Time for a brief history lesson from my movie viewing diary. I have viewed the original film years ago and enjoyed it. Films two and three looked entertaining, but I never got around to seeing them. The fact that Brad Bird directed and JJ Abrams produced this new installment sold me on renting this action flick. Phew! Now that I have cleared that up and it is understood where I am coming from in the MissIm world, the review may commence.
Unique, elaborate, and exciting action sequences can be found in abundance. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) climbs the outside of the world’s tallest building in Dubai, participates in a car chase through a sand storm with zero visibility, and has one incredible final face off with the villain in the most elaborate parking garage I’ve ever seen.
The story is intricate, like the action scenes, with a bit too many twists and turns going on to comprehend fully. Granted, I did view the film in three separate sittings. Yes, three sittings. How embarrassing. Apparently I was sleep deprived this past week. That kind of tired when your eyes burn as soon as you close them. So that could be one factor as to why I was having difficulty following some portions of the story. Despite this minor hiccup, I do strongly believe things were all over the place. As if the writers threw so much at the screen so that the viewer would have no choice but be sucked in, attempting to follow along (perhaps even taking notes). Confusion and chaos can definitely do that. Add an action sequence every five minutes and the average bloke will clap in delight.
Most of the time I felt like I was watching a video game played out in movie form. First there is, “here is your mission, if you choose to accept it…” Ethan Hunt goes from point A to point B. Complete. Point B to point C. Complete. This continues throughout the movie. Don’t get me wrong, its still a very exciting movie, but it felt like a cool action video game. Most notably, when Ethan Hunt is in a car chase in a sandstorm. He is using a tracking device on his phone. It shows his position and his target's position. Ethan keeps looking at this map on his phone as if it were one of those maps that is placed in the corner of the screen in a video game. To me, this was slightly distracting. I kept thinking to myself, video game much.
Jeremy Renner becomes a great asset to the cast and I enjoyed his backstory, which included twists I could follow. He is an actor that I find myself immediately drawn to and would enjoy seeing him play a bigger role in the next film (yes, I believe there will be a fifth movie). I would have also liked to have seen more of Josh Halloway’s (LOST!) character. My LOST fanness may have leaked out a bit there. Sorry about that. I just miss the show so much! Anyways, his character was a blur and I think if we got to know him more, then the events that transpired surrounding his character would have had a greater impact on the audience understanding the emotional state of Paula Patton's character.
The Breakdown: This film packs in the action and is a great popcorn flick. It has many twists and turns and will keep you entertained throughout. I plan on going back to watch the first three films because I did feel there were some references, especially towards the end, that I was missing. Still, if you haven't seen the other films, you will still enjoy this one.
Bottom line: See Mission Impossible-Ghost Protocol if you’re craving a fun, well made action movie (Similar to James Bond, 24, etc.).
No comments:
Post a Comment