Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1: Well Tom Cruise has done it one more time. Last summer it was post-pandemic sequel Top Gun Maverick. Adding to his string of watchable, exciting, blockbusters he adds for summer 2023 the seventh installment in the MI Series. It all started, remarkably, back in 1996. The core cast has been there from the beginning include Simon Pegg (as Benji), Ving Rhimes (as Luther) with other pieces that are added from one episode to the next. These are important pieces with various upper levels of the intelligence agency, like Alec Baldwin, or Jeremy Renner, and Henry Czerny who plays Kittridge. Notably for me this series regained some energy with the addition of Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust. She joined in 2015 for episode 5 Rogue Nation. She played a British agent who was in a precarious position of playing both sides between The Syndicate (bad guys) and the UK and US powers that be, including the the clandestine Mission Impossible team.
In more episodes new pieces like Vanessa Kirby (as power broker Alanna) and for this one Hayley Atwell (called Grace in this movie) are added. Each play key roles and add tremendously to the watchability of the story. But let’s be real, this series is about the stunts, the settings, the car chases and technology. This episode has it all, jumping from one heart-pumping scene to another with ease. Of course many of the scenes and the timing will have a viewer role their eyes, but that is the point. This episode also adds some unexpected twists and turns when you are dealing with Artificial Intelligence. This doesn’t give away very much. The rest I won’t detail any further because this is a movie best seen without too many expectations, nor knowledge into where it is going.
After watching, I decided to re-watch the Rogue Nation episode and was surprised to see how closely the two mirrored each other in structure. But of course the basic principles do remain the same. I have to admit that from the beginning I do find the reliance of the face-peeling masks which is ultimately just silly throughout the series more than a bit far fetched. Alison tells me this was a common practice in the original TV series that was not watched by me. But all this to say, find the largest screen you can (I saw in IMAX in a packed theatre) on Tuesday and cannot recommend more highly for 2.5 hours of entertainment. Go see it. Strap in. Have some popcorn if that is your thing. I tip my cap to you Mr Cruise (at 61yo!!!) for what I am sure will line your pockets in ways that are no longer necessary given your previous success! Dead Reckoning Part 2 will be released June 28th, 2024.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3: Moving from one very successful series that adds a memorable, watchable installment we go to a series that, for me, could have stopped after a single episode. Those who read my movie reviews know that I am generally not a superhero movie fan and less a Marvel fan than I am for DC Comics. Query whether the Guardians are really superheroes to begin with? They aren’t really in a strict definition of it, but then again I am not prepared to debate the point. The original movie from 2014 was a surprise hit because it was campy, had new fresh characters and had a really good catchy soundtrack.
Of note, there is a tie in between this movie and Mission Impossible in the cast. Pom Klementieff, who plays Mantis in Guardians (pictured on the far left above) plays Paris in MI7. Also of note I saw that Karen Gillan who plays Nebula (far right pictured above) is not wearing the form fitting clothes from earlier, and earlier films like Jumanji. The online speculation is that she is in real life pregnant. The movie producers have seemed to accommodate her, to their credit.
As for the plot of this movie, we have a lot of backstory to the Bradley Cooper voiced raccoon named Rocket. It’s far more backstory for a talking raccoon that I ever needed to see. But like Rogue Nation where Benji was taken and in trouble, the Guardians stick together and try to help out their own. In some movies it is just done better than others in how it is done. For me I didn’t need to know this and I was overly engaged in it. In short, I don’t care enough about these characters. I cannot recommend seeing this, and for me it was forgotten almost as sokn as the closing credits (including the stay-to-the-end vignette with Chris Pratt addressing a question that I didn’t even consider). So while this movie seemed to come and go in the theatres without much fanfare, it has still grossed $842M worldwide and $358M domestically. Domestically this is third for the year. Behind Super Mario Bros (!!) and Spider Man cartoon. Clearly I am not the targeted audience for movies these days. Apparently, according to the ad I just saw on TV today, that this movie was certified 96% FRESH on Rotten Tomatoes. Certainly I would be part of the 4%, and I cannot imagine (nor need to) are more positive about this movie.
Next on my list of films to see in the theatre will be Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
Ted Lasso: I finally had access to Apple TV and have been able to see some series that I have been meaning to watch. First on the list was the popular Ted Lasso that many feel is a must see. I finished Season 1 and have the following comments. Did I like this? Sure. It is a feel-good type of series with the very likeable Jason Sudekis playing a gosh-gee-willikers southern american football coach that was hired by a British soccer team. Of course he knows nothing about British football, nor does he know anything about British customs or vernacular. He brings with him an assistant coach. He inherits a team of players, and some other employess within the organization.
Most importantly he has a female owner who is newly and most public divorced from the former owner, and she obtained the team as part of the divorce settlement. He is a cad throughout this first season, showing himself time and again in places which serve to antagonize the new owener, who Ted calls “Boss”. Early in episode one Boss admits that she brought Ted on board to fail. Her aim, like many divorced and recently hurt ex-spouses, is to hurt her former partner by destroying something that he cared about. The dynamics between the owner, the coach, the assistants and the players are what the series is about. It is done well. But is this must-see TV?
For me, this is a series that follows in a long line of movies and series like this. The TV series Coach comes immediately to mind with Craig T Nelson as the basketball coach. He had an assistant coach in much the same vein (played by Jerry Van Dyke). Other movies and series would include The Natural, Bad News Bears, The White Shadow, Hoosiers, Black Sunday etc. In each the coach has to mold a team, deal with the characters involved and the season at hand. There are challenges and plenty of sports cliches are used. The one difference with Ted the coach is that he is about team building, honesty, friendship and sportsmanship. He isn’t a win-at-all-cost kind of guy. He remains consistent despite the challenges he and his people endure. This is reflected on a personal level for him as well. I enjoy this. There are some characters that you care about, and hope that they do well. I will look forward to seeing more as Season 2 gets streamed. So far, this has been good.
Mondays With Robbie 