Saw this at the SM North EDSA IMAX theater on what I'd like to call a date, but the sickly combination of cough, cold and sore throat made it hard for me to concentrate afterwards (imagine trying to hold a conversation and preventing snot from dripping out of your nose at the same time). SPOILERS.
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| Also as an aside, Cruise was in talks to play MARVEL superhero Iron Man, once upon a time. |
- This is just a throwaway thought for comic geeks out there, but was I the only one who was reminded of the cover to Superman: Earth One every time I saw Tom Cruise's character poster?
- This was directed by The Incredibles Brad Bird, whom I'm now hoping Marvel will hire to direct The Avengers sequel. The man knows his way around action sequences. And the story was written by scribes from the US version of Life on Mars! Methinks only Eileen Ang and I would appreciate that latter fact, but who cares?!? What's not to like?
- Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt, and 4th time's the charm, in that this may be the movie that could make the general public forget he had a crazy phase. Paula Patton is whom we wish Michelle Rodriguez would look like, Simon Pegg is our token JJ Abrams techo-geek comedy relief, and Jeremy Renner may have to decide on whether to play Brandt or Clint Barton/Hawkeve in the long run.
- Other nice surprises came in the form of seeing Michael Nyqvist (aka Mikael Blomkvist of the Girl With/Who the Dragon Tattoo/Played with Fire/Kicked the Hornet's Nest trilogy) as the main villain, Inglourious Basterd's Léa Seydoux as the nigh-expressionless assassin and Slumdog Millionaire's Anil Kapoor seemingly relishing his hammy role of the Billionaire-who-has-secret-computer-codes-for-some-reason. And because JJ Abrams co-produced this film (and replacing the visual Lens Flare "theme" w/ Running and Dramatic Pauses) the appearance of Lost's Josh Holloway wasn't completely unexpected.
- Like in The Dark Knight, IMAX film was put to awesome use here. Hell, the opening scene in Budapest was probably referencing this 70 billion megapixel panoramic image made last year. When Hunt was scaling up outside the World's Tallest Building I actually experienced some vertigo. And in the climactic fight/chase scene in the
Vancouver"Mumbai" automated car-park building, Brad Bird was showcasing his storytelling skills about how to work impossible camera angles using CGI the way he did in his Pixar films. - I believe this is the first time we've seen The Secretary (played by Tom Wilkinson) onscreen when he's not busy waiting to disavow any knowledge of the actions of IMF agents. This is the movie equivalent of seeing Charlie from Charlie's Angels.
- The movie also did away with our usual expectations regarding their use of full facemasks as disguises, fully functional spy-gear or the cliché of a smooth operation. I think the Dubai mission was similar to the heist in the first Mission: Impossible, only this time Murphy's Law was working overtime. If they hadn't played this serious that scene would have a great comedy of errors.
- Plot complaint time: Ever heard of Kevlar, Hanaway? Useful when out to prevent yourself getting assassinated. How did Bad Guy Hendriks have access to IMF mask technology? And when did Tom Cruise develop an indestructible body similar to John McClane, Jason Bourne or those burglars from Home Alone? Several concussive blows to the head, getting hit by an explosive shockwave and a speeding/crashing car and he's ok, but one kick to the knee and he goes down? And for a bare-bones team who are supposedly lacking in resources they sure picked up some very plot-specific equipment for an improvised mission. Benji just happened to bring climbing gloves and a metal coat made to levitate via electromagnetic robot rover?
- Product placements galore: Hack into Dell servers, carjack BMWs, use iPads for surveillance and Oakley shades to save you from a massive sandstorm. And the ending implies that IMF is so flush w/ cash they're putting self-destruct devices in iPhones!
- As Hunt would say: "Misson: Accomplished!" I'd give someone M:I 1 and 4 DVDs bookends to their video library. Forget M:I 2 & 3 ever happened.
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