Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) - 4K UHD Review

Review:

*Originally written November 3rd, 2011*

For many people (Including myself) Ghost Protocol is the first film in the Mission: Impossible franchise that found a formula that launched the franchise from good to great. The first three films all had their own unique style and voice, for better or worse (MI2 is appalling), but they were lacking something. Thankfully Brad Bird came along and gave us an action film that rides the right line between action thriller and cartoony set-pieces.

It's so great to see that Tom Cruise still hasn't changed in 7 years. The set-piece on the tallest building in the world is just outrageous and exciting, the best the series got until this years Fallout. It's always just a treat to see Tom Cruise performance these stunts himself. He really gives it his all while delivering a charismatic and easy to root for Ethan Hunt.

This is also the first one that introduces Simon Pegg as the one of the main team members. He was in the third, but only as a tiny part, so it's much more interesting to see him in the field this time and bouncing off Hunt so well. It's strange to see Paula Patton leave such an impact in this film, but then never appear in another, there was a lot more chance to explore her character and whatever reason they didn't.

The only real weak spot of the team here is Jeremy Renner, who amounts to absolutely nothing. There's an intriguing backstory for his character that we learn throughout the run-time, making way for a very unearned and weird twist at the end. It's pretty easy to see why wasn't in Fallout and no one really noticed, because I nearly forgot he was in this one. It's weird just seeing a team work so well together, then Renner in the middle just having absolutely no chemistry at all with them.

The plot is what you'd come to expect at this point, it doesn't twist the formula massively, but it does what it tries to do so well. Ethan's team have to stop terrorist with nuclear codes while going country to country. It's fine. All absolutely fine. It's just a shame that the villains are very under-cooked and wasted. The only one that leaves a lasting impression is Lea Seydoux as an assassin responsible for starting the chain of events that kicks off the plot, so it's a shame she's written out pretty quickly to make way for a far less intimidating bad guy. 

There was a point where Ghost Protocol was my favourite Mission: Impossible film, but maybe due to the laws of diminishing returns or just preferring the slightly darker tone they went for in the next two films, I still really like Ghost Protocol, but don't quite love it. Watching it on 4K was at least a treat, an extremely impressive transfer that really showed off those yellows and Tom Cruise's gorgeous face. This is also the first time I'd notice just how poor some of the CGI in this was. The Kremlin explosion and nuke launching look utterly atrocious. 


Ghost Protocol starts the formula that has made the next few Mission: Impossibles so great. It's not perfect, but Brad Bird does a great job delivering us an extremely entertaining spy-thriller with a familiar plot, but insanely exciting set-pieces made even better with Tom Cruise's total commitment. 

8/10 Dans

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written July 26th, 2018*

Dear, God. Where do I begin with this? It's rare that a sixth film in a franchise manages to easily be the best, but Mission: Impossible - Fallout not only manages that, but somehow also becomes one of the greatest action films ever made. I know it's just come out, but I was just in awe at the cinematic display of artistry here. 

I came out of this with the same feeling I got when leaving Blade Runner 2049, Mad Max: Fury Road and The Dark Knight, that feeling that cinema is still alive. Which is so damn rare considering that 80% of what is released in cinemas these days is complete garbage. Fallout is a film so dedicated from everyone involved to giving the audience a good time, and it goes above and beyond that and more.

Fallout does so much other films wouldn't dare to do, or they'd just do it with computer effects. Here, every stunt looks and feels real, because it is. Tom Cruise fully commits himself to every outrageous and insane stunt presented to him, all while still being an absolute charisma magnet. He just oozes star material and I genuinely believe he could lead any film handed to him. From the HALO jump, to the helicopter chase, he must be an insurance nightmare for the studio.

Every set-piece is loaded with excitement and tension, and there are a lot of them. Even at 147 minutes, Fallout never drags or loses steam, it is relentless. It's one of those rare feats where the progression of the story and of the characters manages to feel organic with the action on display. 

While being action heavy, Fallout still manages to tell an engaging story that is always going in interesting places. For the first time, a Mission Impossible film leads on from the events of the previous one. Everything here is a direct result of the IMF capturing anarchist terrorist Solomon Lane, leading them on a mission to essentially find 3 nuclear warheads before what's left of Lane's organisation can put them to use. 

While the story sounds very surface level and basic, they did a lot with character to change things up. Cruise's Ethan Hunt is much more humanised this time around, we actually explore his motivations on why he continually puts his life at risk over and over again to save the world. Fallout avoids the trope of the lead character who feels like a superhero, able to withstand any incident with out a scratch, Hunt may not end up in the same state as say John McClane, but he feels very similar to Bond in Casino Royale, where he takes a lot of damage by the end of it.

I was surprised by the brutality on display too, it really pushes that 12A rating to edge. The fistfights in this are absolutely brutal, the sound design really helps you feel every punch landing, particularly from Henry Cavill, who is an absolute tank here, even to the point where he as to "Reload" his arms in the middle of a fight. Cavill is an actor who gets a lot of flack for being wooden and cardboard and for "Ruining Superman", but he's actually damn good here, delivering a pretty menacing role that shows him off as a complete specimen of a man.

The series seems to know it's formula now, they have their team together (Aside from Jeremy Renner, who I didn't even notice wasn't in the film). Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Rebecca Ferguson all return. Ferguson given the most to and easily the most compelling arc of the supporting team. Pegg is still great as the comic relief, even if he is given more action to work with this time around. And Ving Rhames is just Ving Rhames. Bless him.

My biggest fear is how they'll top this instalment, but I've said that for the past two films and have been proved wrong. I have faith Cruise and co have something utterly batshit up their sleeve for the inevitable seventh entry, but I just hope they have a good story to go with it too, the door is left open for plenty of places to go, I just want them not to feel formulaic. Which is the last thing Fallout feels.


I'll finish by saying Mission: Impossible - Fallout is a landmark achievement in action cinema. It's pure cinema, a beautifully shot, relentless work of art that joins the ranks of Die Hard, Terminator 2 and Mad Max: Fury Road. By far the best of the franchise and one of the best action films ever made, and also my film of the year so far. Never stop, Tom Cruise. You're a maniac and my daddy. I love you.

10/10 Dans

Mission: Impossible - Fallout is out now in cinemas in the UK, with a HMV exclusive 4K steelbook also available to pre-order.

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Edge of Tomorrow (2014) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written May 13th, 2015*

Edge of Tomorrow always surprises me with each watch. I doubt many people asked "What would Groundhog Day be like as a sci-fi action film?". But amazingly, the concept works far better than it should.

It's insanely entertaining and a brisk 2 hour watch with an excellent performance from Tom Cruise who plays against type here as a coward Major who is forced into a battle and obtains the ability to repeat the day every time he dies after an encounter with an "Alpha Mimic". I was surprised at just how funny this was too, Cruise manages to balance both comedy and bad-ass action hero both effortlessly.

Cruises character builds more as the film goes on, going from an incompetent soldier who doesn't even know how to turn the safety of his weapon to a bad-ass who doesn't even have to look when killing an alien. It's almost like a video game, it even feels like a video game at times. It'd probably go as far as saying this is the best video game movie ever made, except it's not based on a video game.

The design of the mech-suits and aliens are really creative and so much better than alien designs we've had from recent films (Battle: Los Angeles). The action is inventive and fun, the opening scene that was very reminiscent of D-Day, but with aliens and soldiers in mech-suits. The whole dying and coming back to life thing could have made for some very repetitive action and scenes, but they manage to keep it interesting all the way through from beginning to end.

Emily Blunt provides the highlight of the film as the 'Full Metal Bitch' a hardened soldier who helps Cruise as she went through what he did at some point. She manages to outshine Cruise at points, making for a compelling co-lead, delivering some great action too.


The only thing that lets Edge of Tomorrow down is its ending, which in all honesty doesn't make much sense. That aside, It is one of the best and most enjoyable blockbusters of recent years. A sequel has also been announced, but I'm not entirely sure what the point would be?

9/10 Dans

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Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written October 21st, 2016*

Wow. That was not good. While the first Jack Reacher is hardly a masterpiece, it was at least fun, had some decent action and an engaging story. Never Go Back has none of that. It's a bland, boring and forgettable thriller that barely goes above the level of straight-to-DVD fodder.

Nothing about this film is above mediocre. Sure, Tom Cruise does his usual thing, but something feels off about his performance. He's nowhere near as commanding as he was in the first. All the detective work and mystery elements are gone in a favour of a boring "Go here, fight people" loop until the story fizzled out and ended. 

I really expect more from Edward Zwick, who has made some really great stuff, but this feels like it was a made by anybody. None of the action had any lasting effect. I saw this an hour ago and I honestly cannot recall any of the action.

The story is pretty straight-forward, lacking any real surprises compared to the twisty fun of the first. There's also a completely tacked on sub-plot involving Jack Reacher's maybe daughter that could have been cut completely. It felt long and boring at 2 hours, maybe cutting out this 20 minutes could have improved things. I'm not sure what the point of her was, especially considering the ending.

Werner Herzog might not have been an amazing villain, but he at least had a memorable presence. No one here had an impact. There was a guy from Prison Break and some henchman who seems to have a complete hatred for Reacher and I'm not entirely sure why?


The biggest problem with Never Go Back is that it just feels formulaic. If Jack Reacher was a TV show, then Never Go Back would be a forgettable episode that you won't remember after you watch it. A complete shame and the probable nail in the coffin for the potential Jack Reacher franchise, but then again, who knows. Maybe this'll do big business at the box-office and we get a director who does something interesting for a third.

4/10 Dans

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written August 7th, 2015*

"Cruising"


Ditching the cartoony fun that Brad Bird bought to the franchise with Ghost Protocol for a more darker and sinister take, Rogue Nation is another excellent edition to the long running series. It's amazing that the Mission Impossible films have gone on since 1996 and have only had one dud (M.I.2) out the lot.

Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt once again with outstanding charisma and dedication to the role. While the stunts don't come to the height that Ghost Protocol brought, there are still an amazing array of scenes to be in awe at. People were worried that they spoiled the plane set-piece with the trailer, and in all honesty, they didn't. The scene is still spectacular and jaw-dropping, especially when you know that it is actually Tom Cruise hanging on the side of a plane for real. There seems to be some strong prejudice against Cruise because of his behaviour and personal beliefs, but I say do what you want when you constantly deliver such incredibly fun films with 100% effort put in.

The story is much darker this time around. It's a pretty personal story for the IMF (Impossible Mission Force) team as they try and take down a society of agents who do what they do, but evil. While it lacks the end of the world stakes of the previous film, I personally preferred this darker story and it found it to be the most compelling film of the whole franchise.

This is also the first time in the series that the members of the team are all returning members from previous films. The comic relief Simon Pegg returns as Benji in a much more expanded role and steals all the scenes he is in, there was a strange but funny scene of product placement where he is playing Halo 5 on Xbox One at the CIA rather than working. Jeremy Renner came back with a much smaller role and didn't really do much. Ving Rhames was excellent as series veteran Luther. 

The only two new cast members are Rebecca Ferguson and Alec Baldwin. Ferguson was awesome, where has this women been? She handled action fantastically and had great chemistry with Cruise, her character was even interesting on top of this. Baldwin was forgettable as the new head of IMF, although he did have the strangest and most wonderful line in the whole film "Hunt is the living manifestation of destiny", I don't know what it meant, but it was just a beautiful moment.

On the villain side of things, Sean Harris was very sinister and chilling as Solomon, this series isn't very well known for its villains, but they did a pretty good job here. I just felt they could have developed him a bit more and gave us better motivation for his actions.


Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is another slice of insanely entertaining spy action with great set-pieces, a game performance from Cruise and the best story the series has had yet.

8/10 Dans

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Interview with the Vampire (1994) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written October 4th, 2017*

"Suck me dry, Tom Cruise"

I rarely enjoy vampire films, and I'm not entirely sure why. I just find them generally boring for some reason. Even loved ones like Bram Stoker's Dracula, there's just something about that period setting that makes it a chore to get through.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Interview With the Vampire. Brad Pitt was great, as was a really young Kirsten Dunst. While Tom Cruise was easily the highlight as the villain. It's a shame he disappears for such a long stretch of the film. All the stuff between him and Pitt were my favourite parts. It was also a weird surprise to see Christian Slater in a film that wasn't straight-to-DVD.

It looks awesome. There's just something about '90s films that feel a lot better. The sets are all built and not CGI, the costumes look great and I love the smokey look of everything. I can't fault the atmosphere.

My main fault is really just how much things come to halt in the second half. The stuff in Paris is far less interesting than in New Orleans, although Antonio Banderas is clearly having fun with his campy role. 

I need to see more good vampire films like this. Enough so the word "Vampire" doesn't instantly put me off a film.

7/10 Dans

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American Made (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written September 4th, 2017*

"Stranger Than Fiction"

American Made tells the absurd true story of Barry Seal. A pilot who was hired by the CIA for surveillance photos, which eventually led to him running guns for the CIA, cocaine for The Cartel, then eventually even working for The White House.

Tom Cruise effortlessly sells this role. He makes charisma look as easy as breathing. This guy oozes a screen presence, even in his 50's. He may not look like the real Barry Seal, but that doesn't matter, what we got was much more fun and entertaining thanks to Cruise's persona.

The story takes the 'Wolf of Wall Street' with its approach. Dense in style and quick-paced storytelling. American Made does not stop for a second to breathe, the whole film is a breeze and some of the most fun I've had all year. Doug Liman proves here he really is an excellent director (If 2014's Edge of Tomorrow, also with Tom Cruise didn't prove that already). His eye for style is always engaging and sporadic. The camera is always moving or telling the story in different ways.

Telling a true story is always a tough thing. It usually comes off as boring cradle to grave Oscar Bait garbage, here it's at least visually fun and always entertaining. The '70s setting made use for a lot of great songs and I loved the use of retro logos for the opening titles and credits.

I'd be lying if I said Tom Cruise wasn't the thing holding this film together. The rest of the cast are mostly underused and forgettable. I'm also getting kinda sick of seeing Caleb Landry Jones pop up in things. I'm honestly concerned for the health of that guy, has he got scurvy or something? Serious question. 

I was also surprised at just how funny this all was too. It goes to some absurd places and Tom Cruise proves he is just as good at comedy as he is action and drama. Despite the mostly light tone, the film does go to some quite dark places (Especially towards the end if you know the story already), but Liman manages to mix the comedy with drama extremely well. There's even some pretty tense moments spread throughout.

American Made might not be high art, but it's an insanely entertaining ride with incredible charismatic and likeable Tom Cruise performance. This year's Wolf of Wall Street or War Dogs. 

8/10 Dans

American Made is out now in cinemas in the UK
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The Mummy (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written June 20th, 2017*

 "Leave it buried"

The Mummy is the first entry in Universal's 'Dark Universe' which technically started with 2014's Dracula Untold, but due to the poor reception, they scrapped and started again with is. Based on the critical blasting The Mummy has recieved, I'm interested to see what happens with it, they have some interesting cast and directors set for future films, but in all honesty, The Mummy is very mediocre restart to the universe.

2017's The Mummy feels like a remake of Brendan Fraser's The Mummy from 1999 (that I rewatched this week), but set in the modern day. I'll be honest, I was into this for the first act or so. The opening scenes feature a baby murder (Always a plus) and Tom Cruise plays a sort of dickish Nathan Drake or Indiana Jones. He's fun and charismatic enough, but his attempts at humour are a huge miss, which is strange considering his comedic talents were shown off very well in Edge of Tomorrow.

My biggest problem with The Mummy is how convoluted and boring it gets as it goes along. It pretty much loses all its steam after a brief, but excellent plane crash (That is highlighted in all the trailers). I was reminded of World War Z, a film that started strong, but just got worse as it went on. Most of the action is just heavily-bombastic on CGI and really uninteresting.

I was surprised at Sofia Boutella's performance as The Mummy, she was actually quite intimidating and was given more to do than I expected. I really liked the design and the look of the triple eye thing. I was also surprised by the end, which went in a direction I did not expect at all.

I wish the tone had been a bit more consistent, it really is a nightmare at times. It goes from Indiana Jones like adventure, to horror to strange Austin Powers like comedy as Tom Cruise is walking naked around a morgue with random props are covering his junk. It doesn't help that none of the comedy hits either, especially Jake Johnson's comic-relief, who was irritating and brutal.

The worst part was Russell Crowe strangely enough as Dr. Jekyll, who is essentially the Nick Fury of this cinematic universe. He was fine as Dr. Jekyll, not exactly memorable, but fine, but when he becomes Mr. Hyde, do this gets terrible. He hams it up to 11 with an atrocious accent that feels so out of place in this film, it was bizzare.

It was weird to see how little The Mummy does to establish this Dark Universe. Once we got to Russell Crowe's organization, there's loads of easter eggs to the Universal Monsters, but there's no hints to future films in the series, which made it feel stand-alone at the very least. Oh, and there's a weird nod to Brendad Fraser's Mummy trilogy, which makes it canon to this universe, sort of? The film also opens with the 'Dark Universe' logo, which nearly made me throw up.

The Mummy isn't as horrible as the critics made it out to be, but for the most part it is pretty dull, bland and forgettable despite Tom Cruise's game performance and a solid opening act.

5/10 Dans

The Mummy is out now in cinemas in the UK
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Edge of Tomorrow (2014) - Film Review

Review:

Edge of Tomorrow always surprises me with each watch. I doubt many people asked "What would Groundhog Day be like as a sci-fi action film?". But amazingly, the concept works far better than it should.

It's insanely entertaining and a brisk 2 hour watch with an excellent performance from Tom Cruise who plays against type here as a coward Major who is forced into a battle and obtains the ability to repeat the day every time he dies after an encounter with an "Alpha Mimic". I was surprised at just how funny this was too, Cruise manages to balance both comedy and bad-ass action hero both effortlessy.

Cruises character builds more as the film goes on, going from an incompetent soldier who doesn't even know how to turn the safety of his weapon to a bad-ass who doesn't even have to look when killing an alien. It's almost like a video game, it even feels like a video game at times. It'd probably go as far as saying this is the best video game movie ever made, except it's not based on a video game.

Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt

The design of the mech-suits and aliens are really creative and so much better than alien designs we've had from recent films (Battle: Los Angeles). The action is inventive and fun, the opening scene that was very reminiscent of D-Day, but with aliens and soldiers in mech-suits. The whole dying and coming back to life thing could have made for some very repetitive action and scenes, but they manage to keep it interesting all the way through from beginning to end.

Emily Blunt provides the highlight of the film as the 'Full Metal Bitch' a hardened soldier who helps Cruise as she went through what he did at some point. She manages to outshine Cruise at points, making for a compelling co-lead, delivering some great action too.

The only thing that lets Edge of Tomorrow down is its ending, which in all honesty doesn't make much sense. That aside, It is one of the best and most enjoyable blockbusters of recent years. A sequel has also been announced, but I'm not entirely sure what the point would be?

9/10 Dans

Edge of Tomorrow is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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