Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) - Movie Review

What is the worst thing you can say to a raging narcissist with a saviour complex? And I don’t mean “worst” as in “what will hurt their feefees the most?”; I mean what would make this already-precarious situation even worse?

You tell him that he might actually be onto something.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: After a mission goes wrong, the world is under threat by the terrorist group The Apostles, who now have access to enough plutonium to construct nuclear weaponry. Wanting to correct what happened, IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) once again sets out with his colleagues Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg) to save the world as they go after the stolen plutonium. However, with CIA operative August Walker (Henry Cavill) assigned to watch Ethan's every move in case he goes rogue again, and anarchist Soloman Lane (Sean Harris) plotting his revenge, this will prove to be Ethan's toughest assignment yet.

American Made (2017) - Movie Review

If you’ve been following my reviews for any length of time, you’ll know that I have a rather specific approach to most of the films I cover. I try and give some breathing room for the acting and production values of each film, but more times than not, I end up talking about the general vibe of a film more than anything else; the supposed “message” behind all of it and end up judging films with that largely in mind. Well, as much as I tend to focus on the main sentiment of a given production, there are certain ideas and notions that I find myself repelled by; things like the general attitude of most ‘chick flicks’ or rather distasteful ideas concerning issues of mental health tend to set me off and make me a bit myopic in my overall critique, as if a film’s overall theme overrides anything and everything else it may have to offer.

 

I bring this up not to start an effort to avoid such things in the future, but to once again bring whatever biases I have going into films to the forefront. And unfortunately, we have another instance of that today with a film that involves a form of commentary that I will likely never be able to take seriously. But I’m getting ahead of myself; let’s get started with today’s film already.

The Mummy (2017) - Movie Review

With Marvel sweeping in box office hit after box office hit, it seems that everyone and their backyard sound stage want to get in on this ‘shared film universe’ trend. Sure, Marvel didn’t exactly invent the idea; filmmakers like John Hughes and Kevin Smith both filled in their films with little threads that tied them together for those willing to pay attention. However, those guys did it more in passing than anything else, whereas Marvel has officially turned it into a new blossoming branch of the Hollywood franchise system. From DC’s attempts to match their graphic novel rivals to Legendary Studio’s increasingly-promising big monster franchise, even individuals like M. Night Shyamalan who seems to be setting up his own comic book-inspired world off the back of Split, this is basically the big new thing in Hollywood right now.

 

So, naturally, it seems that Universal Pictures wants to get in on this trend as well, using today’s film as a springboard for a shared universe based on their classic cavalcade of movie monsters. Of course, if the rest of the entries in the Dark Universe series are anything resembling this, we may be in for a very bumpy ride over the next several years because this film is something truly special.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) - Movie Review

Jack Reacher, as far as I’m concerned, is one of the few recent action films that I would consider to be a genuine classic. A marked departure from the hyper-masculine and quite over-the-top action films that have become the norm of late, it made its mark with the titular rogue military genius as the main character, surrounded by good actors, better writing and a sense for action that is incredibly brutal and hard-hitting. Oh, and being the only good film Jai Courtney was attached to for many years afterwards probably helped. Well, after writer/director Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise went from that film to making the latest iteration in the Mission: Impossible franchise, director Edward Zwick has set up a sequel to the film that I hold in quite high regard. I know that I’ve made it a point of directly comparing sequels/continuations of older films to said older film… and this is going to be much the same, so get used to it.

My Scientology Movie (2016) - Movie Review

It’s Scientology time again! You know, between the countless jokes that have been made about them over the last several years and last year’s Alex Gibney documentary, I would’ve thought that we had done all we can in terms of talking about the church sci-fi made possible (and no, even a year later, I’m still not talking about the Trekkies). But then in walks one of the most impartial documentarians working today in the form of Louis Theroux, who is almost superhuman in his patience with his subjects. This presents a certain instance that we haven’t really come across in any logical fashion: Sympathy. Sure, Going Clear presented a sympathetic view of people who got caught up in the cult of celebrity that the church has created, but what about the church itself? At this point, making this frankly ludicrous and insane theological practice look sane is a tough order, but if anyone can do it, it’s the guy who spent time with the Westboro Baptists and found reasons to sympathise and feel sorry for them for reasons beyond their pitiful hatred. This is My Scientology Movie.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) - Movie Review

The Mission: Impossible series of films has had a pretty rocky history all things considered, with each instalment seemingly designed specifically to correct an apparent ‘flaw’ with the previous one. When the first MI film’s intricate plot (read: convoluted and fuelled by blind luck) didn’t connect with audiences, rather than iron out the wrinkles and actually create a story that is as intelligent as it thinks it is unlike that film, the writers just threw it all out and made everything blindingly obvious to everyone involved with the sequel. When that fared even worse, J.J. Abrams decided to delve into the realm of self-parody for MI: 3, making fun of the tropes of the series while doing its best to improve in whatever areas it could. Then came Ghost Protocol, and something happened. All of a sudden, the characters, writing, action beats and effects work harmonised with each other to create easily the best installment out of all of them. So, with the directorial seat being switched out once again as per MI tradition, how does today’s film follow up on that surprise success?

Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief (2015) - Movie Review

Scientology is an unfairly marginalised religion that works for the betterment of mankind, and their members are all upstanding moral citizens that do nothing but good for the people.