I just finished watching "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Part 1," but I'm going to have to save the review for sometime after I'm back from the walk. (Not that anyone is waiting impatiently for my thoughts on the movie.)
Some preliminary impressions: this was not the strongest entry in the series. My favorites remain "Ghost Protocol" and "Rogue Nation," both tied for first place, with "Fallout" a close second. This newest film actually had some annoyances that I'll elaborate on in my review: overlong action sequences that often felt like a video game, too many scenes in which characters finish each other's sentences in what seems like a creepily ritualistic way, the death of one of my beloved main characters that struck me as rather useless, enough pickpocketing to put "Ocean's Eleven" to shame, and way too many predictable plot points, not to mention a childishly cliché view of AI (see my buddy Charles's review of/meditation on the film for an in-depth look). I also had a laugh at some of the stars who made an appearance: Charles Parnell, who only recently played an admiral in "Top Gun: Maverick," had a role at the beginning of the film; Cary Elwes was unintentionally comical as a director of intelligence; two members of the "Game of Thrones" cast were featured at the beginning.
In terms of the positives: the car chase in Italy, despite being long, was a highlight even though it felt as if the series might be regressing a little too much into low comedy; the movie also featured a truckload of beautiful women ranging from Rebecca Ferguson* (my ultimate crush from this series), to Hayley Atwell (my newest crush), Vanessa Kirby, and Pom Klementieff. I also enjoyed Esai Morales as the tangible villain (the movie's intangible villain** is the AI that goes by the name The Entity). Morales is a very likable actor who pops up in surprising places, including the short-lived spinoff series "Caprica," where he was one of the best things about the show as the father of Bill Adama.
My review probably won't go into detail about the AI issue; better minds than mine have written many column-inches on that. But "Dead Reckoning" touches on big themes like friendship, fate, and freedom, so I'll have something to say about that, especially since the film tries very hard to build up The Entity as an almost godlike intelligence, slotting it neatly into a cosmic structure I've seen in many films and books from Star Wars to The Matrix to The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever: to wit, the idea that evil sees things in terms of inevitabilities, but good sees things in terms of choice and free will.
More later. Meanwhile, I've got several other movie reviews lined up to appear while I'm on my walk, so you've got those to look forward to. Which is nice.
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*Ferguson says she's congenitally unable to wink, hence the eye patch her character wears at the beginning of the film when she's using a sniper rifle.
**Technically, the AI is more like an antagonist than a real villain.
I, for one, am interested to hear what you have to say. I'll be looking forward to the review.
ReplyDeleteBless you.
ReplyDeleteI think, though, I may already have spoiled the highlights.