Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 | July 12 2023 | 99% on Rotten Tomatoes! | 290M budget so far, Cruise holding Paramount hostage for more money

[OncomingStorm93]

Got out a few hours ago, been digesting. Unsurprisingly, it's very very very very very very very good, and at many times great. But it falls just shy of the past three. It does everything as well as you could hope for; the action, the humor, the stakes, the character interactions, the stunts, the production values... it's all there. But I don't think there's any individual artistic or technical element that is better than the respective element from the GP-RN-F stretch. I thought the first two-thirds of the film were stronger than the last third, aside from the conclusion to the train sequence. In particular, the espionage thriller elements of those first two thirds I found is where the film was at it's finest.

 

Haley Atwell was fantastic as always, I knew she was prominent in the film but I wasn't expecting her to be second-billed. Esai Morales was utterly forgettable, but that's more do to how bland his character was. A shame. Lorne Balfe's score was less remarkable than his Fallout score. I missed the bongos. I missed the intensity of the music from the HALO jump. Along those lines, the cinematography here was very solid but seldom as vibrant as, let's say the helicopter chase from Fallout, with those beautiful landscapes. The action was great here, but again just falling short of that Fallout intensity. And while I didn't mind the exposition-heavy scenes early on, it got grating when they were still happening deep in the third act. There's a couple story/character decisions that I'm disappointed with.

 

For all the talk of this being the "funniest" MI film, and I did laugh strongly throughout, I'm still not sure anything was funnier than "no shit" in Protocol, Ethan's car chase while half-dead in Rogue Nation, or Benji not giving Ethan the right directions in Fallout's London chase.

 

All in all, still a great action film that I look forward to catching again in theaters, but in a few months from now if I need to toss a recent action film, I'm going with John Wick 4. That said, the stage has been set for Dead Reckoning Part 2 to climb to new heights.

[kayumanggi]

I'm seated. 😀

[John Rambo]

Once again MI series stays consistent with DR:Part One.

 

Loved the movie. It was complete fun from start till the end which is what i wanted. Will post detailed review in review thread tomorrow.

 

Booked night show again and this time it's in IMAX. My ranking would be somewhat like this 4-6-7-5-3-1-2. Not sure if this will change in 2nd watch but yes i loved it. 

[kayumanggi]

4 hours ago, kayumanggi said:

I'm seated. 😀

 

hmmm

[kayumanggi]

6 hours ago, OncomingStorm93 said:

Got out a few hours ago, been digesting. Unsurprisingly, it's very very very very very very very good, and at many times great. But it falls just shy of the past three. It does everything as well as you could hope for; the action, the humor, the stakes, the character interactions, the stunts, the production values... it's all there. But I don't think there's any individual artistic or technical element that is better than the respective element from the GP-RN-F stretch. I thought the first two-thirds of the film were stronger than the last third, aside from the conclusion to the train sequence. In particular, the espionage thriller elements of those first two thirds I found is where the film was at it's finest.

 

Haley Atwell was fantastic as always, I knew she was prominent in the film but I wasn't expecting her to be second-billed. Esai Morales was utterly forgettable, but that's more do to how bland his character was. A shame. Lorne Balfe's score was less remarkable than his Fallout score. I missed the bongos. I missed the intensity of the music from the HALO jump. Along those lines, the cinematography here was very solid but seldom as vibrant as, let's say the helicopter chase from Fallout, with those beautiful landscapes. The action was great here, but again just falling short of that Fallout intensity. And while I didn't mind the exposition-heavy scenes early on, it got grating when they were still happening deep in the third act. There's a couple story/character decisions that I'm disappointed with.

 

For all the talk of this being the "funniest" MI film, and I did laugh strongly throughout, I'm still not sure anything was funnier than "no shit" in Protocol, Ethan's car chase while half-dead in Rogue Nation, or Benji not giving Ethan the right directions in Fallout's London chase.

 

All in all, still a great action film that I look forward to catching again in theaters, but in a few months from now if I need to toss a recent action film, I'm going with John Wick 4. That said, the stage has been set for Dead Reckoning Part 2 to climb to new heights.

 

These are exactly my thoughts. I thought the first two acts of the movie were stronger than the last one. The saving grace of the third act is that train sequence. Everyone was great, especially Atwell. I also admire Cruise's passion and all his stunts and running lol. That's crazy for an actor his age. What I didn't like much though was how 'forced,' for lack of a better word, that 'stunt' that has been shown in the trailer and marketing was. I felt like it was just there because Cruise wanted to do it. Don't get me wrong though, this is still a great movie. I'm excited for part II.

[ZattMurdock]

4 minutes ago, kayumanggi said:

 

These are exactly my thoughts. I thought the first two acts of the movie were stronger than the last one. The saving grace of the third act is that train sequence. Everyone was great, especially Atwell. I also admire Cruise's passion and all his stunts and running lol. That's crazy for an actor his age. What I didn't like much though was how 'forced,' for lack of a better word, that 'stunt' that has been shown in the trailer and marketing was. I felt like it was just there because Cruise wanted to do it. Don't get me wrong though, this is still a great movie. I'm excited for part II.

Atwell needs a Captain Carter series. I don’t care how they bring her back, I want her back as much as I want more Steve Rogers. 

[xieh tie]

 

[Dragoncaine]

7 hours ago, OncomingStorm93 said:

Got out a few hours ago, been digesting. Unsurprisingly, it's very very very very very very very good, and at many times great. But it falls just shy of the past three. It does everything as well as you could hope for; the action, the humor, the stakes, the character interactions, the stunts, the production values... it's all there. But I don't think there's any individual artistic or technical element that is better than the respective element from the GP-RN-F stretch. I thought the first two-thirds of the film were stronger than the last third, aside from the conclusion to the train sequence. In particular, the espionage thriller elements of those first two thirds I found is where the film was at it's finest.

 

Haley Atwell was fantastic as always, I knew she was prominent in the film but I wasn't expecting her to be second-billed. Esai Morales was utterly forgettable, but that's more do to how bland his character was. A shame. Lorne Balfe's score was less remarkable than his Fallout score. I missed the bongos. I missed the intensity of the music from the HALO jump. Along those lines, the cinematography here was very solid but seldom as vibrant as, let's say the helicopter chase from Fallout, with those beautiful landscapes. The action was great here, but again just falling short of that Fallout intensity. And while I didn't mind the exposition-heavy scenes early on, it got grating when they were still happening deep in the third act. There's a couple story/character decisions that I'm disappointed with.

 

For all the talk of this being the "funniest" MI film, and I did laugh strongly throughout, I'm still not sure anything was funnier than "no shit" in Protocol, Ethan's car chase while half-dead in Rogue Nation, or Benji not giving Ethan the right directions in Fallout's London chase.

 

All in all, still a great action film that I look forward to catching again in theaters, but in a few months from now if I need to toss a recent action film, I'm going with John Wick 4. That said, the stage has been set for Dead Reckoning Part 2 to climb to new heights.

I think I liked DR a bit better than you and preferred it to Rogue Nation, but otherwise, I totally agree. There were a few exposition bumps, though I thought the film largely flew by and was packed with great sequences. I also enjoyed the focus on AI as the villain more than I was anticipating. Probably 3rd best in the franchise for me after Fallout and Ghost Protocol. This movie was very well shot and more De Palma-esque in that sense, though Rogue Nation might still be the best looking.

[Lucas]

54 minutes ago, kayumanggi said:

What I didn't like much though was how 'forced,' for lack of a better word, that 'stunt' that has been shown in the trailer and marketing was.

Spoiler

It is quite literally forced since Benji forces the stunt to happen, that's the joke (and point) of the scene.

 

[kayumanggi]

1 minute ago, Lucas said:

  Reveal hidden contents

It is quite literally forced since Benji forces the stunt to happen, that's the joke (and point) of the scene.

 

 

That's not how I felt about it, unfortunately.

[Lucas]

7 minutes ago, kayumanggi said:

 

That's not how I felt about it, unfortunately.

Yeah it's fair.

Spoiler

Basically what I got out of it is Benji is starting to take Ethan's death defying stunts for granted. He literally tricks Ethan up the mountain because he just assumes an unbelievable stunt will happen to fix all their issues with getting on the train.

"What do you expect me to do?"
"Well just... you know, jump."

Benji doesn't even consider it a big deal, for him he's the one under actual pressure. Just jump and Ethan literally responds with "it doesn't work like that". Every line of dialogue and motivations in the scene points to Benji trying to force a classic Mission: Impossible stunt to simplify their situation, no doubt him starting to take them for granted will be followed up on in Part 2.

[LegionWrex]

Rewatched the McQuarrie films yesterday since I'm seeing MI7 today.

 

Rogue Nation is slick as hell. That thing moves, and I mean moves, nary a wasted second and it's a blast from start to finish. The opera house sequence is an all timer out of the gate, the way it syncs up to the music and uses the actual location as part of the tension and attack is stellar. Everything in the Morroco sequence is great too, from the deep water stuff to the motorcycle chase; the entire bit where he's basically half-drunk from being dead and driving a car is hilarious. I think where Ghost Protocol inches it out a bit for me is that Rogue Nation lacks a strong "thing" to carry it's second half, and that's fine! I like how Rogue Nation is more dialouge and tension focused anyways, it's more a thriller then a romp. But also I find the rotating car garbage climax of Ghost Protocol to be much more fun then the "shoot a couple of guys" of Rogue Nation.

 

Fallout though? Perfect film, no notes. Crazy on how it's basically an all timer out of the gate; the cinematography immediately indicates that McQuarrie stepped up his game for this. I know I said I prefer my M:I films to be playful but Fallout's grim, bleak tone is so perfect for this particular story cause it's essentially the culmination (or "fallout") of Ethan's story up to this point. He's played god so many times and now he's actually tested as a person. Helps that the film's action scenes and setpieces are so masterful. The halo jump sequence is the most insane thing you've ever seen and it's not even the best (or even most insane thing) in the movie. Just phenomenal stuff.

[ThePhasmid]

10 hours ago, HesAPooka said:

Honestly my favorite sequence was the Airport.

It was the classic McQuarrie appetizer. The first complicated action scene that starts the ball rolling. Not quite as good as the opera scene in RN (very few things are), but still a great way to begin the nonstop thrills that ensue. 

Edited July 12, 2023 by ThePhasmid

[titanic2187]

Between this and JW4, it is time to get Best Stunt award to Oscar!

[CoolioD1]

Haven't watched this yet but I just finished my rewatch of 1-6. Here's my ranking

 

1. Rebecca Ferguson

2. Thandie Newton

3. Maggie Q

4. Paula Patton

5. Vanessa Kirby

6. Emmanuelle Beart

7. Michelle Monaghan

[ringedmortality]

Just now, CoolioD1 said:

Haven't watched this yet but I just finished my rewatch of 1-6. Here's my ranking

 

1. Rebecca Ferguson

2. Thandie Newton

3. Maggie Q

4. Paula Patton

5. Vanessa Kirby

6. Emmanuelle Beart

7. Michelle Monaghan

Woah woah woah what do you have against the older Emma Stone

[grim22]

Just now, CoolioD1 said:

Haven't watched this yet but I just finished my rewatch of 1-6. Here's my ranking

 

1. Rebecca Ferguson

2. Thandie Newton

3. Maggie Q

4. Paula Patton

5. Vanessa Kirby

6. Emmanuelle Beart

7. Michelle Monaghan

@Plain Old Telelikes this

[CoolioD1]

It's not like Michelle Monaghan isn't fine as hell but it's a competitive franchise.

 

And like I said i haven't seen the new one but just from the trailers Pom Klementieff in her stupid mime make up... kinda doing something for me.

[WorkingonaName]

Paula Patton is the only one with an album named after her. 

[ChipDerby]

I started my rewatch last night. So far:
 

1. Mission: Impossible