I was lucky to be able to watch this 4 days before its official release in Czech Republic as a pre-premiere (didn't know such a thing existed) and it was the first time I've felt real excitement to go watch a film at the cinema in ages thanks to the recent genius combination of Fallout and Top Gun 2.
I know what they were trying to do with this film. Bringing Kittridge back and a convoluted train finale all harked back to the 1st movie that sparked it all off. Explaining that convoluted storyline along the way harks back to the criticisms made about that same first film.
The sky jump stunt was an attempt to beat the stunts from Tom Cruise in previous installments that have now become a beloved trademark of the franchise.
But this film unfortunately overall is most reminiscent of the second installment which was Tom Cruise centric and lacked any real impossible mission requiring teamwork, real stakes and ingenious problem solving.
In fact, it could have even been intentional that this film reminds the viewer of Mission Impossible 2. The photos in the film of past Ethan Hunt when searching for present Ethan Hunt show him with his longer hair as he looked in that second film.
Ultimately, I expected the story to be way better than what we get in this instalment.
There are 2 guys that keep appearing at each scene trying to catch Ethan which seems a very cheap simple story.
And the very simple plot is explained in long scenes to make it seem way more complicated that it actually is (people complained there should be more explanation in the first film, but at least the plot in the first film actually required brain power), and I have to say that some of the acting is quite poor at times, not helped by some rather cheesy lines in the script, including the lines and accents in the opening Russian submarine sequence.
There is also not that much action. 3 main action sequences for a close to 3 hour movie, which are the desert shoot out at the beginning, the Venice car chase, and the train crash at the end.
I thought the alleyway fight scene, which some have praised, was really quite subpar and not very enthralling.
The best action scene is the Venice car chase because it is genuinely funny (yes, because it is excellently laugh out loud funny, but not in any way tense); I never had the feeling that I was on the edge of my seat.
The motorcycle sky jump scene was a major disappointment after the hype because if you didn't know Cruise actually did do that stunt, they used so much CGI that people would just assume it was computer generated. It actually reminded me of Pierce Brosnan's riding the tsunami in Die Another Day (sorry Tom! The stunt is still awesome!).
The same for the train at the end. I know they actually made that train, and probably actually threw it off a bridge, but it doesn't look real. Though it is a long action finale and very fun to watch, for me the lack of realism takes away any tension. You are enjoying it for its visual value, but again not feeling any 'wow' factor or tension.
At the end of Fallout, for example, you really felt Ethan Hunt was battered, bruised, worn out and still fighting to save humanity. There is none of that.
The most tragic thing about this movie is that, unlike in the best of the previous films, we're back to the team being irrelevant in this one. Benji and Luther don't actually do very much.
And poor Ilsa. Fallout ended with Ethan's ex-wife essentially giving him permission to move on and be with Ilsa.
The relationship between Ilsa and Hunt had been built up over two excellent movies - Rogue Nation and Fallout - and in this film she says almost nothing, looks grumpy and sad all the time, and dies in an anticlimactic fight that is literally spelt out to the audience as a way to replace her with newcomer Grace.
Grace, played by Hayley Atwell, is good. A likeable character and a capable actress, but I don't get the story unless Rebecca Ferguson said she wants out the franchise.
The film is all about chasing "the key." No twists. No high stakes. There is virtually no grittiness in this outing. It feels very light.
Ultimately I was hoping to enjoy a quality film in the franchise. A movie like Oblivion, Edge of Tomorrow, Fallout, Top Gun 2 or American Made that you can show to anyone and say these are recent really high quality films starring this guy called Tom Cruise.
This is not one of those films.
It is more like The Mummy. It is better than Mission Impossible 2 but not better than any of the others in the franchise.
I know what they were trying to do with this film. Bringing Kittridge back and a convoluted train finale all harked back to the 1st movie that sparked it all off. Explaining that convoluted storyline along the way harks back to the criticisms made about that same first film.
The sky jump stunt was an attempt to beat the stunts from Tom Cruise in previous installments that have now become a beloved trademark of the franchise.
But this film unfortunately overall is most reminiscent of the second installment which was Tom Cruise centric and lacked any real impossible mission requiring teamwork, real stakes and ingenious problem solving.
In fact, it could have even been intentional that this film reminds the viewer of Mission Impossible 2. The photos in the film of past Ethan Hunt when searching for present Ethan Hunt show him with his longer hair as he looked in that second film.
Ultimately, I expected the story to be way better than what we get in this instalment.
There are 2 guys that keep appearing at each scene trying to catch Ethan which seems a very cheap simple story.
And the very simple plot is explained in long scenes to make it seem way more complicated that it actually is (people complained there should be more explanation in the first film, but at least the plot in the first film actually required brain power), and I have to say that some of the acting is quite poor at times, not helped by some rather cheesy lines in the script, including the lines and accents in the opening Russian submarine sequence.
There is also not that much action. 3 main action sequences for a close to 3 hour movie, which are the desert shoot out at the beginning, the Venice car chase, and the train crash at the end.
I thought the alleyway fight scene, which some have praised, was really quite subpar and not very enthralling.
The best action scene is the Venice car chase because it is genuinely funny (yes, because it is excellently laugh out loud funny, but not in any way tense); I never had the feeling that I was on the edge of my seat.
The motorcycle sky jump scene was a major disappointment after the hype because if you didn't know Cruise actually did do that stunt, they used so much CGI that people would just assume it was computer generated. It actually reminded me of Pierce Brosnan's riding the tsunami in Die Another Day (sorry Tom! The stunt is still awesome!).
The same for the train at the end. I know they actually made that train, and probably actually threw it off a bridge, but it doesn't look real. Though it is a long action finale and very fun to watch, for me the lack of realism takes away any tension. You are enjoying it for its visual value, but again not feeling any 'wow' factor or tension.
At the end of Fallout, for example, you really felt Ethan Hunt was battered, bruised, worn out and still fighting to save humanity. There is none of that.
The most tragic thing about this movie is that, unlike in the best of the previous films, we're back to the team being irrelevant in this one. Benji and Luther don't actually do very much.
And poor Ilsa. Fallout ended with Ethan's ex-wife essentially giving him permission to move on and be with Ilsa.
The relationship between Ilsa and Hunt had been built up over two excellent movies - Rogue Nation and Fallout - and in this film she says almost nothing, looks grumpy and sad all the time, and dies in an anticlimactic fight that is literally spelt out to the audience as a way to replace her with newcomer Grace.
Grace, played by Hayley Atwell, is good. A likeable character and a capable actress, but I don't get the story unless Rebecca Ferguson said she wants out the franchise.
The film is all about chasing "the key." No twists. No high stakes. There is virtually no grittiness in this outing. It feels very light.
Ultimately I was hoping to enjoy a quality film in the franchise. A movie like Oblivion, Edge of Tomorrow, Fallout, Top Gun 2 or American Made that you can show to anyone and say these are recent really high quality films starring this guy called Tom Cruise.
This is not one of those films.
It is more like The Mummy. It is better than Mission Impossible 2 but not better than any of the others in the franchise.