that’s imbued with the espionage albeit it’s exciting when something goes wrong where Ethan has to adjust to the situation. In a way, McQuarrie changed the style of the film without losing what makes it fun. 

3. Overall 

        Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is a great entry to the franchise. 

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol Review

        It’s interesting to marathon a series and then talk about them. As of now, the series has just been okay as far as a franchise. Just the debut and ensuing sequels were mixed, yet it catapulted Tom Cruise into the action sphere. While some relics of the 90s faded, the series somehow survived amidst a five-year gap between III and Ghost Protocol. I mentioned that III was when the series started the ball rolling of respectability, it’s this one where it cemented as a franchise money maker. While it doesn’t have the slickness of a J.J. Abrams film, or the stylized action of John Woo, this one is a stripped-down Mission: Impossible that might be my favorite. 

1. Ghost Protocol

        After watching this one, I feel that I would’ve liked it when it came out. To think that I did watch this one a while back but was too tired to continue watching it on Showtime. With a five year gap that I mentioned, it gives the filmmakers a fresh slate on what to do with Ethan and the IMF. For starters, it starts off with a mission going wrong as an IMF agent is killed while retrieving stolen nuclear codes. Soon it spirals as Ethan and his team is tasked to retrieve the codes inside Russia. 

        Everything goes wrong as Ethan and the whole organization is framed for bombing Moscow, thus prompting the disavow that is routinely said in every mission briefing. This situation puts Ethan and his team to be on their own as they try to stop the codes from being used to launch a nuclear war. This is a completely different Mission: Impossible where everything is stripped down where the team doesn’t have the resources to stop the threat. More so that there’s a new member, William Brandt who is probably the best addition to the series. I’m willing to bet that after this scene he was selected to be Hawkeye. 

        Anyways, this film easily makes the others feel inferior due to how we see Ethan and his team adapt to being on their own and attempting to stop the latest threat. Aside from the fact that they’re on the run, but they have to utilize a limited amount of assets to get something done. And half the time, it doesn’t go well. This is one of the rare times wear the series’ signature facial disguise isn’t used. Only prosthetics are used prior to everything going on the fritz. I feel that it was visual foreshadowing that this is going to be a different entry than the prior ones. 

        And I think that’s why the film works is that the tech that the teams uses goes wrong and that they have to adjust. In the film’s iconic moments, Ethan’s gloves to scale a building malfunctions and he has to adjust using one of his bare hands. It’s the film’s secret sauce of making it successful and it’s just by seeing them use their own intellect to try to accomplish their mission. To the point where there’s a moment where they bicker at each other when one of the members accidentally kills an informant that they were initially going to interrogate. It fleshes everyone since they must succeed and that everything is just not going their way.

        With how fast paced the film goes, I must talk about the scene that practically helped the film make bank in the box office. I’m pretty sure everyone has seen just random snippets when the team is in Dubai, as Hunt scales the Burj Kalifa. Watching it out of context was just visually impressive, and it didn’t help my fear of heights whatsoever. It’s one of the series’ defining moments, and it was marketed extensively as far as I can recall. Seeing it play out in context makes the whole act even more exciting and thrilling with just how everything plays out. 

2. Brad Bird

        This is the second Brad Bird film that I talked about. Many years ago I talked about his debut film The Iron Giant. Due to the film bombing due to studio negligence, he made a name for himself in the animation side of Hollywood. He worked with Disney and Pixar to develop one of his best films The Incredibles which yielded him an Academy Award along with his following film Ratatouille. It seemed that it would be an impossible job for an animator to do live action since it’s an entirely different style of filmmaking. 

        In fact, he wasn’t the first filmmaker to switch styles in their careers. You have others like Tim Burton and Travis Knight who have done animation prior to doing live action films. It’s a switch that seems inevitable for any animator to try but it’s not a guarantee to have it be continuing. I’ll talk about that in a bit. Anyways, Brad Bird seemed like an odd choice to handle Mission: Impossible only you can say that a section of The Incredibles showed that he could handle the espionage aspect of it. 

        To me, it feels like a live action cartoon in some sense. I know it’s an oxymoron but let me explain. With how the espionage is presented, there’s moments where the gadgets looked too fantastical. As we see when Ethan and Benji are infiltrating the Kremlin by using an elaborate projector cover. More so that it seems that Bird’s animation flair helps the action be more stylized without looking ridiculous. It’s a balance of being heightened and grounded where he manages to make it look great without having to sacrifice too much. 

        Since the film had a great box office run, it only seemed logical for Bird to have a live action filmography that’s on par with his animation. Unfortunately, it didn’t go that route as he directed Disney’s Tomorrowland and it didn’t do well financially. I haven’t seen it but it was labeled as a failure and seemingly killed his live action filmography. Inevitably, he did return with The Incredibles 2 and he has another film coming out on Netflix titled Ray Gunn. It’s unfortunate that Bird’s only great live action film is this one. 

3. Overall

        Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is one of the best films in the series. 

Mission: Impossible III Review

        I’m back and we got about five movies left. It’s one thing to review a franchise where the first two entries are technically the worst ones. While there are some merits where there some appreciation, the fact of the matter is that the films barely coasted by just through the action and tension. The big flaws that hampered them were the slim characterization of Ethan Hunt and the overall story of getting the MacGuffin. As convoluted as the first entries were, this film marked the turning point of the series where it would get progressively better. 

1. The Rabbit’s Foot

        The first minutes of the film is the exact opposite of what we’ve seen. It’s one of those where it sets the tone of what kind of situation Ethan got himself into. Just seeing Hunt strapped into a chair and having a woman with a gun pointed to her as he’s being interrogated just makes the whole thing interesting. Right from the start we see the antagonist and just how he seemingly has Ethan by the balls. It balances the tension with the dread that we never see Ethan get put through. 

        To me, it’s one of the best openings. And it’s easily contrasted with one of the worst title sequences that we’ve seen. For anyone who marathons the series, the title sequence is supposed to be exciting with having non-sequential shots appearing as the theme song is playing. The original series did that as well to show the audience what they’re going to see but not told in chronological order. Here it’s like an after thought where the crew decided that they forgot to put something together so they just hastily cobbled up something at the last possible minute. 

        Anyways, we follow Ethan as he’s retired from the IMF. He settles down as he and his fiancé are enjoying their time together. He gets word from the IMF director that one of his former students is captured and is tasked to rescue her. Meanwhile, Ethan uncovers a new weapon that is being shopped around by a weapons trafficker named Davian. This one is completely different from the other two entries. What I mean by that is we already see a seasoned Ethan where everything clicks when he reunites with Luther and gets a new squad. 

        I like that the film goes into the action first while also blending in with the covert stuff. It makes everything exciting but also makes it so that the action isn’t over the top like the last one. To me, it manages to have the balance of being an action flick while also having it’s own covert flair without being a wannabe James Bond film. The overall feel for the movie is sort of grounded but there’s that shine to it where it looks slick. It’s an Abrams movie alright just before he went haywire with the lighting of his Star Trek films some time later. 

        While we talk about him in a moment, I feel that I should talk about the main villain in this one. All the other antagonists that we’ve seen had ties to the IMF, this one is different. Owen Davian is one bad hombre, as I mentioned earlier he manages to seemingly break Ethan as he tries to find out from him where the secret weapon is at. Philip Seymour Hoffman portrays him as a calculating and brutal man who just lays into Ethan on how he’ll kill everyone he knows and loves. He’s the main highlight of the film and one of the rare best villains in the entire series as of now. 

        Ethan’s team is also different even though Ving Rhames’ Luther is the only consistent aspect in these films. While we don’t know much about Zhen and Declan, they each carry their roles since they manage to help Ethan and executing the mission. I think my favorite part which involves all of them is when they’re in the Vatican. Just seeing it how Ethan and Declan kick off their part and then it all unfolds perfectly. It’s one of those things that was missing in the prior entries where the covert stuff wasn’t shown or done differently where it wasn’t exciting in the least bit. 

        The highlight within the highlight is seeing the masks being made. I can imagine someone finding the mask removal parts too out there. Like you mean to tell me that they constructed a mask that looks exactly like who the IMF are searching for, right down to the distinct voices. I’m glad that we see the masks being made like a wood carver. Luther just makes it believable when he has to tell Ethan to wait on the voice modulator to kick in. It’s great stuff is what I’m trying to say. 

2. J.J. Abrams

        Whenever this name is uttered among the geeks or nerds who follow Star Trek and Star Wars, a derisive groan is uttered or grunted. It’s one thing to watch his very first film he directed but also acknowledge just how he got his start. Most people prior to this entry know him for his work on T.V. He made shows like Felicity and Alias that were a character drama and an investigative show. Lost is where he made it big, due to the story being complex with his patented mystery box story devices. Meaning that, the story presented a mystery where it would lead to it being resolved or a curve ball throwing the story into fray. 

        With this film, you can say that he practically saved the franchise from being reduced to just action shlock. As I mentioned earlier, we didn’t get an idea as to who Ethan was as a person besides doing work for the IMF. More so that having a revolving door of directors would give the series a dysfunctional feel to them where it bordered on a psychological thriller to an action packed gun toting film. Abrams managed to ground the film by making it feel personal to Ethan with how personal his stakes is. 

        To me, it feels like it was originally going to be the last entry of the series. You can say that this wraps up the 2000s era of the franchise. Since we have Ethan seemingly retired from the IMF and he already has a fiancé. This one mission was going to test him to save his significant other and stop the villain from obtaining the secret weapon. What the film has going for is the drama that we see Ethan go through, it replaces having to see him retrieve the weapon and gives the audience something different where the characters are put into focus and having the action being retooled and believable. 

        Lastly, while Abrams wouldn’t direct another Mission: Impossible film, his production company would be associated with the franchise through his Bad Robot label. Going forward, the 2010s would be where the franchise was at it’s peak where we’d see Ethan and his team go through various locales and stopping a variety of threats. It’s one of those franchises where there’s a list of tropes of stuff that happens, but none of it feels repetitive and that we see just how much Tom Cruise alternates his hair from being short to long. And seeing him do his own stunts for our enjoyment. 

3. Overall

        Mission: Impossible III is one of the best in the 2000s era of the series. It’s the definition of a franchise rebound film.