LoveFilm? Still Mulholland Drive and 24 on my desk. I think they’ll both be getting watched tonight, as I gear up for an all-nighter.
Amazon? Still Lord Of The Flies. But the mailman delivered David Copperfield to me yesterday morning. The Dickens novel, not the magician. Just to clear up any doubt.
While sitting on the Underground, going home, I’m suddenly struck with the urge to go watch a movie. There isn’t any real planning behind this urge, as most urges go; I have no idea if there’s a movie starting soon, I don’t know if it would be a movie I’d want to watch. Like most things in life, I don’t really know anything. But lo and behold, there I am at the cinema, buying a ticket (and the most godawful hotdog known to man), scratching my itch. Luckily, the film I arrived to was Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Now, to clarify, I didn’t want to watch it; but I didn’t NOT want to watch it either. It just wasn’t a priority.
I’ll tell you what it’s about, quickly. Tom Cruise is Ethan Hunt, secret spy agent extraordinaire. After getting rescued from prison (for reasons I can’t really spoil), he and his team (made up of Simon Pegg, Paula Patton and Jeremy Renner) are given the mission of stopping evil Michael Nyqvist from igniting nuclear war. The movie travels from Russia (where the friggin’ Kremlin is destroyed!) to Dubai to India, with lots of twists and turns along the way.
I really enjoyed this film, I won’t lie. Obviously, not for the same reasons I enjoyed The Artist or The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, but still enjoyed it. This is one of those proper popcorn Hollywood movies. Lots of guns and fighting. Sexy girls. Non-stop action. Great locations. And that’s the appeal of the movie. The action is frenetic and constant – yeah, they’ll give you a few minutes here and there to catch your breath, see a bit of boobage, hear Simon Pegg try to say something funny, but then we’re right back into the line of fire. And the action is incredible. Car chases, fight scenes in Indian car parks and Russian prisons, and the occasional bomb; you have it all. Cruise is the one usually at the thick of it, including a fucking amazing sprint across the tallest building in the world, which the maniac did himself. No stuntman. But the others aren’t left out of the thrills, they all have their moments. This was definitely not a one-man movie, which I liked.
But where the action was amazing and very successful, the non-actiony bits weren’t always that strong. I bloody love Simon Pegg, and most of the funny lines are his in the movie, but he just doesn’t click. It wasn’t awful, but I wanted funnier and never got it. That said, there’s actually a really nice chemistry between him and Cruise which, when done properly, could be brilliant. Jeremy Renner is a good actor, and I can see why he’s the new Bourne movie lead, but I think he was wasted here. Paula Patton was the surprise for me – I don’t think I’ve seen her act before, and she’s not bad. And hot, of course. Always nice when they’re hot.
The story is really far-fetched, and the gadgets they use are even worse. Maybe these gadgets exist and are used, I dunno, but it was mental. It was quite funny, though, that these top secret agents were using iPads to do their work. A sign of the times, and great advertising. The film requires a suspension of disbelief. If you can accept that, you’ll like the movie.
But frankly, you will enjoy this movie. It’s a good movie. You won’t have to think too much, you’ll see some great action and some pretty girls (and boys too), and you leave feeling like you’ve got your money’s worth. This isn’t must-watch cinema, but you could do much worse. Believe me, watch MI:3, the last one. Much worse.
Another one bites the dust!
I’m still podcasting, and I’m still in bed at 12pm. Probably time to get up and be a part of life. I have a Twitter (@writeofcentre). Follow me, and support me. I thank ya. Out!
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