Showing posts with label Tom Cruise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tom Cruise. Show all posts

Monday, 13 August 2018

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT (2018)

Tom Cruise returns as IMF superspy Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible - Fallout, the new installment of the Mission: Impossible film series. His frequent collaborator Christopher McQuarrie, who helmed the previous movie (Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, 2015), is back too for this direct sequel.

The bottom line: Simply the Best.

Impossible Mission Force agent Ethan Hunt is haunted by the memory of anarchist Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), a former adversary. The surviving members of The Syndicate, Lane's terrorist organization, have formed a group called The Apostles. Three plutonium cores are part of their plans, which involve a shadowy figure named John Lark. Ethan goes to Berlin with Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Benjamin "Benji" Dunn (Simon Pegg) to intercept the cores. The mission goes wrong, obliging them to obtain information from an expert who worked with The Apostles to assemble three portable nuclear bombs.

Against the will of IMF secretary Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin), CIA director Erica Sloane (Angela Bassett) assigns August Walker (Henry Cavill) of the agency's Special Activities Division to keep an eye on the team. Ethan and agent Walker HALO jump to reach the Grand Palais in Paris, where John Lark must buy the plutonium at a fundraiser party given by arms dealer Alanna Mitsopolis, aka "The White Widow" (Vanessa Kirby). MI6 and ex-Syndicate operative Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) resurfaces but Hunt cannot trust her, nor the CIA, as he's confronted to Solomon Lane once again. And the life of his estranged wife Julia (Michelle Monaghan) is threatened. From the streets of the French capital to the mountains of Kashmir, via London, the IMF races against time to prevent a global catastrophe.

Launched in 1996, the Mission: Impossible spy action movie franchise is based on the 1966-1973 namesake television series created by Bruce Geller. Its success lies mainly in the will of actor/producer Tom Cruise to perform the most spectacular stunts by himself (he's still in top shape at 56). Despite some past controversies, Cruise sure knows how to meet the expectations of his public and even exceed them. The well established formula of the big screen Mission: Impossible consists in Ethan Hunt running (often literally) to find a thing in order to save the world. His mission, already presumed impossible, turns out not as planned and his status is jeopardized. Thankfully, Hunt can count on his various teammates. Especially the anxious Benji, who largely provides the humour, and the grumpy Luther.

Written by its director Christopher McQuarrie, Mission: Impossible - Fallout has enough twists and turns to keep Ethan Hunt busy between the mandatory mind-blowing sequences  in the sky, on a motorcycle, on roofs, etc. Though the script doesn't pretend to be a John le Carré novel, the personal stakes are higher for our proto-Jack Bauer. Punctuated with a discrete dose of derision, Fallout reminds of the golden era of the James Bond films before Daniel Craig and doesn't forget nods to both  the TV series and its predecessors. After Dubai and Vienna, it's the turn of Paris to be the focus of a Mission: Impossible, a choice with a particular resonance because of the terrorist attacks which struck the city in 2015. Of course, Paris was the playground of the legendary French film star Jean-Paul Belmondo, who did his own stunts too.

English actor Sean Harris is beyond impressive in the role of Hunt's worst nightmare. Rebecca Ferguson is great as Ilsa, the kickass leading lady. Female characterization wasn't the forte of Mission: Impossible before her arrival. Alec Baldwin's sympathetic secretary Hunley does a (little) bit of field work. Henry Cavill, who plays the untrustworthy CIA watch dog August Walker, is a perfect addition to the franchise. Like Vanessa Kirby and Angela Bassett. Scottish composer Lorne Balfe, who succeeds Joe Kraemer and Michael Giacchino, did an excellent job with the soundtrack. Aaron Becker designed the superb main title and curtain call sequences. Distributed by Paramount Pictures. Cinematography by Rob Hardy. Film editing by Eddie Hamilton.

Released on August 1 in France.

https://www.slashfilm.com/christopher-mcquarrie-interview-2/

See also:

http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2015/08/mission-impossible-rogue-nation-2015.html 

Thursday, 13 August 2015

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION (2015)

 Actor/producer Tom Cruise is back as IMF superspy Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. The fifth installment of the Mission: Impossible film series, released yesterday in France, is helmed by Christopher McQuarrie, who directed Cruise in Jack Reacher (2012).

Impossible Mission Force agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) intercepts nerve gas about to be sold to terrorists. A debriefing in London goes wrong and Ethan is captured by an organization called The Syndicate. Syndicate operative Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) helps him to escape. Meanwhile CIA director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) gets the dismantling of the IMF and wants William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) to tell him where Hunt is. Ethan needs the assistance of friend and colleague Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) to find the Syndicate.

In Vienna they try to prevent the assassination of the Austrian Chancellor. Brandt recruits Ethan Hunt's old pal Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) to locate Hunt and Dunn and track Ilsa. Launched in 1996, the Mission: Impossible spy action movie franchise is based on the 1966-1973 namesake television series created by Bruce Geller. Mission: Impossible actually became a big screen "series" in itself only in 2006 with the involvement of American director, writer and producer J.J. Abrams (Lost) and his prodco Bad Robot. The first movie, directed by Brian De Palma, was basically a Hitchcockian paranoid thriller and Mission: Impossible II (2000) was a catastrophe. Since Mission: Impossible III (2006) the movies share the same style and tone.

The work of composer Michael Giacchino (The Incredibles, Lost), a dose of humour brought mainly by Simon Pegg and some respect to the TV source material widely contributed to this unity. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation follows the path of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) in the fun escapism category. Except it's better written, as long as you ignore the countless exposition scenes and you don't expect a Frederick Forsyth thriller from the script of a bona fide popcorn movie. After all it's mostly centered on the hunt (no pun intended) for a USB drive. The pre-title sequence sets the mood for the entire film with a bravura piece featuring an A400M plane, Tom Cruise in top shape and Benji's antics.

This Burj Khalifa moment (1) is just one of the mandatory spectacular action sequences, which include a high dive without scuba gear (hold your breath) and a couple of mega-chases in Morocco. Rogue Nation reminds of James Bond (The Living Daylights), Alfred Hitchcock (The Man Who Knew Too Much), the Mission: Impossible TV series (the record shop) and nods to its own predecessors. Cruise remains a legit action star at 53. Simon Pegg portrays the most pathologically anxious field agent of the intelligence community. Jeremy Renner and Ving Rhames form a new comedy duo. Rebecca Ferguson is excellent as the badass leading lady in a franchise whose female characterization is not the forte.

English actor Sean Harris is Solomon Lane, a valuable villain after the forgettable Kurt Hendricks of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. Although the late Philip Seymour Hoffman's Owen Davian in M:I:III will stay unbeatable. Alec Baldwin plays a first class A-hole... or not. Simon McBurney and Tom Hollander (as the British Prime minister) are amongst the cast. Composer Joe Kraemer, who scored Jack Reacher, succeeds Michael Giacchino with honours. The soundtrack makes a generous use of Lalo Schifrin's Mission: Impossible main theme and The Plot. Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot and its aria Nessun Dorma have an essential place in it. Aaron Becker did a superb job with the main title design and the curtain call sequence for Filmograph.

When Raymond Burr starred as lawyer Perry Mason in the eponymous TV series a woman once asked him "How come you never lose?" The actor answered: "Madam, you only see the cases that I try on Saturdays." There are certainly missions where Ethan Hunt and his IMF teammates are not disavowed. Anyway, the latest Mission: Impossible is the perfect summer blockbuster and Tom Cruise definitely knows how to meet the expectations of his public. Distributed by Paramount Pictures, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation is written by Christopher McQuarrie. Story by Christopher McQuarrie and Drew Pearce. Robert Elswit is the cinematographer.

(1) See Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.

http://moviemusicuk.us/2015/08/04/mission-impossible-rogue-nation-joe-kraemer/
http://www.filmsonwax.co.uk/interview-joe-kraemer/
http://www.lalalandrecords.com/Site/MIRN.html
http://www.fxguide.com/featured/hold-on-the-vfx-of-rogue-nation/
http://www.filmograph.tv/