Paramount Pictures, Skydance Productions, Bad Robot
Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Ving Rhames, Léa Seydoux, Josh Holloway, Tom Wilkinson, Michael Nyqvist, Anil Kapoor
Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is in a Russian prison. When the IMF team tries to break him out, he has to go twice as far to pick up someone else. But the reason IMF broke him out was because the needed him. A rogue Russian terrorist named Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist) has stolen the launch codes for Russian nuclear warheads, and using a satellite link, he’s planning to start a war. He’s an arms dealer, and providing weapons for both sides will make him ruler of the whole world. The clock is ticking, and Hunt’s team has to save the world.
Ok, so I’m about to throw ALL my credibility out of the window here. But I have a major bone to pick with Mister Cruise for which I’m not really ready to forgive. Obviously the film made a bazillion dollars in the box office, so people love this kind of fantasy unrealistic thriller, but once again we see Tom Cruise defile the memory of Jim Phelps, the hero of the IMF.
I grew up with Mission Impossible, and I loved that series. Mr. Phelps was a true American hero, just like James Bond is for England. Now I know that Mr. Cruise wanted to take over the role of galactic hero of the IMF, but the way he did it is unforgivable.
Suppose Sean Connery didn’t want to play James Bond anymore. So how could someone else come in and take over the role? Well, what if instead of Roger Moore becoming 007, what if they wrote a plot twist that James Bond was somehow a double agent for the Russians and was responsible for selling Britain (and the rest of the free world) down the river simply for the money, only to die a miserable death on to apologize for being a traitor by saying, “Hey, I needed the dough”? Would that sell? The moment I saw what they did to bury Mr. Phelps and let Ethan, the wimpy tough guy, Hunt take over the IMF, I knew it was a lousy deal.
So now we have version four of the Phelps wannabe trying to save the world. Well, if you love beautiful shots of Dubai and Moscow and India, and lots of crazy chases and miraculous stunts and big huge explosions, then this has all of that. But it so far fetched in the context of things, that none of this could ever happen. It’s not Mission Impossible anymore. It seems they simply try to think of the most outrageous ridiculous stunts that make this look more like Lost in Space than James Bond. (Ok, James Bond got a little silly when Jaws rode a space station down from outer space while it crashed and he walked away. That was a little silly too, I admit.) But the original Bond as well as the original IMF used their heads and technology in a realistic way to make it exciting, not just impossible stunts and huge explosions. I’m truly afraid that Pixar had too much to do with this film, and may have cartooned it up a bit much.
I don’t want to put spoilers in here, but you’ll see a scene in Dubai when Ethan has to climb up to the computer room. See if you believe that one. Also there is a scene in San Francisco at the very end. I don’t think I’ll buy that either. I’m used to the timer slowly ticking down to 0 for the end of the world, and the good guy stopping it at the last second….but here we get a timer that expires, and the event happens, but it doesn’t and there’s still another timer which also expires and another event happens, but it’s still time to save it. What the heck? When you see the whole San Francisco scene you’ll know what I mean. (By the way, the device flies over Pixar’s headquarters at one point.)
Granted, you have to suspend belief in fantasy movies, but there’s no reason to dump on Mr. Phelps memory and get out of all scrapes with a ridiculous plot device instead of using your brain. Then we hear that there is a new character introduced in this film, Brandt (Jeremy Renner) to replace Ethan Hunt as Tom Cruise wants to now drop out of the franchise. It’s odd that the whole speech between Hunt and Brant is oddly similar to the story Mr Phelps told to Ethan in the first MI film. Except that Cruise (Hunt) is not yet a traitor scum to his county and the free world. Let’s hope that if he does step down, that he destroys his character too like he did to the former leader rather than “retiring” as a “hero”.
That’s why in 2012, I’d still rather watch the original TV show! My $.02.
P.S. I have a wife who’s a Cruise fan, so I’m sure I will see future MI movies as well. 😉
This is the longest review I’ve ever written. Ethan Hunt must have me really riled up.
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