dmyrwood

A movie I watched after my co worker hailed it as "the worst movie she's ever seen" and yup it's pretty bad! 😅 (So bad they did not release it for 37 years apparently) A film with the ridiculous plot as "Jaws: The Revenge" while trying to add some morality and animal activism? (Which I can almost appreciate but it does work when the movie is dealing with A VENGEFUL KILLER BEAR on the loose!!) Yet that dumb but maybe fun enough plot is sidelined for a concert? Yeah there is a nearby concert in this movie and they spend WAY too much time showing scenes of random musicians playing music! It is borderline a concert movie with a bear movie edited in. Unless there's a bear in that concert I DO NOT CARE!! (Is this what people felt like when they watched "Trap"?) And the ending wraps up way too quickly! Almost felt unfinished (pretty used they reused the same shot of the bear a couple times too). The acting ranges from bad to decent. They certainly wasted many future stars in this movie. (Including George Clooney, Laura Dern, and Charlie Sheen). Though John Rhys Davies is always a treasure on screen! (Shame that they undercut his character's backstory though). There are some good pov shots of the bear throughout the film which was affective enough. And a few hilariously bad moments and lines. Overall a film that had production troubles and it shows. At least the people involved moved on to better projects! 😄 🐻

The start of the Mcquarrie era of Mission:Impossible!

This film has the best opening scene of the series with the daring airplane stunt (the stunt that cruise admitted scared him!) and the twist of Ethan getting a message from the bad guys rather than the IMF! The underwater sequence is a cool heist. (Tom cruise being able to hold his breath underwater for 6 minutes is talent!) and the most fun motorcycle chase since MI-2. The rest of the movie never quite clicked with me as much as the others. The pasting between the action and highlighted scenes mentioned can drag for me. Mission impossible fan hot take: the Ilsa Faust character never did much for me. It is cool to have a strong independent female heroine in the series but other than that I find her kinda one note or too distrusting. The concept of the IMF vs Anti-IMF in the syndicate is neat but I feel the villain and the syndicate is perfected in "Fallout". (How the villain is defeated in the end of this one is awesome though) Not my favorite but still an enjoyable entry to the franchise (And Macquarie went on to do great things in future movies;)

I have a soft spot for this one because this was actually my first Mission: Impossible movie! (Brad Bird is one of my favorite directors and I found the DVD on sale back in 2018 and I checked it out) So that opening prison breakout sequence was my introduction to Ethan Hunt! (And a fantastic introduction it was for me!;) This is a fun movie! Possibly most accessible entry of the series with lively character interactions, cool gadgets, and action set pieces. It is the one Mission:Impossible film that actually feels like it was about assembling a team, along with providing a good middle chapter plot line for this series (with the entire IMF being disavowed!) It is the most self aware of the movies (with jokes about no masks, and their equipment breaking down) They continue the everyman quality of Ethan in this movie (which I really enjoy) and we get to see how smart Ethan can be in his tactics and finding ways out of dangerous situations. Which leads to some of the coolest Ethan moments of the series for me with the after mentioned prison break scene, using the belt as a zipline, and of course spider-man climbing the tallest building in the world! (The Burj Khalifa) A sequence that like the first movie's vault scene brilliantly establishes the peril of the scene with the overlooking drone shot displaying just how TALL the building is and showing how our gadgets can go wrong that makes it the most one of the most exciting and memorable sequences of the franchise! A scene so phenomenal that while the rest of the film is still good it kinda peaks there for me. While I understand the basic story, some details of the mission and other smaller plot lines of the film can be a little harder for me to follow. (And this is coming from a guy who understands MI-1) As well as I feel like this film has the weakest villains of the series that are mostly either cliche or you know nothing about them (making them very forgettable). There are a couple other pointless characters in the mix too. Overall a solid entry in the series that I do see a couple flaws with more than most but it contains the highest highs of the series that more than makes up for them. It is the film that I think also honestly redefined the franchise. This is the film that started each movie needing a big stunt for cruise, global stakes, and more continuity in the franchise (with a subplot in this one continuing the events of 3 and even setting up the events of Rogue Nation and Fallout)