Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation Movie Review

The whole plot of the latest Mission: Impossible film, subtitled Rogue Nation, and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who also wrote the screenplay and is involved in one way or another in just about everything Tom Cruise stars in these days, hinges on the usual MacGuffin device. In this case it’s a cache of data that will give financial support to an international crime organization known as The Syndicate. They are essentially the anti-Impossible Mission force, comprised of agents from all over the world who disappeared, presumed dead, over the last several years. The thing is, the data can be accessed using fingerprint and voice ID of only one person – the Prime Minister of Britain! I mean, there’s security and then there’s just plain stupid and ineffective. What happens if the PM suddenly dies? What if he resigns? What if he’s revealed to be greater than Nixon levels of corrupt? Anyway, this is just a minor logical inconvenience o the way to a cleverly-crafted sequence that results in the kidnapping of the Prime Minister. And clever set pieces are the stock in trade of the Mission: Impossible series.

From My Collection: Out of Sight Movie Review

Out of Sight is quite simply one of the slickest and sexiest films of at least the last two decades. One scene in particular, involving a female Federal Marshal and the bank robber she’s chasing taking a “time out” from their respective responsibilities to fan the flames of passion between them is stylishly edited and beautifully realized. I loved this movie when I first saw it. I loved every minute of it as it played out on the big screen. I loved the smoldering Clooney and the incredibly sexy Lopez; loved the threatening Don Cheadle and the comic relief Steve Zahn; loved the fact that the Clooney and Lopez characters turn some common genre stereotypes on their heads; but mostly I loved the film’s sense of cool stemming from its jazz, funk, soul soundtrack, its sharp dialogue, and Tarantino-esque flair.

Short Cut Movie Review From My Collection - Mission: Impossible II

I was so crazy for John Woo at the time Mission: Impossible II came out that almost nothing could have deterred my enthusiasm for the film. I still love it today and see plenty to admire in it and it remains my favorite of the four films in the series, but there are some obvious flaws in it that I never quite saw 13 years ago.

People have been criticizing this film, as well as many other Woo films, for the use of slow motion, for the unbelievable drama, for the doves and pigeons. Okay, his use of birds floating around during climactic action scenes does get tiresome. But I think the heightened drama really plays well in most of his films, and especially well in the case of Mission: Impossible II. Woo loves to combine elements of Douglas Sirk level melodrama with totally unbridled action. Isn’t an action sequence more thrilling, doesn’t the lump in your throat or the hold on your breath grow more powerful if the dramatic tension is raised even beyond the level of realism? Why should we criticize a movie that employs ridiculous and unbelievable action stunts for coupling it with unbelievable drama?

Until Misson:Impossible – Ghost Protocol, this was easily some of Tom Cruise’s greatest stunt work as an actor. His love interest, played by Thandie Newton, is exquisitely beautiful. I never had any problem believing the two of them could fall so hard for each other so quickly. Dougray Scott isn’t exactly the greatest villain in action history and he does force it occasionally, but watching it now I’m more focused on his number two man, played by Richard Roxburgh. Compare Roxburgh’s performance here with his role in Moulin Rouge and you see what a fantastic actor he is.

The movie’s weakest link, I see now, is Robert Towne’s screenplay, which relies too heavily on cliché-ridden often lazy dialogue. It’s remarkable to think this is the same guy who wrote Chinatown. Also, some of the stunts don’t make physical sense when a man is flying through the air in one direction and he’s suddenly propelled in the opposite direction by a bullet. It’s poor in a disorienting way. But overall, the stunts are spectacular and the vast majority of the action expertly directed by master Woo.

Short Cut Movie Review - Mission: Impossible III

A Short Cut Movie Review is normally less than 400 words, but in some cases may go slightly over. This is my attempt to keep writing about as many films as I see without getting bogged down with trying to find more to say. They are meant to be brief snapshots of my reaction to a movie without too much depth.

The writing partners Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci, along with director and co-writer J.J. Abrams, tried to give IMF agent Ethan Hunt a little more personal stake in the spy game by giving him a fiancée (Michelle Monaghan). To allay any suspense regarding the action movie cliché of the hero’s lover being in danger, Abrams opens the film with a sadistic scene of the villain, Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) attempting to extract information from a bound Ethan (Tom Cruise) before killing his fiancée. This allows the anticipation to build differently, knowing what their fate will be and also knowing that once he capture Davian early in the film, we will see him get away. Having flesh in the game isn’t quite enough, apparently, because they also gave Ethan a female spy protégé (Keri Russell) for whom he feels a need to exact revenge.

Ving Rhames returns as Luther, the team’s computer expert, remarking about their mission to break into The Vatican that it’s a cakewalk compared to Langley, referencing the centerpiece break in of the first film. Maggie Q and Jonathan Rhys Myers round out the IMF team, with Billy Crudup serving as Ethan’s boss and Laurence Fishburne adding severity and gravitas as the IMF director. The action dutifully pumps along. Abrams has continually proved himself a whiz of an action director and this is where he had just begun to cut his teeth. It’s generally a fine effort as far as these things go.

"I'm Gonna Get Medieval on Your Ass!" Pulp Fiction Analysis Part XVIII

Go to Part XVII: "Bring out the gimp."

Butch is just looking for an excuse to run Zed through with the samurai sword.

Butch grabs Zed’s keys and makes for the front door, but stops before leaving. As he listens to Marsellus’s moans from downstairs, the camera pushes in, showing Butch wrestling with his conscience. He can’t simply leave that man down there to be tortured. So he looks for a weapon. The progression of weapons here is symbolic and also rather amusing. Butch is going to decide what kind of hero he wants to be. First he picks up a hammer to be a regular guy grabbing the first weapon he sees. Then he finds a baseball bat, recalling Joe Don Baker in Walking Tall[i]. Next it’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre[ii] and Leatherface’s chainsaw. Then cut to a high angle shot looking down on Butch as he sees his weapon of choice hanging on the wall. It is a samurai sword, the weapon of a true heroic warrior. A samurai is the kind of hero that has honor and will fight to the death to defend the less fortunate. Tarantino loves the “honor among thieves” theme that plays out in old samurai films and nowhere is this more apparent than here. Because of his experience killing Vincent earlier, Butch knows he can descend into the awaiting hell to kill again. For him, this is going into battle.

"Bring Out the Gimp": Pulp Fiction Analysis Part XVII

Go to Part XVI: "You feel that sting, big boy?"

Fade-in on Butch and Marsellus, tied to chairs and gagged with a red ball attached to a strap around their heads. Zed arrives and sits down simply observing the two men. At this point the audience has no idea what’s to come. Zed tells Maynard to “bring out the gimp.” Maynard goes into the room behind Butch and Marsellus and we see him out of focus in the background opening a cage on the floor. Out comes a man dressed head-to-toe in leather, with chains on his limbs.

Maynard remains out of focus in the background as he begins to open the box on the floor where the sleeping Gimp lies.

When Maynard wakes up the Gimp the focus shifts from Butch and Marsellus to him.

Using the process of “Eeny Meeny Miny Moe,” Zed decides to “do” Marsellus first. He drags Marsellus into the back room, leaving the Gimp tied up to guard Butch. Maynard enters the room in slow motion, providing an exaggeration when the door slams shut at full speed. While we hear some kind of torture going on in the back room, Butch manages to get free, punch the Gimp leaving him to strangle on his chains and runs upstairs.

Go to Part XVIII: "I'm gonna get medieval on your ass!"

"You Feel That Sting, Big Boy?": Pulp Fiction Analysis Part XVI

Go to Part XV: "That's how you're gonna beat 'em, Butch. They keep underestimatin' ya."

In an homage to Psycho, Marsellus stops and slowly turns to get a look at Butch in the car.

As Butch pulls up to the intersection, Marsellus crosses in front of the car, stops and, in a direct homage to Psycho[1], turns to see Butch. This is the first time we see Marsellus’s face. We are about to see Marsellus as a character in action as opposed to Marsellus the Myth that we’ve heard about. Butch floors it, running down Marsellus, but then crashes his car. After Marsellus regains consciousness he draws his gun and chases after Butch. Tarantino uses the handheld camera as he follows the chase down the street. Both of them stumble their way into a pawn shop owned by a hillbilly redneck from hell.

Maynard, the owner of the pawn shop, knocks Butch out cold with a shotgun and then telephones Zed. What follows is the “war” that Butch will have to go through to retrieve his watch. Finally, he will have a story to tell his son one day when he passes that gold watch down the line.

Go to Part XVII: "Bring out the gimp."

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[1] Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1960 (Universal) – the reference is to an early scene when Marion Crane is on her way out of town with $40000 in cash stolen from her boss’s client. As she waits at an intersection her boss crosses, stops, and looks directly at Marion.

"That's How You're Gonna Beat 'em, Butch. They Keep Understimatin' Ya.": Pulp Fiction Analysis Part XV

Go to Part XIV: "Where's my watch?"

Butch has to go back to his apartment where it is very likely he will run into Marsellus’s men waiting to kill him. Why does Butch risk his life for the watch? Because he recognizes that the last three generations of men in his family made certain that the watch survived the war. Butch is part of the first generation of men in the 20^th century that was not defined by a major war. Butch has a war with Marsellus, though, and it will become so much more gruesome than he ever thought imaginable.

"And Now, Little Man, I Give the Watch to You": Pulp Fiction Analysis Part XI

Go to Part X: "That was fuckin' trippy."

Butch, as a child, sits watching television. His mother enters and introduces him to Captain Koons (Christopher Walken), who was in the Vietnamese POW camp with Butch’s father. Koons tells Butch about a wristwatch bought in Knoxville that belonged to private Doughboy Erine Coolidge (Butch’s great granddad). He wore it all during his time in The Great War. When his son, Dane, went off to WWII he took the watch with him. Before dying in battle he made sure the watch would be delivered safely home to his infant son (Butch’s dad). He then took the watch with him to Vietnam, but didn’t survive the prison camp. Koons promised to take the watch to deliver it to Butch.

"In the Fifth Your Ass Goes Down": Pulp Fiction Analysis Part V

Go to Part IV: "Does he look like a bitch?"

The scene opens with a medium-close on Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis). Although we don’t know who it is yet, we hear the voice of Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) off screen giving Butch a speech about boxers who never made it getting on in age. Butch is about to be paid to throw a fight.