[DISCUSSION] Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (Spoilers)
[DISCUSSION] Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (Spoilers)
Premise:
Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands.
Directors:
Christopher McQuarrie
Writers:
Bruce Geller, Erik Jendresen, Christopher McQuarrie
Cast:
Tom Cruise ... Ethan Hunt
Hayley Atwell ... Grace
Ving Rhames ... Luther Stickell
Simon Pegg ... Benji Dunn
Rebecca Ferguson ... Ilsa Faust
Vanessa Kirby ... The White Widow
Esai Morales ... Gabriel
Pom Klementieff ... Paris
Henry Czerny ... Kittridge
Shea Whigham ... Briggs
| RELEASE DATE | RUNTIME | ROTTENTOMATOES | IMDB | METACRITIC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 12th, 2023 | 2hr 43m | 98% | 8.2/10 | 81 |
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Watched this earlier today and I really think my expectations were too high. I love this series and every entry has been better than the last. Fallout is one of my favorite action movies ever and I think I was just too hyped for this. It wasn't disappointing but it just didn't hit me like I thought it would. Also I saw that bike stunt so many times already that it skewed my excitement for it.
I do feel a little weird about killing off Ilsa and kinda replacing her with Grace. Felt like Ilsa was too overpowered and they wanted a more inexperienced team member. But the fight between Ilsa and Gabriel was pretty meh. I know that wanted to show that Gabriel was a huge threat to her and a great fighter, but it just felt like Ilsa was holding back. Haley Atwell was great, though. Her character felt very real in this universe.
That being said, I enjoyed it immensely. It was a wild ride all the way though. And I'm happy this part felt like a complete story arc and now we have the big threat to deal with for the next one. This movie is definitely not going to make the general public feel any better about AI.
Gabriel was a good villain, but he didn't come off as terrifying as I would have liked. I think a lot of it is just that he's a "new" character. Sean Harris as Solomon Lane in the previous movies was absolutely terrifying to me with how calm he always was. Gabriel felt a little forced to me, like the movie kept telling how badass he was, but not really showing.
I loved seeing Kittridge again and the whole meeting scene with Ethan in the mask was so tense. I kept expecting that guy to be a Terminator or something. I don't think he blinked once. And the conversation with Kittridge and Ethan was a good callback with the "I understand you're very upset" line.
This movie was a lot more tense IMO than others, at least the first half. It felt like anything could happen throughout a lot of it. The action was great, but as I said I just kept waiting for it to blow me away and I think I over-hyped it for myself. I still had a lot of fun and can't wait for the next one even though I think I like Fallout a little better.
I have to agree with going in with high expectations, I came out a bit let down. It did feel not as tight as the last few films. The bike scene, it seemed like they did not show a lot of footage of it so maybe the best shots were all in the promo/behind the scenes stuff in the end.
Killing Ilsa was pretty bad, she already had so little dialog in this one and then they just have her die and barely acknowledged. I feel like it has to be a fake out again, or maybe that's wishful thinking. The rest of the script was poor so why expect something more now. I feel like her fight with Lane in the last film was much better done and Lane seemed like a much more skilled fighter. Overall Lane always seemed like more of a that and a well definite antagonist.
With Grace she had good moments butt they made her a bit too damsel in distress at times. Occasionally very competent but other times useless. Like when she goes to stop the train then Ethan just finds her sitting there like she has no other ideas of her own, guess I'll just die here.
There were great action parts and I enjoyed it overall. The car chase and climbing the train particularly for me. Hopefully they bounce back with a tighter story and dialog for the next part.
I am assuming Rebecca Ferguson wanted out due to her commitments to Dune and Silo and whatever else she has going on. I can't imagine they would fake her death twice. I do hope she stays dead just because it would feel cheap to bring her back, as much as I love her in this series. I agree that Solomon Lane was a much more defined antagonist.
I didn't mind Grace being unable to do a lot. She's just a thief after all. I actually kind of liked that she wasn't just another Ethan, good at everything. But it really did feel like they fridged Ilsa to bring her in. I also couldn't help but wish they brought back Thandiwe Newton's character from MI2, Naya, instead. She was a skilled thief as well. I'm a little biased though, because I fell in love with her in that movie. But, that would have brought other complications, since she was also a love interest, and Newton is older.
The car chase I loved, and the train was cool. Especially Ethan just flying right into the car, although in reality he should have broken every bone in his body, haha.
I'm not too invested in the MI franchise, I just like to see it for massive crazy stunts. On that note, at least, it delivered. It was fun enough.
Gabriel just seemed too much like a generic bad guy. Like, he's evil because he's just evil!!! Oh also it's personal. Meh. I think it would have been more interesting if they were chasing a ghost. Like the AI, instead of erasing Gabriel, created a whole fictional character that kept appearing in everyone's radar. And neither side realizes until the end of the film.
I think that would have been great. Like he shows up in their glasses like he did, except it's actually him messing with the team.
exactly. He shows up in cameras, satellite, video messaging, email, etc. Traces everywhere, but he doesn't exist. Sometimes spoofing real people like Luthor did at the beginning of the film.