Review: Mission Impossible Fallout

Mission Impossible: Fallout (2D / SPOILERS)
Cert: 12A / 147 mins / Dir. Christopher McQuarrie / Trailer



Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to assess whether Henry Cavill's non-plot-specific facial hair as a new supporting character in the sixth film of an ongoing franchise was really worth making a laughing-stock of history's most iconic superhero*¹. Oh, you didn't think I'd forget, did you Paramount? Hahaha mate, nobody's forgotten…

Anyway, that's all water under the Parisian catacombs now as Tom Cruise's more 'sensible' action-vehicle, Mission: Impossible, roars back into our cinemas for another globe-trotting installment. Old faces return and new ones are thrown into the mix as the stakes are raised and Ethan Hunt has to save the world from twin-nuclear armageddon*² at the hands of a crazed messianic terrorist.

And as jaded/cynical as I've become with the M:I franchise, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a good time with Fallout. On both writing and directing duties, Christopher McQuarrie wears his cinematic heart on his sleeve with nods to other classic movies*³, as well as tying in details from the previous Missions: Impossibles. Despite a massive reference to the first*⁴ movie in the series (presumably a character-downpayment on future episodes), this is a recipe for an action-cake with espionage-icing, rather than the other way around. Although to be fair, that's been the case since John Woo's sequel in 2000, anyway.

Mission Impossible: Fallout is the kind of film where every twist, turn and sleight-of-hand are telegraphed at least five minutes in advance. The kind of film where spies who furtively meet in Paris are required to do so at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. The kind of film where firearms (small and massive alike) have absolutely no recoil, and high speed vehicle crashes are walked away from with a limp which disappears by the next scene. The kind of film where not only is there a ticking-countdown timer ending, but Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames literally mansplain this to their fellow secret-agent, Rebecca Ferguson. The kind of film where, five minutes later, Pegg explains it again. The kind of film where, two minutes later, Rhames feels the need to vocalise to everyone around him that the countdown has now begun (while we're looking at the timer every third shot). The kind of film where the timer becomes a heavy handed metaphor for the entire screenplay.

But it's still fun. Great fun.

Although they're bringing little new to either the series or their own CVs, the cast are on reliably solid form here. They're who you expect them to be, and they're good at that, at least. Cinematographer Rob Hardy ensures Fallout is beautifully shot, although it's arguably far too glossy for its own good. The recurring lensflare and absolute lack of grit serves to remind the audience that they're on a very expensive and ultimately safe ride. Elsewhere, Lorne Balfe's powerful score drops in just the right amount of the classic signature tune, and keeps the action rolling forward.

And Paramount have done that thing where they make a sixth Mission: Impossible movie, and in this one they even have Ethan Hunt mention the UK's foreign intelligence service MI-6, and yet they don't just call it 'MI:6 Fallout'. I'm old enough to remember the Mission: Impossible II cinema foyer-stands which branded it 'MI-2000' (although I never saw this on anything else*⁵). Perhaps Ian Paramount thinks he had his fingers burnt with that one..?

Let's be honest here, the last three Mission: Impossible films.



For sheer, bloody-minded entertainment value alone, yes it is.



As much as I enjoyed Fallout, I think it'll lose a lot on the journey to the small screen.



It's not even the best Mission: Impossible movie.

That said, I do seem to keep going into these not expecting very much, then thoroughly enjoying the flick, then apparently forgetting how much I enjoyed it by the time the next one comes out.

And credit where it's due, Henry Cavill is far, far better here than in that other 60s TV throwback.



Given the glowing buzz I'm currently hearing and my own reservations, that's a possibility.



There isn't.



Level 1: Cartoon Dengar is in this.





*¹ And feel free to discuss among yourselves of course, but the answer is no. No, it wasn't worth that. In fact, while the style itself is the bane of makeup technicians and continuity advisers the world over, Cavill's facial-stubble changes length and density throughout Fallout anyway, often during single scenes. So now two characters look inherently ridiculous because of one moustache. Well played, Paramount… ^{[ BACK ]}

*² "Hey Chris, that idea you had about the nuclear bomb at the end of the film? I watched that American Assassin at the weekend and they had one of them in that."
"…well Terry, we'll fucking well have TWO nuclear bombs then, won't we? Haha! TWO! HAHAHAHA!"
"But you've written in two timed-bombs within about 100 feet of each other. Surely the first one will just set of the second anyway? And why not just make one big one which would have the same effect?
"…fuck off, Terry." ^{[ BACK ]}

*³ Although I'm fully aware that this could just be how my brain works, Fallout opens with a dream-sequence which dares the audience not to think of Sarah Connor's nightmare in Terminator 2. We then move onto what is basically Ozymandias' scheme from the movie-version of Watchmen, facilitated by the stolen plutonium cat-and-mouse from Back To The Future. And if not for the short release-date differential, I'd swear that Ethan grinding the truck to a halt between two walls was a quick nod to the Corellia-chase in Solo. Hell, at one point Ethan's lying in a bed at a medical centre as he looks weakly up at Ilsa and pleads "No, I'm sorry…", and I thought Chris McQuarrie was going to bring us a tension-breaking homage to Shaun of the Dead… ^{[ BACK ]}

*⁴ best ^{[ BACK ]}

*⁵ Seriously though, do I have False Memory Syndrome on this one? I swear to god that the promo-displays in Dreamland Cinema in Margate said "MI-2000", because the Millennium was still a bandwagon thing even six months into the year. And now I can't seem to find any online record of this happening. Did I make this up because I have some sort of pathological need for tacky marketing campaigns which date incredibly badly? ^{[ BACK ]}


DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

Review: Prometheus

Prometheus (2D / fourth-pass)
Cert: 15 / 121 mins / Dir. Ridley Scott / Trailer



And so, Alien Day saw a special screening of Ridley Scott’s two franchise-entries, in advance of his latest, Covenant. First up on the playlist was Prometheus*¹, a film I haven’t watched since it ended its cinematic run in 2012. No agenda behind that, I’ve just been waiting for the director’s cut which hasn’t yet materialised (and probably won’t).

So while I remembered how much I enjoyed Prometheus, I’d forgotten what an amazing cast of character actors it boasts outside of the headliners*². And sure, many of them are only there to do Stupid Horror Movie Things™ before buying the farm, but it makes for a great watch all the same.

The film's still got issues, of course, and the intervening years have not been kind to the exposition-heavy script and total lapses of screenplay-logic. But it’s not often I can go back to a movie I’ve left fallow for five years and enjoy it every bit as much.

Also, I like that the Engineers control their starships using six boiled eggs and a flute. That's the future, right there.

The Aliens.



If you can, do.



Probably nowhere near as well as intended, but yes.



Nah.



No, I've been disagreeing with people about this film for five years now.



Not that I heard.



Level 2: Rafe Spall's in this, and he starred in that I Give It A Year with Rose 'Dormé' Byrne.

Although in related news, the crew of the Prometheus contains Aldrich Killian from Iron Man 3, Heimdall from Thor, Wong from Doctor Strange and of course Magneto. You'd expect a team with those members to fare a little better, frankly...





*¹ Given that Prometheus is a prequel, it makes absolute sense to show it first in a double-bill of course. However, as the “new” content of the Alien Superticket deal takes place between the two existing movies (and is being saved 'til last for screening in May), it would make more sense to show the films in their release order, surely? It’s not like Alien follows on immediately from Prometheus, in the same way that you wouldn’t go from The Phantom Menace to A New Hope (especially if you were awaiting the release of Attack of the Clones). More on this in my accompanying Alien review. ^{[ BACK ]}

*² Although while I hadn’t forgotten that Prometheus is one of the few occasions where Michael Fassbender’s accent is actually under control, it had slipped my mind that the Fauxmerican drawl of Idris Elba is absolutely atrocious. I guess Ridley can’t be expected to steer two ships at once, right? ^{[ BACK ]}


DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

Review: Macbeth

Macbeth
Cert: 15 / 113 mins / Dir. Justin Kurzel / Trailer



STURGICALLY REMOVED!
McACTORS TAKE THE HIGH ROAD.
Scotland's Thespians Recalled by Parliament Following Referendum Snub...

In an audacious blow to the British film industry, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has recalled all Scotch actors not currently overseas to the north-side of The Wall.

Following the anniversary of the SNP's referendum defeat, a faintly downcast Sturgeon decided that England could cast its own bloody Caledonian characters, if it thinks it's so bloody easy.

Crucially, the ruling doesn't apply to the likes of Ewan McGregor and Gerard Butler, the majority of whose undemanding work comes via the Hollywood studio system, and who send their muckle pay back home to relatives in the top half of the British Isles.

SCOTCH
"If you're going to shoot The Scotch Film outside an English castle, you can fucking well whistle if you think we're going to stump up James McAvoy or David Tennant for it," Sturgeon thundered, sitting on a bench outside Hollyrood Palace in Edinburgh. "Hey, why not use Paddy Considine from Staffordshire, and David Thewlis from Lancashire, eh? They should have no trouble at all pulling the accent off! In fact, I'm sure that's exactly what yon Wullie Shakespeare envisioned, the bleddy Sassenach…"

Despite a number of renegade Scotch character actors defying the bill and playing smaller, supporting roles in the production, the subsequent casting of two French actresses, one American and three English actors to play the film's principally Scotch characters caused the predicted amount of consternation within the industry.

DUCK
Further controversy arose when German/Irish thespian Michael Fassbender was added to the roster in the lead role. In a statement from the front steps of RADA in London last week, Fassbender assured the press and fans alike that the majority of his speech for The Scotch Film is in a register so low and gruff that he adopts His Film Voice™ which, whilst technically English, is devoid of nationality until involved in any conversational dialogue, after which point it's Fassbender As Usual™.

The new film's Australian director, Justin Kurzel, was less than fazed by the reaction. "Traditionally, those Scotch Lairds and the like were all sent to England for a private education anyway, which is why they had English accents like Richard Briers did in 'Monarch Of The Glen'. In our adaptation of the story, we'll just say that Ian Macbeth's private school was situated equidistantly between Dublin and Los Angeles. And Delhi."

DOOBIE
Famously, Fassbender is restricted with a voice-over ban until 2021 after being charged with failing to control an accent in a built-up screenplay during Matthew Vaughn's 2011 X-Men sequel.

"We've trademarked the word 'Scotland' as well," Sturgeon added, "…so good luck!"

In terms of cinematic spectacle, absolutely. The real reason for that largely sarcastic-sounding review above is that I just don't have too much to say about it. I'm really not a fan of Shakespeare (largely because of the dialogue, not the stories themselves), and had to swot-up on Macbeth beforehand, a precaution which served me well.

But this is much, much more than a play which has been fed through the Weinstein's screenplay machine. This is a full thematic adaptation, more film than play but still firmly rooted in the source-text. Macbeth looks utterly fantastic, almost like an art installation with a story being performed around it.



Scholars of The Bard will want to buy this and analyse the connection with its parent-work (and the areas where it stands on its own feet). For the rest, a rental should suffice.



The film is fantastically acted, even if the accents are all over the shop (although rarely in Scotland, funnily enough).



As noted above, it's difficult for me to tell if the themes of the play are transcribed accurately (I know some have certainly been re-interpreted).
But going with my instinct, I'd say yes.



Nope.



Unless it's been well-buried in the opening battle-scene, no.



Marion Cotillard appeared in 2003's Big Fish, as did Ewan 'Kenobi' McGregor.
Who is Scotch.







DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.

• Yes, I know it's 'Scottish' and not 'Scotch', thanks. Except that a) That there Rabbie Burns used to use the word 'Scotch', and he was more Scottish than Ian Braveheart swigging a cocktail of Buckie and Irn Bru at the top of Arthur's Seat whilst hurling foul-mouthed insults in the direction of Berwick, and b) My use of the term 'Scotch', much like the rest of this review, is not intended to be taken seriously. The focus point of any joke here is not the Scottish people, rather the notable absence of them in the film's major roles, and the fact that the castle used for the central location is in England. 'The Scottish Play', indeed. Oh, and Michael Fassbender's accent (again).
So by all means leave that indignant missive in the Comments-section, but I assure you there's no need ;)

• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.

• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

Review: Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
Cert: 12A / 131 mins / Dir. Christopher McQuarrie / Trailer



It's an odd thing, flipping back to the review of the previous M:I movie and realising that I evidently enjoyed it far more than my memory suggests. It was this perceived lukewarm reaction which had led to me being resolutely not-fussed about its successor.

When the Impossible Mission Force is simultaneously shut down by the CIA and compromised by a shadowy collective known as The Syndicate, Ethan Hunt has to regroup his trusted friends to try and discover the truth - if the truth can even be said to exist. Boundaries will be broken, bonds will be tested, cars will be exploded and The Girl One™ will go diving in her vest and pants; yes, it can only be Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation*¹!

First things first: the film is a lot of fun. Utterly preposterous fun, but you know that's intentional and it's better for not taking itself too seriously, no matter how many frowns the characters pull. Tom Cruise is on great form playing Tom Cruise™, and is ably assisted by Jeremy Renner, Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg*² doing likewise (playing themselves, not playing Tom Cruise. That would be weird). Rebecca Ferguson gets a relatively good spin of the wheel (for a film of this genre) as a double/triple agent, and Sean Harris is fantastic as ever but seems to have based his bad-guy persona almost entirely on Mr Lovebucket from Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door.

The film's editing (particularly in the action sequences) is marvellous, and director Christopher McQuarrie gets the cast to work together well. It also feels like Rogue Nation has the most coherent story in the series since John Woo's second installment; quite happy to be a self-contained espionage-thriller that hints obliquely at real-world politics, but is really just a delivery-method for bike chases and hanging off a plane. The film jets around the globe for its set-pieces spending, once again, a significant amount of time in London (although the plot dictates that, to be fair). Oh, and Piccadilly/Soho is never that quiet. Not ever.

Every bit as enjoyable as it is disposable, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation knows what it needs to deliver and has no difficulty in achieving it.
I've stepped in deeper puddles, but that's not the point here ;)

Oh, and I know that people variously refer to USB storage devices as 'memory sticks', 'thumb drives' and 'flash drives', but no-one calls them "disks" apart from old fogeys who don't know how their computers work.

Is that you, Ethan Hunt? Is it? Phoning your children on a Sunday afternoon because you went to 'clear out your cookies' and accidentally uninstalled Windows?

If you like 'em big and loud, it is.



It'll be one to buy, but once it's dropped in price a little.



With the best will in the world, there's really nothing new here on the performance-front.



It does.



I won't.



There isn't.



The film stars Simon 'Dengar in The Clone Wars' Pegg.







*¹ Oh, and fair play Paramount. You've made a fifth Mission: Impossible movie whose plot involves the British Secret Service, yet completely resisted the temptation to name the film 'MI:5 - Rogue Nation'. Well done on your restraint, I suppose?

*² Although as a later-addition to the franchise's ever-expanding cast, whose primary role is to 'bring the humour and bumbling' in a voice different to everyone else's, it's ironic that Simon Pegg is essentially the Jar Jar Binks of the Mission: Impossible movies. Delightful, but ironic. I still like him as a comedic-actor, but I feel that's worth pointing out.


DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

Review: '71

'71
Cert: 15 / 99 mins / Dir. Yann Demange




Every so often, a film comes along which is in equal parts compelling and harrowing, which enthralls you utterly but also beats you into submission. By no means a film which you'll want to watch on a weekly basis, but a one which will stay with you and that you know will require another viewing. When you've got the strength. Requiem For A Dream is one of those films, as is Harry Brown. This year, it's '71.

The story of a young relatively inexperienced British soldier, Gary Hook, deployed to Belfast in 1971, when violent tensions between Irish unionist and nationalist factions were at a critical head. Separated from his unit on a routine callout, Hook finds himself seemingly abandoned in the heartland of an area which doesn't take kindly to the sight of a British army uniform, and it will take all of his resources just to stay alive…

Actually, I've made that sound far more Hollywood than it actually is. Despite Jack O'Connell clearly being the film's protagonist, the film focuses as much on the events surrounding him as it does his continued survival, and this is a war story without heroes (but plenty of victims - on all sides). I don't pretend to know anything about the troubles, and if anything the film only makes the situation clearer by illustrating that it's much more complicated than having two sides at each other's throats. While I'm sure there'll be differing opinions on this, the film I saw tells its story without taking sides, instead focusing on the bleakness of the whole situation.

That's not to say the war is depicted as pointless, but the end-goal of the conflict certainly seems as unreachable as any happy ending would be. '71 is one of the few films I've seen where the use of handheld cameras feels like a natural choice, as it only intensifies the sense of general noise, confusion and desperation. The desolate streets, pubs and houses*¹ are filmed with a yellowing wash which evokes the past without nostalgia, and the film's wardrobe and makeup departments capture the era perfectly without going full Life On Mars*². The only thing which struck me as odd was the lack of bite in the gunfire sound effects (of which there are plenty), considering how many of them occur in 'close quarters'. This could be an artistic choice to help the audience focus on the narrative, or to demonstrate how desensitised the characters are to the sound of gunfire, but the guns then become one of the least provocative aspects in the film. Like I said, odd.

In terms of performance, everyone brings their A-game here, with Jack O'Connell leading as only he can, bringing a sort of hardened-naivety to his role. It's essential that the audience is rooting for Hook, but not to the point where the other characters don't matter, and the cast pull this off fantastically under Yann Demange's direction. As great as he is in this, I think O'Connell's best work is still to come, and I look forward to seeing which roles he chooses after films like '71 and Starred Up. Also singling themselves out for praise among the ensemble are Corey McKinley as the funniest, sweariest 12 yr old loyalist you'll see on film this year (probably ever), and Barry Keoghan as the emotionally turbulent, but blank-faced nationalist-in-training, Sean. Both actors bring an intensity to their roles which, like O'Connell's, are bolstered by a level of innocence which the older members of the cast don't have at their disposal.

While I can't personally vouch for the historical detail or thematic accuracy of '71, the film moved me like few others have done recently, and has a violent urgency which demands a viewer's attention without being needlessly provocative. While I'd recommend the film to anyone, I know that it's not intended to be universally loved, even though it asks its questions without judging or moralising.

'71 is a bleak powerhouse of a film. Film-of-the-year material, and I don't say that lightly.

Yes. Nails it in one.



I did. Mostly gasping and crying, to be fair.



From where I'm sitting, undoubtedly.



The cinema release for this film is small, but catch it as and where you can.



I won't, largely because some people will find it too much, and for various reasons.



I will.



There isn't. Which is okay as despite the amount of screaming in the film, it would feel a little out of place.

In the bit where Private Hook is hiding in the outside toilet for several hours to evade being shot, how come none of the householders needed the loo? There's washing on the line in the yard remember, so people are living at the house, and toilet paper on the holder so the alfresco cubicle is in use.

*¹ If the film's Wiki page is anything to go by, the streets used in the film are in Blackburn rather than Belfast. And I don't know if it's commendable that the production crew didn't want to stir tensions in Belfast by re-creating traumatic times-past, or more worrying that the streets of Blackburn are so easily transformable into a 20th century war-zone.
*² Not that I'm slagging off Life On Mars, but if the TV series' "do you remember" rhetoric of flared trousers and wide-collar shirts is akin to the act of Peter Kay, then '71 is closer to the tone of Doug Stanhope or Jerry Sadowitz.

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.