Mission: Impossible -The Final Reckoning (2025)

Let me tell you how old I am. I'm old enough to remember when Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning was titled Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One. I loved it, and I didn't even think about the problems that might be lying ahead for those aiming to satisfyingly complete the one grand action epic that could serve as a jewel in the crown of the series. Unfortunately, there were problems. Not only did the film not perform as well as expected, it was stuck with a weak human villain and a ridiculous non-human obstacle to be overcome.

I still had faith though. Of course I did. Tom Cruise has enjoyed taking things to another level in his successful working relationship with writer-director Christopher McQuarrie (writing once again with Erik Jendresen for this adventure).

I don't want to spend too much time on the plot. It feels needlessly complex, but it's actually quite simple. Ethan Hunt (Cruise) needs to get the gang back together. That gang now comprises of Luther (Ving Rhames), Benji (Simon Pegg), Grace (Hayley Atwell), Paris (Pom Klementieff), and one or two other familiar faces. The latest mission is the same as it was in the first part of this two-parter, despite the title change and exposition dump at the start of this film. Gabriel (Esai Morales) needs to be apprehended, and the dangerous AI, still stupidly referred to as The Entity, needs to be stopped. Time is running out though, and The Entity will very soon be able to wipe out humanity once it has control of every major nuclear weapon facility.

I'm going to be quite negative about this, but I should clarify now that there are moments here that are fantastic. Two set-pieces make this worth seeing on the big screen. It's just a shame that they're the only real set-pieces in a film that clocks in at a hefty 169 minutes. I would argue that it feels as if a whole hour is spent reminding viewers of highlights from the past movies in the series, giving too much screentime to big names who add nothing worthwhile to the proceedings, and having the title repeated over and over again, as well as a mantra about everything being the sum of numerous choices made throughout an entire life. The second half really delivers though, with the long-awaited submarine sequence and the heavily-advertised aeroplane antics giving us the death-defying Cruise stuntwork that has become a staple of the series.

The biggest problem here is the screenplay. McQuarrie and Jendresen seem to have no handle on the pacing, the tone, or how to weave the exposition and character moments in between fun thrills and great dialogue exchanges. It's odd to think of how well they succeeded with the previous instalment, because this feels like the antithesis of that. I almost lost patience and swore at the screen when one scene played out for the sole purpose of letting characters appear, nod knowingly at others, and then disappear again. 

I suppose Cruise is fine, although he struggles with the constant weight being put on his shoulders (both onscreen and generally, in my view, battling against his advancing years). Atwell and Pegg are given some really good moments, and both do well, while Rhames becomes the strong heart of the group. Klementieff does better with the action than she does with the character development, and Morales remains one of the worst villains that the series has given us, although he has more fun this time around than he did in the last film. Henry Czerny remains fantastic as Kittridge, Shea Whigham is shown to have an intriguing connection to some past events, and Angela Bassett must have been delighted with the journey of her character, Erika Sloane, since first appearing in Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Nick Offerman has at least one good moment, which is more than I can say for Hannah Waddingham and Tramell Tillman, but the real shining stars of the supporting cast turn out to be Rolf Saxon and Lucy Tulugarjuk, the former given what I think could be the most intriguing and wonderful journey of any character to have featured in these movies.

Despite not being up there with the best that he's done before, McQuarrie directs the action well enough when it happens, once again helped by cinematographer Fraser Taggart and editor Eddie Hamilton, there's an undeniable appeal to the bombastic and rousing score (that theme tune has served every composer well over the years, I hope everyone involved remembered to give thanks to Lalo Schifrin), and everyone works hard (perhaps too hard) to deliver something consistent with the continuity and aesthetic of the IMF world as we've come to know it over the years.

If you have enjoyed these movies over the years then you should head out to see this on the big screen. Everyone involved deserves what should be seen as a celebratory, if a bit self-indulgent, swansong for these movies, or these movies being fully planned around Cruise anyway. And viewers are equally deserving of having one more opportunity to enjoy spending time with these characters, and being able to bid them a fond farewell. 

It's just a shame that it wasn't better. The first half hour or so feels like a clunky straight-to-streaming movie, the excessive callbacks and winks feel like McQuarrie and co. were scared into delivering something intent on keeping fans happy a la Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, and a lot of viewers might grow impatient as they wait for what could have been called A Hunt For Red October. When that is happening onscreen though, it's tense and awesome and enough to make you temporarily forget how often you were just wondering whether or not this could take the lowest position in any ranked list of the M:I movies.

6/10

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Mubi Monday: Malcolm X (1992)

The more films I watch, or rewatch, from Spike Lee, the more I am inclined to shout at everyone around me about him being one of the most sadly under-appreciated master directors of modern cinema. I'm not saying that every film he does works, and there are many elements that you can dissect and argue over in even his best films, but, more often than not, the man knows how to make his points. That sometimes means bringing the film to an end with a number of people addressing the viewer directly in a plea for them to understand the point, to empathise with long-held grievances against social injustices and racism that are, despite being given some modern alterations, just as painful today as they have been decades ago.

Malcolm X is a biopic of the titular figure, but it's also so much more than that. It's a celebration of a man who had his fair share of problems, and it's another scorching statement from Lee on the need to accept human flaws when those humans end up working hard to embolden and progress people who have spent too many years abused and held down.

Denzel Washington takes on the title role, and he delivers a performance that may well be the best he's ever delivered. If you're at all familiar with his work then you'll know that is no slight compliment. Malcolm X is shown from the earliest scenes to be a charming and magnetic presence. He's also shown to be a bit of a criminal, and quite fearless about it. This puts him in the orbit of West Indian Archie (Delroy Lindo), but also eventually puts him in prison. That's when his life starts to change, eventually, and he grows more fully into the man that would make such an impact on the African American community, and a major impact on the life of Betty Shabazz (Angela Bassett).

It’s hard to be even-handed in praising Malcolm X, as it is hard to be even-handed with so many other Lee films that feel unfairly forgotten or neglected nowadays. Is this his masterpiece? Maybe. It’s definitely a strong contender, and the only reason I cannot rate it here and now as his very best is due to the quality of his output throughout his career. It’s certainly not perfect, but that feels nicely in alignment with the imperfect figure at the centre of it.

Everyone onscreen is doing great work, which is to be expected when you read through the cast list, but even the brilliant Lindo and Bassett are overshadowed by the brilliance of Washington here. It doesn’t unbalance the film though, and is no criticism of their performances. It is exactly how it should be, considering the power this man had over so many others, and the energy he could pass along to motivate others.

The pacing is the only main issue I have with this, but it’s easy to see why Arnold Perl and Lee would have a problem deciding what to leave out of any screenplay adaptation of the autobiography of Malcolm X. I am happy that they tried to give us too much as opposed to not nearly enough.

Like so many other Lee features, this is riveting, passionate, angry, intelligent, and quick to underline major problems that continue to affect people every single day. I am sure that it’s not a coincidence that the same words could be used to describe Malcolm X himself.

9/10

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Netflix And Chill: Damsel (2024)

With a cast that includes Millie Bobby Brown, Ray Winstone, Angela Bassett, Robin Wright, and Shohreh Aghdashloo, and with Juan Carlos Fresnadillo in the director's chair, I went into Damsel with as much optimism as I could muster. That was tough though. The trailer didn't really win me over, and all of the reviews seemed to be fairly harsh. Sadly, most people who saw this before me were correct to warn others away from it. It's not good.

Brown plays Elodie, a young woman who is handed over by her father and stepmother (Lord and Lady Bayford, played by Winstone and Bassett) to be married to Prince Henry (Nick Robinson). This will end the money problems for the area ruled over by the Bayfords, but the marriage is not intended to last. It's not long until Elodie discovers that she is to be used as a sacrifice to appease a giant dragon (voiced by Aghdashloo). She's determined to fight back and survive though.

Despite already hearing a lot of negative talk about this, I hoped for something that might subvert some fantasy adventure movie tropes and allow Brown to be a badass able to draw on her courage and intelligence to face off against a terrifying enemy. That's not what writer Dan Mazeau is interested in though, and I should have known the screenplay would be a major weak spot, considering the previous two movies that he worked on. The problem with Damsel is summed up in a scene when the dragon compliments Elodie on being smart enough to stay quiet while it is trying to locate her, immediately followed by a sequence in which it seems as if our lead character makes as much noise as possible while trying to stay alive. Seriously, I wondered if it was going to tip over into parody at this point.

Director Fresnadillo isn't working at anywhere close to his best, hampered by a script that doesn't have enough substance to it and poor cinematography from Larry Fong (who may, in turn, blame others for leaving him stuck with little more than dark caves and tunnels to try and make interesting onscreen). The lighting is too low for most of the runtime, although I will say that things are much better in the scenes that AREN'T set in the dragon's lair, and this has a smothering effect on almost every other department.

Things could have been saved if the cast worked though. I think me saying that already indicates further disappointment though. Brown isn't engaging enough in the lead role, unhelped by a script that only seems interested in building up to different moments and lines of dialogue that are ultimately underwhelming, and Winstone, Bassett, and Wright are all sorely underused. The highlight is Aghdashloo, her unmistakable voice used brilliantly to realise a sly and fierce creature that is equally well-realised visually by the computer programmers working on the VFX.

Not helped by the fact that the few decent moments will remind most viewers of a very popular animated franchise, Damsel is a disappointing and unexciting trudge through familiar territory made by people who seem to think they are delivering something clever and subversive.

3/10

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Netflix And Chill: Wendell & Wild (2022)

Another stop-motion animated movie from director Henry Selick (who also helmed such greats as The Nightmare Before Christmas, James And The Giant Peach, and Coraline, as well as Monkeybone . . . but we don't mention Monkeybone), Wendell & Wild feels a step removed from his previous features thanks to a more diverse cast and an excuse to reunite Key and Peele onscreen (even if it's only in voice form, of course). Unfortunately, it's also not as good as most of the titles I just mentioned (except Monkeybone . . . but we don't mention Monkeybone).

Kat is a troubled teen, having blamed herself for years for the death of her parents. Moving from one place to the next, with trouble often not far away, Kat finally ends up at a school very close to the small town where she used to live in happier times. Wanting nothing more than her parents brought back to life, Kat ends up being tricked by two demons, Wendell (Keegan-Michael Key) and Wild (Jordan Peele), who want to enter the world of the living and try out their plan to raise the dead with some very powerful hair restorer. There's also a pair of schemers trying to keep their part in a deadly chapter in history hidden, which could become tougher when the dead start to rise, and Kat may find herself equally in danger from the undead and the living.

I'm not sure why this doesn't work as well as other Selick features, but it seems to lack something truly magical and impressive. The detailing is often as lovely as you'd expect, but there also seems to be no connective tissue between the land of the living and the land of the dead, with each one feeling like it stays in whatever snowglobe-like environment is required for each main scene. The tone is also disappointingly wobbly, neither macabre nor amusing enough, and it feels weird that Key and Peele are used here (Peele having also helped to write the screenplay) without making the most of their talents. Perhaps the problems come from the source material, it's based on a book by Selick and Clay McLeod Chapman, or maybe it needs more than one watch to pick up on more of the lovely production design and character developments. Maybe it needed a better score from Bruno Coulais to lend stronger support to the visuals. I would rewatch this, but it won't ever be too high on my list of priorities.

Ross is a very good lead, Key and Peele are a bit muted, but fun, and it's great to hear Angela Bassett, James Hong, Ving Rhames, David Harewood, and Maxine Peake in main roles, every one a great actor also able to deliver a great vocal performance. Sam Zelaya and Tamara Smart are also very good, playing two other teenagers important to the plot, alongside Seema Virdi and Ramona Young in supporting roles.

I cannot dismiss this as a bad film, and it's more entertaining and inventive than dozens of other movies aimed at younger viewers, but it's near the bottom of the pile when compared to similar stop-motion features presenting macabre elements in a child-friendly way.

6/10

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Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)

The first feature directed by Navot Papushado without sharing those duties with Aharon Keshales( the two made quite an impact with their first two films, Rabies and Big Bad Wolves), Gunpowder Milkshake is a well-paced and fairly enjoyable action movie that boasts an excellent cast and some fun fights. It suffers in comparison to many other films that have been released in recent years though, ending up as something ultimately too insubstantial to be anything more than disposable fun.

Karen Gillan is Sam, a talented assassin who, as so often happens, ends up becoming a target when a job goes slightly awry. We find this out after watching some backstory showing us that her mother (Lena Headey) was an equal shining star in the same profession. Sam ends up looking after a young girl (Emily, played by Chloe Coleman), and she needs to enlist some help, in the form of weaponry and more assassins, to have even half a chance of staying alive for more beyond the next 24 hours.

I like pretty much everyone in this film. I'm saying that now because I think that's why I ended up liking this as much as I did, despite the clunky editing and ridiculousness undermining most of the set-pieces. Gillan is good in the lead role, and she looks capable enough while fighting off numerous enemies. Headey is equally talented, and the fact that she's never been given a lead film role worthy of her considerable talent is always bemusing to me. I would have been happy enough if Gillan and Headey were the two characters kicking ass here, but they're joined, albeit all-too-briefly, by Carla Gugino, Angela Bassett, and Michelle Yeoh. That's a hell of a selection of badass women, which boosts the movie, but also makes things slightly disappointing when sequences don't feel planned around their star power. Michael Smiley is fun in his supporting role, and Paul Giamatti adds another entertaining baddie to his rogue's gallery of villainous characters. Coleman just has to look young, cute, and vulnerable, and she does that perfectly well.

Having spent that much time listing, and praising, the cast, it's a shame that I can't find a lot of positives elsewhere. Papushado's direction is disappointingly straightforward, and the script, co-written by Papushado and Ehud Lavski, feels a bit too lacking in confidence (it's unsurprising to see this as a first feature from Lavski). The violence never seems truly threatening and the quirky comedy is clumsily shoehorned in, making you wish that the film would either ramp up the action or strive for more comedy, as opposed to positioning itself awkwardly between the two.

Technically, everything else is fine. Not great, not awful. Just fine. Nicholas De Toth may not do his best editing work, but it's in line with standard action movies that don't have the choreography and fluidity of the recent high points of the genre, and there's decent enough production design, music, etc. to keep everything simple, clear, and moving along at a good pace to make the 114-minute runtime go by quickly enough. Ironically, considering the two movies share Giamatti in a bad guy role, this might pair up nicely with the whackier Shoot 'Em Up. That film had the confidence to revel in some moments of inspired lunacy, however. This film, with one brilliant highlight that stands out as notable exception, doesn't.

6/10

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Critters 4 (1992)

Look, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that the fourth movie in the Critters series is as good as all the rest, especially when it makes the inevitable choice to set the majority of the action in space, but it's still nowhere near the lows you can find in many other low-budget sequels.

The opening scenes of the movie are the moments that were interspersed throughout the end credits of Critters 3, with Charlie (Don Keith Opper) being informed that he cannot destroy the last of the krites. This leads to him being frozen and stored with some krite eggs, maintained in stasis in a spacecraft for over fifty years. Eventually collected by a salvage ship, the krites set about doing what they do best, all while a crew bicker about the best course of action as they try to stay alive.

Very much riffing on the best-known sci-fi horror populated by a space crew of blue-collar workers, Critters 4 makes good use of everything it has going for it, which is mainly some decent production design stretching every dollar for the sets and a great cast. Filmed at the same time as part three, it's nice to watch something with decent continuity that doesn't have to tie itself in knots to keep stretching the central idea through more movies.

David J. Schow returns to the writing duties, assisted this time by Joseph Lyle, and it's all competently put together. The characters could have done with a bit more to them, it's clear that the intent is to show a group of people who work together without necessarily all liking one another, but they're all given enough room to breathe before they start to be endangered by the critters. Rupert Harvey, a producer on many of the movies in the series, directs with an equal amount of competence, if also a disappointing lack of creativity or flair (although this isn't a series known for flair).

But never mind who is behind the camera, with respect to everyone who came together to make this happen, just check out the cast. Opper may be one of the few people to have made it through every movie in this quartet, and he's fine in his role, but this time around you also get Anders Hove, Brad Dourif, and Angela goddam Bassett. There are other people onscreen, but the best moments involve Brad Dourif or Angela goddam Bassett being very Brad Dourify or Angela goddam Bassett-y.

To be completely honest with myself, this is a very average film. You never feel that the stakes are high, there aren't any great set-pieces, and even the comedy moments don't happen often enough to make it worthwhile. But with that cast in place, and in comparison to many other films of this type, it still manages to be worth your time. Especially if you want to enjoy and finish the main story arc.

6/10

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Soul (2020)

Jamie Foxx plays Joe, a music teacher who regrets the fact that he never managed to pursue his love of jazz fully enough to make it a career. He lives and breathes jazz, and when playing his heart out we get to see him go into the zone. But everything might change when he's given the chance to play for the legendary Dorothea Williams (Angela Bassett). Which is when he dies. And that really puts a spanner in the works. Working his way through the afterlife, the soul of Joe teams up with the soul of someone just named 22 (Tina Fey) for a plan that may benefit both of them. 22 doesn't really want to go down to Earth and start life, Joe wants to get back. If they swap places then everything might work out. But it's not going to be that simple, of course.

Despite the love I have seen heaped upon this film, and despite the fact that this is the first Pixar movie with an African American protagonist, Soul is yet another Pixar movie that is simply okay. They seem to have plateaued for a while now, with both this and Onward being technically wonderful animated movies that lack something in the plotting department. This is better than Onward, it has something at the heart of it that feels a bit less cynical and more worthwhile as a life lesson, but it just doesn't quite come together fully. There are times when this feels very Fantasia-like, times when it will remind you of Inside Out, and times when it is overshadowed by the live-action movies it was so obviously inspired by (It's A Wonderful Life being a key touchstone). It's a shame that there are very few times when it is just able to entertain and wow viewers while being itself. The fact that the best moments accompany the times when Joe is playing his beloved jazz music is telling.

Pete Docter and Kemp Powers do a good job with the directing duties, having also worked on the script with Mike Jones, and there's an obvious feeling that every scene has been crafted with great care and affection. It's no great return to form for Pixar though, largely due to the fact that the third act fumbles things when it could have done so much better. It was interesting to me that 22 was initially supposed to be the main character, and then they created and developed Joe as the guide to life on Earth, because that indecision is clear when you get to the resolution (or lack of resolution) for the two leads.

Foxx and Fey both do well in their roles, with the former hitting a particular sweet spot as someone who has spent a lot of his life ineffectively trying to control his enthusiasm for jazz music. It's strange to hear Graham Norton pop up, but his role is a good one, and his voice does suit it, but the cast is also filled out by the likes of Rachel House, Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, and Phylicia Rashad. Although she may not say much, Bassett once again reigns supreme as the cool Dorothea, and she's a welcome addition to any film, even if it's just her voice.

Soul is a good film, and it's a real treat for Disney+ subscribers to have access to it immediately, without any extra charge to watch it. There are times when it is a very good film. I just wish we'd been able to go on more of a journey just with Joe. It's his story, he is a very likeable central character, and his viewpoint that shows all of the small pleasures in life that are too easily taken for granted, but there are too many times when it doesn't feel like it. That's the biggest mistake, big enough to stop this from being great, although it's still absolutely worth a watch.

7/10

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Prime Time: Vampire In Brooklyn (1995)

It may have a bad reputation, as far as I'm aware, but Vampire In Brooklyn is one of those films I had been meaning to get around to for a decade or so now. It's one of the few Wes Craven movies I had somehow missed, and a starring vehicle for Eddie Murphy that intrigued me.

Murphy plays Maximillian (although, of course, he also plays some other characters onscreen), a vampire who arrives in Brooklyn in search of the woman he loves, Detective Rita Veder (Angela Bassett). He gets himself an assistant, Julius Jones (Kadeem Hardison), and starts his attempt to get Veder to fall in love with him almost immediately. That's really all there is to it.

I have to say that I expected the worst when I started watching this. I recall this period not giving us anywhere near the best from Murphy, and Craven was a year away from the film that would push him back up the horror strata and cement his reputation as a provider of quality pop culture content (Scream being that big hit).

This isn't all that bad. It's not fantastic, but it's not all that bad. The biggest problem with it, as you might suspect, is the tone. The comedy often works well enough, but only when everyone involved remembers it can be in the mix. Thankfully, Murphy works well enough while playing his character straight to make it worth your time. He's an excellent vampire, even if he's often just playing a more restrained and old-fashioned version of his usual confident persona.

The script, by Michael Lucker, Chris Parker, and Charlie Murphy, works best when twisting the familiar tropes. Highlights include Hardison's character going from zero to maximum Renfield in super-quick time, a sequence in which Murphy plays a preacher and then has to excuse himself from church, and an ending that actually feels like it belongs in a proper vampire movie. If a bit more of this could have been added, although I have gone blank on specifics (it's early, I need coffee), then the end result would have been even more enjoyable.

Having already praised Murphy for his performance as Maximillian, I'll just say that he's also good when portraying both the aforementioned preacher, and also portraying a low-level hood. The makeup works, as does the fact that he plays these characters for a few key scenes, and not throughout the entire movie in a way that indulges his seeming need to sometimes play everybody onscreen. Bassett is great (when is she not?), and Allen Payne does a solid job of being the Detective working alongside her, and also falling in love with her. Hardison is a lot of fun in his role, especially as soon as he starts to lose body parts, while both John Witherspoon and Zakes Mokae are welcome whenever they're onscreen in their supporting roles.

Maybe my low expectations factored in here, but Vampire In Brooklyn is a good attempt to mix the familiar and the new. The 100-minute runtime means it manages to not overstay its welcome, the cast play well together, and it certainly belongs at this part of Craven's career, when he was trying some different approaches to horror material.

6/10

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Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

You may have already seen clips of Tom Cruise in action for this latest Mission: Impossible movie. He dives out of a plane. He races through the streets of Paris. He flies a helicopter in a manner not to be found in the "Guide To Being A More Responsible Helicopter Pilot". He does all of that and more. You may have also already heard the glowing praise. A lot of people are calling this the best of the franchise. A lot of people are calling it a new action classic.

Yeah, about that. Let's take off the rose-tinted IMAX glasses and turn things down just a notch.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout is a very good film. There are times when it is great. The stuntwork is often bordering on the insane, making it insanely entertaining, but this isn't the best action movie in years. I'd say that it even falls just below the previous two entries in this series, and I'll go into just why that's the case in a little while.

Cruise is Ethan Hunt once again, of course, and he's flanked by Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames) as they try to recover some stolen plutonium cores that they don't want falling in to the hands of The Apostles (who have remained at work despite the loss of their leader, Solomon Lane, played by Sean Harris). Henry Cavill is a CIA agent, August Walker, tasked with keeping a closer eye on Hunt and his team, Rebecca Ferguson returns as the kickass Ilsa Faust, and a few other familiar faces pop up to join the fun.

Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie (now on his third film with Cruise and his second in this series, the first director to return) knows how to sketch characters, dynamics, and the potentially complex plotting of a good spy caper. It's great to see a number of threads picked up and expertly manipulated. Plot points drop in and reverberate through this movie, and even the events of the past movies, with the impact of a fly that just found itself unexpectedly caught in a spiderweb. And this all happens in between, and sometimes during, those magnificent action set-pieces.

The cast all slip back into their roles with ease. Cruise is, as we all know nowadays, either fearless or completely insane. He won't rest until one of these films allows him to escape a space-set shockwave as he glides down to Earth on the back of a toothy creature a la "Ace" Rimmer from Red Dwarf. Pegg and Rhames are great support, their characters bringing just a small amount of comedy while reinforcing the few bonds that connect IMF with individual lives instead of just faceless masses to be saved. Ferguson is slightly underserved by the script, but does very good work with what she's given. Harris remains a menacing figure, Vanessa Kirby is good fun as a "broker", and Cavill is absolutely brilliant as the sledgehammer who may break our heroes if he thinks things aren't going to plan. You also get some nice work from Alec Baldwin, again, and Angela Bassett. There's even some screentime for Michelle Monaghan.

That covers most of the fun stuff. I could mention how exhilarated I felt watching Cruise ride a motorbike the wrong way around the Arc de Triomphe. I could try to describe the sheer joy I felt while Cruise called Cavill a prick. You get the idea. There are lots and lots of fun moments. And I won't deny that some of the action beats are next-level in their scale and choreography, for a mainstream blockbuster release. The finale is especially adept at jumping from one white-knuckle moment to the next.

The non-fun stuff is also very good. The subtitle here may be Fallout but I suspect that's because Weight just wouldn't sound as good. Believe me, however, when I say that this film is all about weight. The weight of responsibility, the weight of constantly making decisions based on murky and fluid morality, the weight of the practical effects, the weight of emotions. People may remember the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few but this film reminds us all that the choice weighs just as heavily on the person having to make the call, and also that sometimes the end games are one and the same. It also makes an interesting point about the war on terror and how the good intentions can create even more dangers and enemies. I would argue that the two moments in this film that completely sum up Ethan Hunt are a scene in which he apologises to a wounded police officer in French and a scene in which he tells the other team members that he won't let them down, even as everyone realises that they can no longer hear one another. Even with his team, Hunt alone feels the total weight of the job, especially while maintaining a moral code that others may lack.

Where the film falls down slightly, certainly in comparison to the previous missions, is in the scenes which allow it to remind us of the past. McQuarrie ties up loose ends that few people were all that bothered about. He does it well, or as well as he can, but it still feels unnecessary. The same goes for some of the details and callbacks that make the film feel like some grand sendoff rather than just a grand adventure. I'm not going to namecheck them all, and I am not saying that there are lots and lots, but fans of the series will find some moments feeling far too familiar because McQuarrie felt that he needed to include some extra little nods and winks.

The fourth film had amazing set-pieces without a memorable villain, the fifth film had the perfect mix of both. This film sits somewhere between the two. The villains are great, the action is often brilliant, but it's a bit overlong, a bit happy to scamper back and forth to the same well, and sometimes, even for this series, feels a bit too unbelievably coincidental and convenient.

But I'll be just as eager to see the next mission. And I'll be buying this one ASAP.

EDIT: I have changed my mind slightly on this, the bad doesn’t do enough to bother me on repeat viewings, and I think maybe wearing the rose-tinted glasses can be a nice experience sometimes.

9/10

Your mission can be found here.

Dead By Dawn 2018: Innocent Blood (1992)

A horror comedy about a vampire from the director of An American Werewolf In London? It's fair to say that I had some pretty high expectations when I first watched Innocent Blood. Those expectations weren't met, and I didn't ever revisit the film over the next couple of decades. I'm not sure whether that is a good or bad thing, because this long overdue rewatch has made me realise that there's a lot here to enjoy.

Anne Parillaud plays a vampire named Marie who heads out into the night to feed. She feels like Italian, leading to her feeding on one of the many mobsters who populate the city. Once done with her meal, Marie usually takes care of the body to stop anyone returning as a vampire, but she is interrupted when she starts to feed on a boss man named Sallie (Robert Loggia). That leads to Sal rising up again, hungry and out of sorts, which leads to bewilderment from his crew and problems for an undercover cop named Joe (Anthony LaPaglia).

Written by Michael Wolk, Innocent Blood is a fun vampire movie that uses the supermatural powers associated with the beasts to play around with the buddy cop film template and provide some fun set-pieces. There's a decent amount of bloody moments, and the script has a lot of fun lines as the vampire threat and mobster activity builds.

John Landis directs competently enough, working within his means to deliver a vision that requres some enjoyable practical effects and stunt work to fully show the deveoping situation. There are some surprisingly solid action beats, some playing around with vampire tropes, the usual selection of cameos,and one main sequence in which Frank Oz plays a coroner bemused by the liveliness of the corpse wheeled in for him is a highlight.

Cast-wise, Parillaud is decent enough in the main role. She doesn't always convince when in full vamp-predator mode, but does much better in the scenes that have her fooling people with her attempts to look innocent. LaPaglia is also decent, stuck with the more straightfoward role - the cop on the case who is seeing things that nobody else will believe. But it's the cast of criminals that make the film more fun than it otherwise would be. Loggia is a blast as the powerful criminal who starts to realise just how much more power he has gained, Don Rickles is wonderful as his legal counsel, Chazz Palminteri has a small role (but is always good to see), and Tony Sirico, Kim Coates, and some other familiar faces are a lot of fun as they watch Loggia evolving. Angela Bassett and Luis Guzman also appear in small roles, both on the side of the police.

Despite some issues, such as a few dated effects and the pacing issues, Innocent Blood is a fun time. The biggest thing working against it when it was released back in 1992 was that it wasn't another An American Werewolf In London. But what is?

7/10

This LOOKS like a decent disc for those wanting the film, but maybe another release could be on the horizon?

Black Panther (2018)

Chadwick Boseman returns to play T'Challa (aka Black Panther), after making a great impression in Captain America: Civil War, and even the most casual film fan cannot help but notice that this film has made quite an impact, even when considered alongside the rest of the Marvel filmography. It's been the kind of success story that leads to one hyperbolic review after another, and then the inevitable contrary opinions. It's been called the best Marvel movie ever. It's been singled out as something having huge social and cultural importance. The truth, as always, lies somewhere in between the extremes.

I'm not going to go into every plot beat here. Suffice to say, T'Challa is about to become King of his land, Wakanda, and he also has to consider how he wants to lead. Should Wakanda remain hidden away from the rest of the world, or should all be revealed in an attempt to start helping those less fortunate? There's also a fun villain to be dealt with (Andy Serkis), some extremely badass women (Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, and Letitia Wright), and someone who may just want to force Wakanda to change, whether the people want to or not (this last figure is played by Michael B. Jordan). All of these players do fantastic work, with Gurira and Jordan being standouts. Boseman is a solid lead, but not half as charismatic as many of those around him, nothing to be ashamed of when the cast also includes the wonderful Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Sterling K. Brown, and David Oyelowo, among others.

First of all, Black Panther is a solid Marvel movie. It's not great though, and it's certainly not the best of the lot, at least not in terms of simple entertainment value and superhero antics. The action beats are, for the most part, a bit understated, and this is a more thoughtful look at how best to use superpowers (be they physical or societal).

Director Ryan Coogler continues his hot streak, also teaming up with Joe Robert Cole to work on the script here, and his decisions transform what could easily have been a generic superhero film, with a different cultural flavour, into something that somehow remains focused throughout on both the superficial fun and also the issues that will encourage dialogue long after the end credits have rolled.

While I have already mentioned the notion of how power can be used, there's more to Black Panther than just that. Perhaps it's almost inevitable, given the natural resources that Wakanda has (it contains a huge amount of vibranium, apparently), that viewers are given comments on colonialism, both subtle and not-so-subtle. There's also the obvious element of representation and equality running throughout the whole thing, themes explored within the film that bleed beyond the edges of every frame and emanate out towards every viewer, for better or worse (in the case of idiots who view it as an antagonistic assault on their fragile egos).

While not the perfect modern classic that some might want it to be, the fact that Black Panther so expertly blends blockbuster beats with a relevance and social conscience for an audience demographic who rarely see representation on this level is well worth celebrating. I think that it IS an important film in the here and now, and I think it has been long overdue. But, most of all, I think that it's a good film. And that, as silly and shallow as it may sound, comes before everything else, and then allows everything else to work as well as it clearly has.

7/10

Black Panther is available to order here.
And there's a different, kind of American-flavoured, link here.

Strange Days (1995)

Although it may seem a bit dated now, with the action thriller cliches piled up and the focus on that Y2K sensation, Strange Days is yet another superior film from director Kathryn Bigelow. And it gets very dark indeed.

Ralph Fiennes plays Lenny Nero, an ex-cop who now makes a living selling experiences. Actual experiences. There's a gadget you can put on your head and Lenny will sell you recordings that will put you in the position of someone who has been through whatever you want to try out - sex with a gorgeous woman, breaking & entering, hardcore revelry, whatever you like. Unfortunately, someone recorded something very dangerous, which leads to people Lenny knows being killed. Lenny has to get to the bottom of things before it's decided that he'll also need taken out of the picture.

With a cast that includes Fiennes in the lead role, strong support from Angela Bassett, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott, and Juliette Lewis, and smaller roles for the likes of William Fichtner and Vincent D'Onofrio, Strange Days is a film not shy of talent in front of the camera. The first three mentioned there are the standouts, thanks to their positioning in the plot, but nobody lets the side down.

With Bigelow directing, and a script written by Jay Cocks and James Cameron, it's not shy of talent behind the camera either, and that translates into a slice of very slick entertainment.

The visual style of the film is remarkable, it's dark and gorgeous and cool throughout, and the pacing works well. The runtime is almost two and a half hours, but it doesn't feel as if it is ever outstaying its welcome. Graeme Revell creates an effective soundtrack to accompany the visuals, viewers are kept very much aware of the urgency of the situation, and twists and turns, although a tad easy to spot for afficianados of this kind of film, are interspersed nicely in between the set-pieces.

But what really sets this apart is the main idea being exploited. Some elements may have dated, including the tech on display, but this takes the concept of being able to experience the sensations that someone else is having and gives it an extra, VERY dark, twist. The fact that it manages to do so without making the whole thing seem too grimy and unpalatable is testament to the skills of everyone involved.

It's also worth bearing in mind, not unlike the various episodes of Black Mirror, that Strange Days shows us what can happen to technology when it can indulge the more warped whims of human nature. Something worth bearing in mind every time we try out VR, scour the internet, or just use one of the 160 apps on our smartphones. It doesn't take a huge leap in AI to turn machines against us. It just takes another human being.

8/10

UK people can get this lovely bluray here.
Americans have this DVD, for the moment.

Ani-MAY-tion Month: Meet The Robinsons (2007)

Based on the book "A Day With Wilbur Robinson", Meet The Robinsons is a film full of fun moments and some time-travel shenanigans, but it never feels like a completely satisfying movie. Seven people worked on the screenplay, including director Stephen J. Anderson, and it's a shame that not one of them could do enough to lift the thing from good to great.

Wilbur is a young orphan, seemingly destined to remain at the orphanage forever. None of the prospective parents who come to see him end up taking him home. He doesn't always help himself in that regard, thanks to a penchant for creating inventions that don't always work as they should, but he's a sweet kid desperate to feel wanted. Which is why he puts all of his energies into inventing a machine that will show any memories hidden away deep inside the human mind. He wants to see the face of his mother, who dropped him off at the orphanage years ago. Unfortunately, his invention gets the attention of the evil Bowler Hat Guy, which leads to a young lad named Lewis trying to help Wilbur out by taking him away for a while in his time machine. But time travel is only a good thing when people stick to the rules. It also helps if people don't crash the time machine. While Wilbur and Lewis try to put things right, the Bowler Hat Guy senses victory coming his way.

Mixing kid-friendly science fiction with some quirky humour and a nice retro style, there are lots of elements here to enjoy. The third act, that brings about a few revelations and ties everything together nicely, it very good. The sweeter moments of the opening scenes are also very good. But this is a film that spends its middle section just wandering aimlessly around between pointless scenes and too many redundant characters. Okay, they're not redundant in the grand scheme of things, but the Robinsons are a large family with only one or two individuals who really stand out.

The vocal cast isn't a big help. Although everyone does a good enough job, it's a shame to have Angela Bassett, Laurie Metcalf and Harland Williams wasted in supporting roles. The latter has the most fun, and there are also small roles for Adam West and Tom Selleck, but there's never enough good voice work to shake the feeling that the whole enterprise is quite bland and anonymous.

Danny Elfman provides a decent score, which is as Elfman-esque as his usual work, and there's one great gag spoken by a dinosaur (well, he makes noises and it's translated - but you have to turn on the DVD subtitle option to read it), but that's about all I have left to say. I've run out of praise to sprinkle throughout this review.

Ultimately a bit of a disappointment, Meet The Robinsons is still passable entertainment. But it should have been much better.

6/10

http://www.amazon.com/Meet-Robinsons-Blu-ray-Angela-Bassett/dp/B0049GYXGS/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1400367439&sr=1-3&keywords=meet+the+robinsons

Boyz N The Hood (1991)

An absolutely fantastic directorial debut from John Singleton (who also wrote the film), Boyz N The Hood holds up to this day as a great movie about people trying to break a cycle of violence and hate. Despite what you may think, if you've never seen the film, this is a movie with some major negative moments that pushes hard to convey a message of positivity. It doesn't glorify or glamourise any of the lifestyle choices that it shows other than one that can see people living happily beside one another.

Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as Tre Styles, a young man who has been brought up for a number of years by his father, Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne). Furious, despite the name, is a peaceful man who wants to see African Americans opening their eyes to the problems around them and making everything better. He is well aware of the statistics and he wants those numbers to change, especially when it comes to the life that his son will lead. Tre has a few close friends who seem to be on very different paths. Ricky (Morris Chestnut) actually has a chance to do well thanks to a scholarship opportunity but he's also already a daddy at a very young age so it's not going to be easy. Ricky has a brother called Darren AKA Doughboy. Doughboy is an angry young man, happy to waste most of his time relaxing with friends but also quick to reach for a gun if there is any sign of trouble.

I could, indeed maybe should, just wrap up this review now by saying that the movie oozes quality from almost every scene and deserves to be viewed at least once by anyone who loves great acting but everyone should know by now that I like the sound of my own voice (or the font of my own text - is that the blogging equivalent?) so I'll say a little bit more about the movie.

The main thing going against it is predictability. In a lot of ways the film feels fresh and different, especially in the way that Laurence Fishburne brings up Cuba Gooding Jr, but the main beats of the story are so obvious that you can spot them at least half an hour in advance. That doesn't make the movie horrible or unwatchable but it is something that's worth mentioning. There aren't any major surprises here.

Thankfully, the rest of the film works so well that you don't care. It remains the best directorial outing from John Singleton, who announced himself to the world with an astonishingly accomplished debut. It also remains some of the best acting work from the collected actors onscreen. Laurence Fishburne has given a number of great performances over the years but this is certainly up there with his very best. Cuba Gooding Jr. is superb and he's well matched by the different styles of Ice Cube, Morris Chestnut, Regi Green and Dedrick D. Gobert. Angela Bassett has a small, but important, role and so does Regina King while Nia Long plays the most prominent female character and makes herself into someone effectively adorable.

Although there are many ways in which Boyz N The Hood is exactly what you expect it to be there are a number of other ways in which it's completely removed from the preconceptions that viewers may have. Treat yourself by watching it soon if you haven't seen it already.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Boyz-Anniversary-Edition-Blu-ray-Region/dp/B005DL7S4M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1347008149&sr=8-2