My History With This Franchise
I saw Mission Impossible 1 and Mission Impossible 2 back when they first came out (long before I started my movie reviewing project). I didn't hate them, but I wasn't particularly blown away by them either. (Mission Impossible 2 in particular got pretty ridiculous). So I never bothered to catch up on Mission Impossible 3 and 4.
Why I Saw this Movie
It was playing at the cinema, and a friend invited me.
The Positives
* Competently made: the story, action sequences, chase scenes, and dramatic music are all quite serviceable.
* At this point in the franchise, they seem to have decided to make somewhat of an effort to imitate the spirit of the TV show by having an ensemble team, instead of just Tom Cruise out on his own.
* Speaking of which: Oh wow! At some point in the movies I missed, Simon Pegg (of the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy Fame) had joined the series. Bonus Simon Pegg point.
The Negatives
* Am I allowed to complain about how the whole bad guy organization just wants to be bad and spread terror for no reason? Or do I just have to accept this as part of the genre?
(Actually what am I even saying! Of course it's just part of the genre. See: every secret agent movie ever, going all the way back to Dr. No. And even before Dr. No, there was the same thing going on in James Bond's literary antecedents, like Sax Rohmer.)
The Review
5 movies into the franchise now (and a franchise that had started off pretty cheesy to begin with). You'd better believe my expectations were pretty low.
...And yet, it wasn't half bad. Story held my interest, chase scenes were all decent, good suspense, good acting. Simon Pegg.
It's nothing memorable. (In 5 years time no one will remember this movie). But a pleasant waste of time.
Rating :
5 out of 10. (Completely serviceable, even if it's also completely forgettable.)
Link of the Day
Democracy is a Threat to any Power System
Pegg was introduced in M:I:III. I suspect you'd enjoy 3 and 4, though I could be off. The girls both said 5 was their favourite, which surprised me. I liked it well enough, certainly enjoyed the camera-love lavished on Rebecca Ferguson. The fact that Cruise -- "Hunt," sorry -- doesn't even get a kiss from this chick struck me as spot-on. Also, the final defeat of the baddie struck me as note-perfect. In the other movies, Hunt winds up killing them -- same old, same old. But for this villain, getting captured by Hunt is, in fact, a fate worse than death. Also, it's a conclusion that, so far, has done the best job of hearkening back to the TV show. The final body-count was still much higher than the TV show ever brooked, and the phony drama of binning the agency was rote and unnecessary, but overall the thing was an easy two hours of pleasant distraction.
ReplyDelete2 drove me absolutely batty, btw. I've watched all the others a second time with the girls, but simply cannot bring myself to give 2 another viewing. I thought it was a clear signal that John Woo had lost the Hong Kong magic.
Should add, maybe, that 3 benefits mightily from one of Philip Seymour Hoffman's super-loathsome baddie performances. And 4 is Brad Bird, who's in very fine form on this outing.
ReplyDeleteSo it wasn't just me then? MI 2 really was the low point.
ReplyDeleteThat's good to hear. I may try to track down MI3 and MI4 at some point. Although at the moment, I'm without a DVD player, so I'm completely at the mercy of whatever is on TV for the night.
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