It’s exciting that after seven films, “Mission Impossible” still gives audiences the good old fashioned action movies that were prominent in movie theaters. Christopher McQuarrie’s treatment of the “Mission: Impossible” has never been over stylish which amplifies the old fashioned feeling of his take on Tom Cruise’s epic movie series, and I love it. There are spies, and mysteries, and chases through streets, car chases, femme fatales, a classic macguffin, and even a massive fight staged on, in, and on top of a moving train across Europe. It’s vintage adventure movie serial cinema amplified with a huge budget and some wonderful performances all around.
Tag Archives: Tom Cruise
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Much like the original, “Top Gun: Maverick” is a big jingoistic cartoon. But it’s a fun jingoistic cartoon. I say that as someone that didn’t like the original “Top Gun” so suffice to say I was hesitant going right in to it. After so many years left in film limbo, I was stunned it was so well received, as legacy sequels most of the time fall flat. While “Top Gun: Maverick” isn’t exactly a masterpiece, I could think of worse times to spend with an action movie; it’s definitely one of the better legacy sequels I’ve seen.
Streaming Sundays: ‘Interview With The Vampire’ Is One Of The Best Retellings Of A Classic Tale
AMC+ released their new television adaptation of Interview with the Vampire, and it is a worthy addition to Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles canon.
The 10 Best Films of 2018
2018 was a big year for movies, it was a great year for animation, it was a stellar year for horror movies in general, and it was such a busy time for anyone that loved and appreciated film. Thankfully it was tough stacking a top ten that was definitive and that sit well with me because I had so many favorites. With so much new avenues to view film I didn’t get everything I wanted in 2018, but I saw enough to compile a top twenty or top twenty five.
This is my top ten films of 2018, these are films I loved, these are films that I hope you seek out if you haven’t, by now.
Honorable Mentions: Paddington 2, The Domestics, Black Panther, Ready Player One, Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse, Revenge, Tully, The Night Eats the World, Bird Box, A Star is Born
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
I can safely say that among the long running action franchises out there, “Mission Impossible” might just be my favorite. Not only has the series managed to re-invent itself time and time again, but Tom Cruise continues to impress and compel as series hero Ethan Hunt. He is a classic hero, a man who is bound to his work, or else the world literally falls apart at the seams. He’s a daring, bold, and clever force of nature, but he’s also one chained forever to the IMF, forced to confront not only terrorist threats, but the fall out of his past enemies that have come back to finally haunt him.
The Mummy (2017)
After “The Wolfman” and “Dracula Untold” failed to launch the intended Cinematic Universe, Universal has hitched their ride on “The Mummy,” a movie so broadly developed and so utterly stale, that it feels more like a pitch for a movie than an actual movie. So much of “The Mummy” and its tedious, monotonous, lifeless run time is spent propping up storylines, explaining, over explaining, and flash backs. Rather than watching characters experience, and go through the wringer, and develop, Universal spends an enormous amount of time creating this tidy, and sanitary action thriller that is hell bent on establishing the universe its set in, rather than engaging us in an actual movie that is somewhat entertaining of compelling.
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)
Ethan Hunt is no mere agent. He’s a force of nature that keeps pushing himself to the brink of imminent death every single time we meet him. Last time he hung on the side of a high rise, and this time he hangs along the side of a flying aircraft. Not to mention he merely drowns in one of the many close call operations he and the disbanded IMF commit towards. Tom Cruise lends the character an intensity and bug eyed gutsiness that make him a hero you want to root for, and someone you most definitely want on your side at all times. Hunt has met his match this time with the evil Lane (Sam Harris), a leader of a rising organization called the Syndicate, who is always one step ahead of Hunt, while sidekick Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson) displays an enigmatic aura that makes Hunt uncertain if she’s friend or foe.