MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III :: ACTION :: 077

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3 (2006)

The franchise gets a boost in this third installment by bringing in some major firepower. First come the writing and directing of J.J. Abrams (in his feature film debut) who, at the time, was given the largest budget [150 million] ever for a first-time director. Next was the sensational acting of Philip Seymour Hoffman (Owen Davian)- who plays one of the most diabolical and menacing villains of all-time!

THE PLOT
IMF agent Ethan Hunt and company must take down an arms dealer who not only threatens his life but that of his fiancé.

THE REVIEW
Whatever happened is uncertain but I believe the movie Gods heard my prayers. Ethan Hunt, contemplating “hanging it up” for life with fiancé Julia (Michelle Monoghan) gets pulled into another mission… this time where you genuinely see Ethan showing and acknowledging a human side – fear, panic and hurt. Don’t get me wrong, there were some elements of the above in the first installment, but in this one he is fighting for a higher purpose – and it shows.

J.J. Abrams (the creator of Lost) uses a several plot devices like flashbacks and flashforwards to keep you wide-eyed and on the edge of your seat. Speaking of this, the beginning, which is (fairly) obvious to viewers as a flashforward, is one of the most tense and heart-thumping openings ever as Ethan pleads with villain Owen Davian to not kill his fiancé. Owen counts down slowly as Ethan tries desperately to toggle through all the various ways to convince him to stop. This was very well-done and perhaps my favorite scene in the movie.

Zhen (Maggie Q) and Lindsey (Keri Russell) are two female IMF agents who light up the screen. Kerri Russell was especially impressive as she really looked like she knew what she was doing in the above pictured fight scene. Simon Pegg’s character of Benji first appears in this installment as the instantly lovable off-field technician that aids Ethan in the field. He has one or two funny remarks in this movie, but, as we know he later becomes field agent and his comedic brilliance shines through even more.

We may have Tom Cruise to thank for this. Tom was so impressed with J.J. Abrams work on Alias that after some meetings together, Tom offered him the gig. Tom and Steven Spielberg had also wanted J.J. to write War of the Worlds back in 2005 but he was too busy on other projects. On MI:3, J.J. assisted in the writing process with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and were able to put together an unforgettable movie experience – even though the audience never understands what “the Rabbit’s foot” actually is. We just know the bad guys want it. Perhaps it being “mysterious” was the main point anyway?

At the end of the film, my wife and I turned to each other, both highly impressed and gave it a score of 8-out-of-10 bear claws. Just another film to prove that you really can’t go wrong with J.J. Abrams at the helm.

But what did you think?

We’d really like to know. If you have any thoughts about the film, please comment at the bottom of this page. Thank you and we’ll see you on the next one!

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TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE FALLEN :: ACTION :: 018

By the power of Grey Skull!

Hollywood steals my childhood toys and then sucks away 2 and a half hours of my life!

There is no real need in me to describe the plot to you, as it is clearly the most horrific hollywood pornification of a beloved cartoon/toy I have seen in my many years.  As a child born in 1978, I had the priviledge to play with “real” toys of the 1980’s.  They were the best.  Die-cast metal transformers, Go-Bots, and Voltron – action figures like He-Man, ThunderCats and G.I. Joe.  Imagine for once, my excitement when I notice a bulldozer, crane and cement truck in a scene.  The child in me gleamed a nerdy half-smile as I knew what was going to happen.  Or at least I thought I did.

Those behind the making this film can thank their lucky stars for signing Shia LaBeouf, because if it wasn’t for his girlish shrieks of realistic fright, and for basically carrying this movie on his shoulders, director Michael Bay would have had on his hands a one-bearclaw-review.

The other claw is awarded for living up to the promise of the poster:

More Robots. Bigger Explosions. And much more Megan Fox.

Bollocks! Never in my nightmares would I imagine that they’d CGI (computer-generated-imagery) one of my favorite toys into a shape-shifting pile of junkyard sick.  Where was my favorite Decepticon, Soundwave; whose voice and robotic-counterparts-o’-stealth always brought great amusement?  He might have been there, but it was hard (even for me) to decipher between any of the hunks of metal, especially as they fight Matrix-like on the screen.  Oh yeah… I see yellow… “that must be Bumblebee.  And was that a flash of red I saw?  Could that have been Optimus? I dunno.”

Sam Witwicky (Shai LaBeouf) gets accepted to Princeton University, which we are to believe is a huge “party school.”  And as we get a glimpse of his coed hall, the campus quad and Sam’s Astronomy class, the entire Uni is made up of none other than “The future poll-dancers of America.”  Young, slutty, females, media-based-attractive in every way, swinging their hips and making winky faces at the teacher – oh what a good way to corrupt our youth and give them a false impression of one of the country’s foremost Ivy League schools.  I’d love to see the look on the face of the kid that aspires for greatness, only to find that his dream school beholds no female of the Maxime-realm.

A note for future directors of action – make it strong and memorable, not relentless and confusing.  Audiences (myself included) will be forgiving if the hero miraculously weaves a field of gunfire, or even escapes a kungfu-fighting-orgy-of-robotic-mayhem, but the barrage of explosions [never even a shrapnel wound] must wears thin to anyone over the age of 13 [it’s PG-13 in the first place].  So, with the target audience of teens-to-35 year olds, we have far too much sexuality, lowbrow humor (humping dogs, even a leg-humping robot), crass ebonics, not-to-mention the idiotic, manipulative portrayal of our military forces.

“Hello.”

(voice on the phone) Here’s the latitude and longitude that I need your highly-classified weapon to hit.

“Who is this?”

(man on the phone).  There’s no time! If you don’t do it, they’re going to destroy the sun!

“Roger that. I’m on it.”

Boy! I can’t wait for Transformers 3.  Are they going to bring in the ever-so-popular(-in-my-day) Dinobots?  If so, they might earn an extra claw.  But they’ll have to earn it.  Those looking for good action movie sequels rent Aliens or Terminator 2, as quick, off-the-top-of-my-head suggestions.

The lines are open. What were your thoughts of this movie?