Webslinger

I saw this last weekend and loved it. Looking back at Payne's track record, it feels like this definitely could have followed the "quiet run where it makes way more money than you realized" trajectory of About Schmidt, Sideways, and The Descendants in a box office era more receptive to something small and adult-oriented.

01/07 The Fabelmans (2) 01/08 M3GAN 01/21 The Whale 01/22 Avatar: The Way of Water (3) 01/28 A Man Called Otto 02/04 Knock at the Cabin 02/05 Living 02/12 Titanic (2) 02/17 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 02/18 Magic Mike's Last Dance 02/25 Cocaine Bear 02/26 Missing 03/04 Creed III 03/14 Bull Durham 03/17 Shazam! Fury of the Gods 03/18 Scream VI 03/24 John Wick: Chapter 4 04/02 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 04/08 Air 04/11 Unforgiven 04/16 Renfield 04/23 Evil Dead Rise 04/29 Beau Is Afraid 05/05 Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 05/13 Sisu 06/07 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 06/08 The Little Mermaid 06/09 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. 06/10 Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 06/12 The Super Mario Bros Movie 06/13 The Shawshank Redemption 06/19 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2) 06/20 Elemental 06/22 Fast X 06/23 Asteroid City 06/24 The Flash 06/26 No Hard Feelings 06/27 Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 (2) 06/30 Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 07/07 Joy Ride 07/15 Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One 07/21 Barbie 07/21 Oppenheimer 07/26 The Blackening 07/27 Past Lives 07/29 Oppenheimer (2) 08/05 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2) 08/06 Talk to Me 08/09 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 08/12 Barbie (2) 08/19 Oppenheimer (3) 08/26 Strays 08/27 Jurassic Park (3) 09/03 Haunted Mansion 09/04 Blue Beetle 09/16 The Dark Knight (8) 09/23 A Haunting in Venice 09/24 Barbie (3) 09/30 Stop Making Sense 09/30 Dumb Money 10/07 The Creator 10/22 Killers of the Flower Moon 10/26 The Rocky Horror Picture Show (6) 10/28 Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour 10/29 The Nightmare Before Christmas 11/04 Killers of the Flower Moon (2) 11/10 Priscilla 11/11 The Marvels 11/14 The Hunt for Red October 11/17 The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes 11/18 The Holdovers 11/19 Saving Private Ryan

Updated with some new additions and previous films I had forgotten to add. I guess I've been a bit sloppy with record-keeping on the Letterboxd list I draw from. A Barbie The Holdovers Killers of the Flower Moon Oppenheimer Past Lives Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse A- Air Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Asteroid City Bottoms John Wick: Chapter 4 The Killer Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One Nimona Priscilla Talk to Me B+ The Blackening Creed III Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Evil Dead Rise Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 Joy Ride M3GAN Scream VI Sisu Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem B Beau Is Afraid Dumb Money Elemental The Flash A Haunting in Venice Knock at the Cabin The Little Mermaid Missing No Hard Feelings Renfield Strays Totally Killer B- Cocaine Bear The Creator Fast X Haunted Mansion The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Magic Mike's Last Dance The Marvels C+ Blue Beetle The Super Mario Bros Movie Transformers: Rise of the Beasts C Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Shazam! Fury of the Gods C- Five Nights at Freddy's

A Barbie Killers of the Flower Moon Oppenheimer Past Lives Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse A- Air Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Asteroid City John Wick: Chapter 4 The Killer Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One Nimona Priscilla Talk to Me B+ The Blackening Creed III Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Evil Dead Rise Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 Joy Ride M3GAN Scream VI Sisu Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem B Beau Is Afraid Dumb Money Elemental The Flash A Haunting in Venice Knock at the Cabin The Little Mermaid Missing No Hard Feelings Renfield Strays Totally Killer B- Cocaine Bear The Creator Fast X Haunted Mansion Magic Mike's Last Dance C+ Blue Beetle The Super Mario Bros Movie Transformers: Rise of the Beasts C Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Shazam! Fury of the Gods C- Five Nights at Freddy's

First update in quite a while: 01/07 The Fabelmans (2) 01/08 M3GAN 01/21 The Whale 01/22 Avatar: The Way of Water (3) 01/28 A Man Called Otto 02/04 Knock at the Cabin 02/05 Living 02/12 Titanic (2) 02/17 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 02/18 Magic Mike's Last Dance 02/25 Cocaine Bear 02/26 Missing 03/04 Creed III 03/14 Bull Durham 03/17 Shazam! Fury of the Gods 03/18 Scream VI 03/24 John Wick: Chapter 4 04/02 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 04/08 Air 04/11 Unforgiven 04/16 Renfield 04/23 Evil Dead Rise 04/29 Beau Is Afraid 05/05 Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 05/13 Sisu 06/07 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 06/08 The Little Mermaid 06/09 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. 06/10 Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 06/12 The Super Mario Bros Movie 06/13 The Shawshank Redemption 06/19 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2) 06/20 Elemental 06/22 Fast X 06/23 Asteroid City 06/24 The Flash 06/26 No Hard Feelings 06/27 Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 (2) 06/30 Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 07/07 Joy Ride 07/15 Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One 07/21 Barbie 07/21 Oppenheimer 07/26 The Blackening 07/27 Past Lives 07/29 Oppenheimer (2) 08/05 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2) 08/06 Talk to Me 08/09 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 08/12 Barbie (2) 08/19 Oppenheimer (3) 08/26 Strays 08/27 Jurassic Park (3) 09/03 Haunted Mansion 09/04 Blue Beetle 09/16 The Dark Knight (8) 09/23 A Haunting in Venice 09/24 Barbie (3) 09/30 Stop Making Sense 09/30 Dumb Money 10/07 The Creator 10/22 Killers of the Flower Moon 10/26 The Rocky Horror Picture Show (6) 10/28 Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour 10/29 The Nightmare Before Christmas 11/04 Killers of the Flower Moon (2) 11/10 Priscilla

That's an enormous drop for Five Nights at Freddy's, but I guess I can't say I'm surprised. It feels like the film played well with its target audience of fans, but connected with precious few outside that base. I basically got a whole collection of "WHAT?!?" reactions from my classes when I told them I caught Five Nights at Freddy's on Peacock and thought it was pretty boring. The love for the IP among teenagers is so genuine that I immediately had to backtrack and soften my critiques with "But I'm sure it was more fun in a packed theater."

I saw it this afternoon and thought it was outstanding. The storytelling is riveting, the cast is loaded with great performances (Gladstone and De Niro being the highlights for me), and it feels overwhelming in all the best ways. In many ways, it feels like another later Scorsese triumph about on par with The Irishman - except that this one is actually widely available in theaters as it should be. Personally, I didn’t have an issue with the run time. The narrative is so huge and sprawling that I felt like it earned that time, and I can’t imagine it being divided neatly into miniseries episodes and having the same impact.

I feel like you can’t really judge a Martin Scorsese picture’s performance by the usual metrics. The man is one of the most revered directors in the history of film, tons of actors still want to work with him, and I feel like his financiers go into collaborations with him knowing they’re likelier to get a Hugo than a Departed (which, itself, carried a huge budget for a mid-‘00s thriller aimed at adults) but are willing to take the chance that they’ll get a masterpiece with a long shelf life after its theatrical run. I don’t think anyone involved with Killers of the Flower Moon ever expected it to break even, but rather just wanted to let Marty cook (and, to extend the metaphor, to be in the kitchen with him). With that in mind, I think that on balance, $23 million isn’t a bad number for Killers of the Flower Moon. Leo or no Leo, we’re talking about a three-and-a-half-hour drama that is kind of a bummer opening in a dead marketplace where most adult dramas not titled Oppenheimer are still struggling to pull in much business. It’s not a blockbuster, no doubt, but it could have gone over so much worse.

As a still-bitter Mariners fan, I'm not gonna feel bad for any team that's still playing right now. There's part of me that loves the chaos of all the 100-win titans going down ahead of the LCS, but I'll admit that it's also made for a couple series that have mostly just made me shrug and see what else is on instead.

I caught the 4K remaster last week and absolutely loved it. Demme's directorial decisions capture the energy of the concert in deeply compelling and intimate ways that make Talking Heads' appeal feel both understandable in the moment this footage was captured and timeless for viewers watching decades later. I felt like I was levitating during the "This Must Be the Place" and "Once in a Lifetime" performances.

Having just rewatched Pineapple Express about a month ago, I'd love to see David Gordon Green have a go at an action film. (Or, better yet, find a way to have him be the guy who resurrects the action-comedy buddy movie.) The third act of Pineapple Express, even amid all the very silly jokes, is pretty exciting for what it is. In light of The Exorcist: Believer's underperformance, it's worth remembering that the 2000 re-release of the original film actually did really well around this time of year: $8.2 million opening in 664 theaters, and just under $40 million total. I feel like that release also helped to further cement the film's legacy with the generations that either weren't around for the original release or didn't remember it.

I think this was my favorite Nolan venture since The Dark Knight. Just such an utterly compelling, masterful piece of cinema that utilizes every trick available to it to remain riveting even when the "action" onscreen is literally just a bureaucratic procedural. I couldn't really get a definite read on how my boomer-heavy sellout crowd reacted to it, but given that I saw it at a pub cinema where the wait staff were in and out with drink orders every five minutes or so, I feel like I would have heard them voice their boredom or displeasure if there had been any, so... stellar, then?

01/07 The Fabelmans (2) 01/08 M3GAN 01/21 The Whale 01/22 Avatar: The Way of Water (3) (3D) 01/28 A Man Called Otto 02/04 Knock at the Cabin 02/05 Living 02/12 Titanic (2) (3D) 02/17 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 02/18 Magic Mike's Last Dance 02/25 Cocaine Bear 02/26 Missing 03/04 Creed III 03/14 Bull Durham 03/17 Shazam! Fury of the Gods 03/18 Scream VI 03/24 John Wick: Chapter 4 04/02 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 04/08 Air 04/11 Unforgiven 04/16 Renfield 04/23 Evil Dead Rise 04/29 Beau Is Afraid 05/05 Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 05/13 Sisu 06/07 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 06/08 The Little Mermaid 06/09 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. 06/10 Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 06/12 The Super Mario Bros Movie 06/13 The Shawshank Redemption 06/19 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2) 06/20 Elemental 06/22 Fast X 06/23 Asteroid City 06/24 The Flash 06/26 No Hard Feelings 06/27 Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 (2) 06/30 Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 07/07 Joy Ride 07/15 Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One 07/21 Barbie 07/21 Oppenheimer

Always one for big swings, Christopher Nolan tackles one of his most ambitious undertakings to date in Oppenheimer, a three-hour adaptation of a nonfiction book released in the heart of the summer blockbuster season. The result is a triumph that resides right alongside the other crown jewels in Nolan’s filmography. Though the film is considerably more dialogue-driven than many of Nolan’s past efforts (and than the slickly cut trailers might lead one to believe), it is riveting throughout its entire running time. On a storytelling level, it is an engrossing biopic whose criss-crossing through different timelines heightens the urgency of the proceedings and successfully primes viewers to see the longer-term consequences that will spring from Oppenheimer’s involvement in developing the atomic bomb. The nonlinear approach across the first two hours helps to highlight the ramifications of the main storyline it focuses on in the development of the bomb, all leading up to a third hour where the threads tie together in compelling fashion that explores both the unraveling and resetting of Oppenheimer’s legacy. It’s also quite intriguing to see Nolan, a director who clearly seems to think of himself as an auteur and often demonstrates precise control over his films, explore another kind-of auteur and how he responds to his “art” being taken out of his control and used to horrifying ends. There’s a constant sense that Nolan is fascinated with Oppenheimer’s process (and makes that fascination vivid for viewers), but also sympathizes with the man’s horror over what that process wrought and how it has cast him as a vilified figure in numerous arenas afterward. Beyond the narrative, which could read like a standard biopic in other hands, Nolan heightens the film’s effectiveness through numerous choices that pay off beautifully. Part of why this film feels so riveting is because of the constant (yet meticulously controlled) camera movement from Hoyte Van Hoytema and dynamic musical score from Ludwig Goransson, both of which lend extra flourishes of excitement that illustrate how virtually every moment felt essential to the characters in the film. Van Hoytema’s cinematography is as striking as it has ever been (even with his IMAX footage cropped to a 2.20:1 ratio), and the occasional segues into visualizations of atomic reactions are stunning. Though the real showstopper is, unsurprisingly, the film’s recreation of the Trinity test, the rest of the proceedings have no shortage of flair. As is also customary in a Nolan film, the acting is superb. Cillian Murphy has long seemed like an actor who has not gotten his proper due, and his plum role as Oppenheimer helps to rectify this oversight. Murphy is dialed in every step of the way and delivers a performance that simmers with quiet intensity and ultimately gives way to a haunted edge. His steady hand and successful channeling of his character’s many enigmatic qualities and contradictions makes for an enthralling performance. The cast around Murphy is so stacked that it practically requires the viewer to stick around through the credits (or scan IMDB afterward) to check out who they caught and who they missed. In one of his first big post-MCU performances, Robert Downey, Jr. plays the role of shady bureaucrat Lewis Strauss with plenty of aplomb and venom. There’s also memorable work from Matt Damon, Kenneth Branagh, Jason Clarke, David Krumholtz, and even Dane DeHaan in roles of varying size – plus other stellar contributions from the sea of other men in the cast. Though I suppose the film does little to address the tendency for women to have little presence in Nolan’s films, there is also stirring, effective work from Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh, both of whom elevate their respective roles with stinging emotional depth that shows the more personal consequences of Oppenheimer’s obsessions. In considering the film’s place in Christopher Nolan’s full oeuvre, it’s hard to place where exactly Oppenheimer ranks, but I’m very tempted to slot it at least near the very top. Even amid switching studios after a highly entertaining but somewhat less intellectually fulfilling film in Tenet and releasing into a theatrical marketplace that seems more risk-averse than before in the shadows of streaming and the pandemic, Nolan delivers a fiercely compelling gem that makes one of the grandest possible cases for theatrical viewing and leaves plenty of meat for viewers to gnaw on after the credits begin to roll. It’s utterly masterful work from a master filmmaker. A

As if it were not already impressive enough that Greta Gerwig has a semi-autobiographical new teen classic in Lady Bird and a literary adaptation as clever and dynamic as Little Women under her belt, she soars to different but equally impressive heights with Barbie. As director and co-writer (with her partner, Noah Baumbach), Gerwig takes plastic toys made for children and uses them as a springboard into a uniquely beautiful film whose reverence for play and imagination, goofy comedy, meta humor and commentary, social observations, meticulous attention to detail, and introspective examinations of femininity, patriarchy, and self-image all land as gracefully as the title character when she floats from her dreamhouse to her car in the opening scene. As in Gerwig’s prior films, the humor and lighthearted moments sing (especially as she digs into visualizing and verbalizing so many parts of the common experiences of playing with Barbies), and she still possesses one of the best touches of any director working today when it comes to exploring the emotional lives of her characters. Just as Little Women took me aback in its surprising turn into being a commentary on the saving power of storytelling itself, Barbie often left me floored in the depth of the wrestling it does not just with the examination of patriarchy that concerns most of the running time, but also in its even more transcendent reflections on purpose and self-actualization. Gerwig’s work with actors also remains top-notch, as just about everyone in the massive cast understands the assignment to a T and delivers something truly memorable. Margot Robbie was already a perfect casting choice for Barbie on paper, and she more than lives up to the possibilities inherent in her casting. She masters the comedy in Barbie’s predicaments (especially once she crosses over into the real world, where her initial naïve readings of our society are genuinely quick-witted and hilarious), but also packs believable interiority and self-reflection into her moments of growth and discovery. Ryan Gosling also capitalizes just about fully on the potential in his casting as Ken. Committing to the part with every bit as much concentration and deliberation as he has any other role, Gosling is constantly a delight to watch as a Ken whose struggles with existing in Barbie’s shadow and learning that the structural gender dynamics in the real world are the exact opposite successfully wring laughs without losing sight of building toward a satisfying emotional resolution. The massive assortment of other Barbies, Kens, and other ones we don’t talk about (sorry, Midge and Alan) is also lots of fun, with the standout performance coming from Kate McKinnon in a hilarious turn that feels like an extension of the strange characters she played on SNL. Where Barbie really takes off into a new realm for Gerwig, however, is in its sheer, go-for-broke style. Barbieland is a marvel of production and costume design, replicating the look and feel of many of the brand’s classic products in eye-popping fashion. The choreography in numerous dance sequences is also incredibly impressive, and the soundtrack slaps. There are also some stunning visual choices that further enhance some of the narrative’s most impactful moments. I suppose it’s not a surprise that a director as skilled as Greta Gerwig made a great Barbie movie, but in an era where so much IP seems to be spinning its wheels and cynicism about these synergistic brand name movies is high, Gerwig uses this film to further cement herself as one of the most creative and thoughtful directors working today. In the process, she turns a corporate product into an instant classic that feels at once personal and universal. It’s truly, to borrow Gerwig’s own words, a film for everyone aged 8 to 108, and it’s also going to be studied and beloved in film and gender classes for decades to come. A

This was just unbelievably lovely. Amazing visual design, top-shelf performances from a huge cast where everyone understands the assignment to a T, lots of meta humor and commentary that enhance the themes rather than detracting from them, and oh, just, so many moments where I sat there with my eyes welling up at the nuanced emotions Greta Gerwig works like a pro. This deserves every cent it will make and probably more.

I'm actually kinda surprised that the gender breakdown doesn't slant even more female for Barbie. The fact that at least some men are showing up for a film whose brand name has always been anathema to boys speaks to the effectiveness of the ad campaign (and the Barbenheimer hype) in reaching at least a little across the gendered aisle.

Between the reviews and the preview numbers, I could not be more excited for Barbenheimer! Easily the most excited I've been for a big new movie since... I dunno, preview night for The Force Awakens? Maybe even since The Dark Knight Rises? I'm also one of those weird people doing Barbie first. I get the palate cleanser argument, but I dunno; I feel like if I did Oppenheimer first, I'd spend more of the running time than I'd like thinking about all the much more colorful stuff I would be seeing afterward.

And it came in spite of leading off the summer blockbuster season and opening in over 4,000 theaters, which only precious few event films did at the time. I also remember that it had some crazy huge tracking numbers a few weeks out that painted an inaccurate picture of where awareness and anticipation really were. All that said, I've always really enjoyed M:I-III. Philip Seymour Hoffman is a great villain and the Alias-influenced style J.J. Abrams brings behind the camera still makes it feel unique all this time later. It's still a really fun summer movie.

I'll need further reflection and repeat viewings to know for sure, but this is in the same upper tier of the franchise as the first and sixth films in my book. That runtime just flew by, and the big sequences are absolute showstoppers. It's wild that we're seven films and 27 years deep and this franchise is still cooking with gas.

13-year-old me, who vibed hard with M:I-2 on DVD in the summer of 2004 for whatever reason, feels vindicated that enough people have come around on seeing it for the cheesy fun it is. I think it's handily the weakest entry in the franchise, but I still have a lot of fun whenever I revisit it for franchise rewatches. Definitely makes me wish that John Woo had gotten better projects to work with afterward, since his style still comes through despite obvious post-production interference. 2000 is a really wacky box office year in general. There are so many stats on #1s, repeat #1s, $100 million grossers, all-time opening charts of the time, massive breakouts, and... well... basically everything about The Grinch's run that feel like they needed several footnotes to fully explain their context even just a few years later. In many ways, it felt like the last hurrah of the box office trends of the '90s before opening weekends and emphasis on franchises and IP began to absolutely explode in '01.

I was thinking about this while rewatching the entire franchise in the run-up to seeing Dead Reckoning today, but it is kinda weird to think how the first two Mission: Impossible films both posted the third biggest opening weekend ever at their respective times of release, while none of the subsequent sequels sniffed anywhere near those relative heights. During said rewatches, I also remembered how badly M:I-III underperformed at the box office and was glad that the whole franchise wasn't just canceled right then and there. I'll never forget my jaw literally dropping when I got back home from a weekend trip with no internet access (because 2006, LOL) and saw that film's $48 million weekend estimate, which then dropped even further with actuals. Between that and the general backlash to Tom Cruise over his public antics around that time, it really seemed like the franchise was dead in the water. To see it still getting a $290 million budgeted Part One 17 years later feels absolutely bonkers in the best way.

A Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse A- Air Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Asteroid City Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One John Wick: Chapter 4 B+ Creed III Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Evil Dead Rise Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 Joy Ride M3GAN Scream VI Sisu B Beau Is Afraid Elemental The Flash Knock at the Cabin The Little Mermaid Missing No Hard Feelings Renfield B- Cocaine Bear Fast X Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Magic Mike's Last Dance C+ The Super Mario Bros Movie Transformers: Rise of the Beasts C Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Shazam! Fury of the Gods

01/07 The Fabelmans (2) 01/08 M3GAN 01/21 The Whale 01/22 Avatar: The Way of Water (3) (3D) 01/28 A Man Called Otto 02/04 Knock at the Cabin 02/05 Living 02/12 Titanic (2) (3D) 02/17 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 02/18 Magic Mike's Last Dance 02/25 Cocaine Bear 02/26 Missing 03/04 Creed III 03/14 Bull Durham 03/17 Shazam! Fury of the Gods 03/18 Scream VI 03/24 John Wick: Chapter 4 04/02 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 04/08 Air 04/11 Unforgiven 04/16 Renfield 04/23 Evil Dead Rise 04/29 Beau Is Afraid 05/05 Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 05/13 Sisu 06/07 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 06/08 The Little Mermaid 06/09 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. 06/10 Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 06/12 The Super Mario Bros Movie 06/13 The Shawshank Redemption 06/19 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2) 06/20 Elemental 06/22 Fast X 06/23 Asteroid City 06/24 The Flash 06/26 No Hard Feelings 06/27 Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 (2) 06/30 Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 07/07 Joy Ride 07/15 Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Somehow, 27 years in, the Mission: Impossible film franchise remains as fresh and vital as ever with Dead Reckoning Part One. In a series that has already delivered more than its fair share of memorable, elaborate action sequences and followed certain traditions and story beats with reliable precision, director and co-writer Christopher McQuarrie continues to bring a strong sense of cleverness and invention that makes the proceedings so dynamic and exciting that it hits objectives without ever feeling like it’s checking off boxes. Even when it engages in franchise mainstays like chasing a MacGuffin, disarming a bomb, or latex mask disguises, it does so in ways that feel organic to the plot and elevate the stakes the characters face. The result is a film whose 163-minute runtime zips by as the narrative glides from one breathtaking sequence to another, and the climax ranks among the most ambitious, exciting, and visually stunning pieces across the entire franchise; that said, there’s also a car chase through Venice whose sheer propulsive energy places it a close second. Even though the film explicitly bills itself as the first part of a larger story, it also feels like a mostly complete and satisfying story, ending on more of a pause between acts than the kind of cliffhanger one would normally expect from a part one. As always, Tom Cruise is in his element as Ethan Hunt, working his charm and physicality to brilliant effect; even in his sixties, Cruise approaches his many ridiculous stunts with the same swagger and verve he has possessed throughout his entire career, and he’s as fun as ever to watch. The supporting stalwarts are all a delight to see again, especially Henry Czerny in his first time back since the 1996 original with the same level of command he possessed back then and Vanessa Kirby in a performance that takes surprisingly effective physical and comedic turns. The new cast members are also rock-solid, with Hayley Atwell in a highly entertaining performance as a slippery, reluctant sidekick who shares fun chemistry with Cruise, Esai Morales in an effectively intimidating performance as the new (human) heavy, and Pom Klementieff as a cool henchwoman who gets some suitably badass moments. Franchises that run this long normally see diminishing returns and exist as shells of their former selves, but Dead Reckoning Part One successfully takes the Mission: Impossible series to ever more impressive places and – best of all – still feels like it’s gearing up for something even bigger and better without sacrificing any of its effectiveness in the here and now. A- And now, the more spoilery stray thoughts: - I was hyped as soon as Henry Czerny showed up in the trailer last summer, and his return as Kittridge does not disappoint. I loved the subversion of the callback when Ethan responded nonchalantly to Kittridge's "I know you're very upset" line. - Watching this film after listening to most of Blank Check's coverage of Buster Keaton's films, it's hard not to see the Keaton influence here. McQuarrie's approach to focus on the action sequences first and build a story around them has paid off beautifully in the last three films, as it has allowed for the action to be more audacious and elaborate while also not making the surrounding plot points feel convoluted or overstuffed. - Not gonna lie: I feel like the filmmakers must have looked at their watches while seeing No Time to Die and said "Let's go even further into the runtime before hitting the opening credits. And yet, much like in that film, I can't imagine a break in the action coming any earlier without feeling obligatory or rushed. - The decision to shed more light on Ethan's origin and the IMF inner workings is really well done. It's done in such a compelling fashion that it doesn't just feel like a retcon, and it retroactively adds layers to his characterization and that of other IMF folks, and all without bogging down the narrative. I'm excited to see where they go with these ideas in the next film. - I low-key loved how the film paused to show Grace tying her hair back after moving to the exterior of the train. One of those little things you almost never see, even when it makes perfect sense for a character to do.