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Comments
Yes I agree- that ponderous opening briefing scene with all the US generals and things: why are they explaining who the IMF are to me? I know this- it goes on forever. As you say, Falluot has a bit of exposition as they're walking to the plane to jet off on on a mission: it's so much tighter.
It felt like that entire exchange was an excuse to put in an IMF joke that I've seen multiple times online in the last decade. It was sort of cute the first time but I found it a massive chore on rewatch.
Yeah; all they have to do is explain that there's a bad machine that they want the magic key to; there's not much else to tell apart from express to us the stakes involved (but then you'd hope the -slightly boring- submarine bit would have done that). But you can also feel McQ trying to slide in various drama options, Ethan's stance on Kitteridge etc., which makes it all drag and you can kind of feel he hasn't even made up his mind on whether he's going to follow them through or not, filling it with sort of empty drama (see that curious scene by the Seine in Fallout where the White Widow demands that Ethan gives him Elsa: goes absolutely nowhere). It just feels tatty and hollow to me. And we don't even get the punch-the-air 'we got it?' trick IMF moment that should lead into the titles, as even Fallout did. Ethan just puts a mask on. Hmm.
Usually McQ's post-rationalised plotting is elegant and you can't see the joins, but he really tripped himself up with this one. There's so many exposition scenes where they're trying to drum up the 'these are the terribly important stakes' and for me it feels a bit like that technobabble you used to get in Star Trek: I kind of don't buy it and it feels like they're trying to force the film to feel more dramatic than it is.
I see you've studied at the @Christartos School of Art, @M_Balje. ;)
For a start, we like @M_Balje
Yes, indeed. @M_Balje is an MI6 Community legend and due to his long service since the late 1990s the Honorary President of this community. :)
@M_Balje is always well ahead of the times with his artwork and ideas.
When your number is taken you take a new number.
@M_Balje you are like a modern day Cicero. ^:)^
Mission: Impossible: Joker: Madness for Tom. Awesome work @M_Balje and everyone, a good laugh for me.
My favorite MI villains are Jim Phelps, Owen Davian and August Walker. They had some great performances.
As for DR Part 1, it did seem a bit off. The number one thing that needs to change after DR Part 2, is that it's time for Christopher McQuarrie to stop writing and directing. If of course Tom Cruise is still in charge.
We see that the two keys open the Entity-thing in the sub right in the opening sequence, so it was silly how the entire rest of the movie consisted of the characters being baffled by what the keys do. Movie characters shouldn't be playing catchup with the audience.
There's a lot of seemingly random and unexplained stuff, like Ethan following mercenaries to get to Ilse who for some reason has a bounty on her by Kittridge (huh?), how Ilse even got the key to begin with when presumably the Russian government had possession of both, why there was a fake nuclear bomb in the airport, etc.
Grace's character was too dominant. So dominant in fact that Ethan felt like a secondary character in his own movie. Far too much screen time was devoted to her, and it didn't add much to the movie.
Gabriel and Paris were decent villains but the backstory of Gabriel killing Ethan's first love was totally unnecessary. If they reveal in part 2 that Kittridge had Marie killed so that Ethan would become his agent, I'll be really annoyed. They did the same thing with Jason Bourne in the 4th one they did, and quite frankly Craig's Bond as well ("It was me, James!"). These types of retcons never work yet Hollywood keeps doing them.
There's way too much expository dialogue; lots of scenes were people explain what just happened in the previous scene. Gives the movie a somewhat aimless and meandering feel, like it's trying to figure out what exactly it's doing.
I assume it was shot digitally. It has an odd, washed-out look that's not very cinematic.
The action sequences were a mixed bag. The desert shootout was overly digital and the fights weren't convincing at all.
And finally there were too many familiar elements. We saw a Russian sub accidentally torpedo itself in The Hunt for Red October. The whole plot of the Entity being stolen from its creators seemed like it was lifted from NTTD. In fact there was a whole slew of stuff taken from Bond- Ethan and Grace being handcuffed together was a bit too shameless. And Grace seemed like a rehash of Nya from MI2; actually much of the movie felt like a mishmash of previous MI movies, right down to a climactic train sequence featuring Ethan and Kittridge, a wire transfer, and Ethan fighting the villain on the roof like in MI1.
On the other hand, there were parts that I enjoyed. Cruise can still pull off the character despite his age. It was great seeing Kittridge make a return. The music was good. The Rome car chase was great and the finale was pretty spectacular. The humor mostly worked, particularly with Biggs (the agent going around pinching everyone's face).
So overall, a mixed bag. Hopefully part 2 clears things up, is shorter, and more focused.
My ranking:
1
2
3
DR
GP
Haven't seen RN or FO yet.
I am surprised by the love for MI:2. But for Ms. Newton and Sir Anthony, meh. Woo was ridiculous. The flying motorcycle battle, the pigeons, the slow mo were at Woo-Spoof level. 1 excellent. 2 awful. 3 and since, better and better and better. They somehow step it up each time.
M:I 2 by far the worst film in the series for me.
Same here, it doesn’t ever feel like a MI film.
I almost agree with everything. The problem is that M:I just doesn't do it for me. The lack of tension, some cringeworthy moments, and Elfman's extremely underwhelming score make me enjoy M:I2 far more as an overstylized failure on steroids.
You can have fun with the second film, I still have 3 or 4 versions of the film on different formats, i just can't take it seriously.
I love the first film, especially the way it is shot, I think it is one of DePalma's best films, admittedly it is a slower burn than future installments though I like the intrigue, characters and set pieces.
In M:I when Ethan is recruiting his next team on the train and Krieger leans forward, its one of the best shots and scenes I have ever seen in cinema.
I like that in DR the early conference scenes are trying evoke DePalma, i know some are not fans of that scene.
I hope Tom decides to continue making these films after part 8. I really hope Ethan does not get killed off like DC's Bond.
I think they'll pull a 'Bourne Ultimatum' on Hunt.