The last one was just overdone nonsense, I really don't even have a desire to see this one. What is Tom Cruise going to do this time to top the last one? Jump from orbit and plummet to the ground on fire?

I am a fan back to the original. And while there have been a few things I do not like, I have generally, genuinely looked forward to the next one. MI 1 is my favorite, because of the dang 686 processors
Phillip Seymour Hoffman is my favorite villain. Dang he was born for it. But Max (Rebecca Redgrave) in the first movie is just marvelous and genius. "I don't have to tell you what a comfort anonymity can be in my profession. It's like a warm blanket." She did not have to be a 'girlboss' etc. She just dominated the screen because she was the best.
but I digress.
I loved how hard he worked to save Julia. but then that was eventually resolved and she was replaced with the amazing Rebecca Fergusson.


That is why I think I got so . . . disappointed with Dead Reckoning. I just did not care anymore. With Ilsa dead (Fergusson), and the new seemingly invulnerable bad guy, I just got lost. I found myself waiting for the movie to end. Now I realize that Fergusson wanted out so she could do other things like Silo (which is frickin amazing) so that is not MI's fault . . . maybe.

So with "The Final Reckoning" I really do not know what to expect. It is the first one that I have not anticipated at all. I am not hostile or refusing to see it, I am just apathetic. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised. Like I was with "Maverick" Frickin a that was a great time.

One can only hope.

(They bring back Max . . . I will stand in line to see it

My wife and I saw the movie this afternoon. It may well be the best action/adventure movie that I’ve ever seen. Absolutely incredible, as only Tom Cruise can give you…absolutely incredible.

I had been looking forward to M:I8-The Final Reckoning and wanted to like it but was largely disappointed. Critical Drinker sums up most of my thoughts about it.

His review at: https://youtu.be/xsZP4h0itcM?si=v3kIuytLYfSYzAgh

1/3rd of the movie is exposition - people talking about what has happened, lots of flashback scenes to previous movies, what needs to happen next and then repeating what they said. Many of these are of the President w/ her cabinet at the war room in Mount Weather are reminiscent of Dr Strangelove. We constantly see nostril shots of sweaty bureaucrats arguing over nuclear armageddon.

Ethan needs to get from an aircraft carrier to a submarine in a scene lifted straight out of The Hunt for Red October. He then needs to dive to the bottom of the ocean in a sequence lifted from The Abyss.

This leads to a scene on a sunken Russian sub where we see where a substantial part of the movie's budget went. Here the movie turns into a horror movie w/ Ethan essentially working his way through a haunted house.

That's one of two big set pieces. The other is the climactic fight on biplanes that is shown on the movie poster. Both are well-done but IMO, don't salvage the rest of the film.

They should have named it M:I-Loose Ends, b/c there are so many unresolved subplots, especially for a film that's billed as a send-off to Agent Hunt. There's a plot twist introduced early on relating back to the antagonist from the first M:I, which was completely unnecessary and made me groan.

Also, the antagonist, Gabriel, isn't given much to do besides repeat exposition - as mentioned above - and laugh maniacally while twisting his mustache. Seriously, he was one step removed from a 1920s silent film villain. All that was missing was a damsel in distress.

Rogue Nation & Fallout are still peak M:I, to which installments 7 & 8 unfortunately pale in comparison. If you're on the fence about the price of a movie ticket, I recommend you wait until it's on streaming.

This may sound silly as there are other merits, but my interest in the series grew by a couple of orders a magnitude when Ferguson joined the cast. And dropped the same when she was killed off. I'll still see the new installment at some point (on streaming) but not as compelled as I would be if Ferguson was still on the cast.

I’m just not sophisticated enough to know that the character, Gabriel, “repeat[s] exposition.”

If that critique means that the scenes and some characters are tying the MI movie series all together for this Final Reckoning, then that would seem a logical thing to do since it goes back to the very first movie almost 30 years ago.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
I’m just not sophisticated enough to know that the character, Gabriel, “repeat[s] exposition.”

Gabriel's lines can be summed up as, "Ethan, you will do ___, and I will do ____, because this is written."

The complaint about too much exposition has to do w/ characters doing more telling than showing.

quote:

If that critique means that the scenes and some characters are tying the MI movie series all together for this Final Reckoning, then that would seem a logical thing to do since it goes back to the very first movie almost 30 years ago.

The return of the CIA Black Vault programmer/analyst was a great tie-in to the first movie. I especially liked how they gave him a lot to do, as I was expecting him to be a cameo appearance. The plot twist about [SPOILER ALERT]Jim Phelps' son[/SPOILER ALERT] was a stupid subplot that should have been left on the cutting room floor.

The Rabbit's Foot tie-in from M:I 3 to The Entity was also a reach. It would have made more sense to tie back to the antagonist from Ghost Protocol who tried to start a nuclear war, or The Syndicate or The Apostles from M:I 5 & 6.

quote:

This may sound silly as there are other merits, but my interest in the series grew by a couple of orders a magnitude when Ferguson joined the cast. And dropped the same when she was killed off.

Not silly at all. I was ready to check out of Dead Reckoning when Ilsa got killed but held out that they faked her death. They had done so before, so why not? No Ilsa in M:I 8 is another knock against the installment. I hadn't been as upset w/ the death of a protagonist since Nicky Parsons got killed in Jason Bourne. I didn't bother to watch the rest after that.

If Final Reckoning was actually supposed to be Ethan Hunt's final mission, then showing him retiring together w/ Ilsa (or possibly even Julia) would make that look final.

I've been seeing reports that it's crap and merely a "love me as I retire from this series" project from Tom Cruise.

I thought the first half of this movie sucked so I guess it's no surprise that this second half would too.

I did go back and watch the first one from 1996 recently which was really good but very quaint, everything is still done on floppy disk and the internet was this super duper new amazing thing.

The “last” Mission Impossible movie is best watched with a fully developed and medically induced suspension of reality. To save the world the hero must overcome forty-eleven challenges that each would reduce James Bond or Jason Bourne to a puddle of blood, sweat and tears. To prevent missing a minute of the movie ensure that you are completely dehydrated so you do not have to perform your own death defying climb over the railing and past the wheelchairs blocking the aisle in total darkness to visit the restroom. You will be in your seat for a minimum of 210 minutes, and your bladder will self destruct in five four three two…

quote:

Originally posted by iron chef:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by TMats:
... I hadn't been as upset w/ the death of a protagonist since Nicky Parsons got killed in Jason Bourne. I didn't bother to watch the rest after that.

If Final Reckoning was actually supposed to be Ethan Hunt's final mission, then showing him retiring together w/ Ilsa (or possibly even Julia) would make that look final.

Just an aside, Nicky is apparently not dead IN the Bourne Stuntacular at Universal, she states she " faked her death to protect Jason, and now they need our help . . ." So apparently she 'could' come back in the future.