MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT (Malaysia, 26 Jul 2018)

Genre: Action / Thriller

Running Length: 2:27

Cast: Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Henry Cavill, Michelle Monaghan, Vanessa Kirby, Angela Bassett, Sean Harris, Alec Baldwin

Director: Christopher McQuarrie 

Screenplay: Christopher McQuarrie, based on the television series by Bruce Geller 

What’s this movie about? 

In MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his IMF team join forces with CIA assassin August Walker (Cavill) to race against time to prevent three nuclear warheads from being detonated by an evil organization called The Apostles.

In the process, the mission becomes complicated as the team gets entangled with a mysterious woman named “White Widow” (Kirby), former ally Ilsa Faust (Ferguson) and arch-enemy from the last movie Rogue Nation, Solomon Lane (Harris).

Highlights!

• The white-knuckle action sequences. The M:I franchise started out as a thriller and have now morphed into this full-on relentlessly-paced action adventure.  All the action scenes are meticulously planned from the halo jump to the final OMG! WTF! crazy helicopter chase scene. My favourite one is the motorcycle chase scene in Paris - I was like on the edge of my seat!
• The camera work.  The tourist location stunts especially of Tom running and jumping from one rooftop to another is clean and breathtaking. No green screen shaky camera BS. 
• Tom Cruise. You know he brought his A game and wasn’t phoning in. Every run, every leap, every punch, every fall and every climb = 100% Tom Cruise.

 

Lowlights 

• The story. It’s nothing new. We have seen this plot many times before. 
• The score. Nothing really memorable here. It was actually distracting especially the earlier action scenes. They need not dramatize it with a score where it’s already breath-taking enough. It was an overkill (except the motorcycle chase scene where a score was absent – that’s probably why that sequence was much more effective). 
• No real danger. Yes, there are suspenseful moments but at the back of my mind, I knew everything will be ok. That’s why I still preferred the first Mission: Impossible - it was designed to be a thriller first, the action came in thereafter. In that movie, there was that tensed and "quiet" iconic cable-dangling backflip moment. In Fallout, it is just loud balls-to-the-wall action. 

In summary 

The 2.5 hours of non-stop action can be exhausting and draining. If they shaved off 20 to 25 mins, the film could be a much tighter experience. Nevertheless, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT is probably the best action blockbuster this year. 

Rating: 8/10

THE BOSS BABY (2017)

Genre: Animated
Running Length: 1:37
Cast (Voices): Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi, Jimmy Kimmel, Lisa Kudrow, Tobey Maguire, Miles Christopher Bakshi
Director: Tom McGrath
Screenplay: Michael McCullers based on the book The Boss Baby by Marla Frazee

When the trailer to THE BOSS BABY first dropped, it didn't really appeal to me. But I went on to watch it anyway hoping the entire movie would be a much better experience. But alas, compared to the other Dreamworks Animation productions, it wasn't as clever as How To Train Your Dragon series or as entertaining as The Kung Fu Panda trilogy.

In terms of animation style, it is closer to Sing. And both relies heavily on kids kind of humour (read: there are some laughs but not terribly funny). But the difference is that Sing had this one major unexpected scene in Act 3 which made me burst out in spontaneous laughter. And thereafter, the movie just got better and better up to the rousing finale. Wheres, The Boss Baby didn't have any of such surprises.

Plot wise, when a briefcase-carrying, suit-wearing little baby arrives at seven-year-old Tim’s home, his life changed forever. No longer he's the centre of attention with the arrival of his baby broooooother. Tim who has an outrageous and over active imagination, then starts plotting a way to get rid of the new addition. But somewhere in the middle of the movie, Tim and his little "Boss" brother managed to put their differences aside to work out a win-win agreement (ahem..corporate lingo).

Yeah, it sounds rather simple but yet complicated at the same time because in this universe, babies are not born but manufactured at Baby Corp (Storks did a much better job at this, plus it's OTT LOL funny). To be fair, there are some things that this movie did well such as casting Alec Baldwin (in full SNL President Trump mode) as the titular character. He is perfectly enjoyable here. And there are some beautifully rendered sequences of Tim's imagination. As mentioned, there are laughs and some heart in there but it's few and far between.

RATING: 5.5/10 

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION (2015)

Genre: Action/Thriller
Running Length: 2:11
Cast:  Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Screenplay: Christopher McQuarrie

Watching any of the Mission: Impossible films (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION being the 5th outing from the franchise) is like watching an episode of The Road Runner cartoons. No matter how outrageous the traps are (set by The Coyote), The Road Runner will never fall into it. Similarly, no matter how dangerous the situations are thrown at Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt, we know at the back of our mind he will somehow survive it. There is a sense of predictability that Ethan Hunt/The Road Runner will always win. So, the fun is actually seeing how our hero creatively overcomes each "trap" without being caught.

Just like the previous Mission, the storyline often feels insignificant as the focus is on the action set pieces. The plot checks all its trademark boxes; exotic locations, shifting alliances, megalomaniac villains, but this round, the wall to wall action sequences are amped-up to 11. The hanging Tom Cruise by the plane sequence (seen in the trailer and posters) would be the most daring stunt, but the other scenes offered are more intense; the Nessun Dorma drama, the breathtaking underwater complication, the relentless motorcycle chase and the final confrontation. What works in these sequences is its little reliance on CGI and Tom Cruise going full Jackie Chan as a one-man stunt machine. So there is a sense of real danger and tension.

What also worked in this film is Rebecca Ferguson's character. She is no damsel in distress. In fact, she does more rescuing than being rescued. And I'm glad the filmmakers did not over sexualised the relationship between Cruise and her. I'm also glad that Simon Pegg has meatier scenes this round.

Although the tone is predominantly serious, there is enough humour and silliness to keep Rogue Nation as a solid piece of popcorn entertainment. That's all folks!

Rating: 7/10