Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning

ronano · 10-07-2023 1:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120829387#Comment_120829387

It's back up to book having been taken down previously

Agent Coulson · 10-07-2023 2:45pm

Off to see it now and really looking forward to it.

Agent Coulson · 10-07-2023 6:27pm

That was a fantastic two and half hours of entertainment that flew by and I could have watched another two and half hours of part two if they had put it on straight after it.

A must watch on the big screen for me.

gmisk · 10-07-2023 7:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120827448#Comment_120827448

I think they moved it up early to make use of the IMAX screens before they are snaffled up by Oppenheimer.

McGrath5 · 10-07-2023 10:50pm

Just out - it was brilliant, the runtime flew by, nicely set up for part 2, can’t wait!

johnny_ultimate · 10-07-2023 11:58pm

A grander and dare I say more operatic entry in the series than even the preceding two films. I particularly loved the opening half hour or so, where all the exposition was delivered in this heavily stylised, heightened seriousness and each action / twist delivered with unapologetic portent. Balfe’s score is more or less ever present here, keeping everything amped up even during moments of downtime. In many ways, this carries on Fallout’s biggest strength of removing a lot of the extraneous baggage and just boiling the formula down to its essence: high stakes, big action. It certainly doesn’t get lost in its own plot the way the original M:I film did: the story here is no-nonsense stuff, used to just usher us along to the real fun stuff.

But of course once all the setup is out of the way the action is delirious as always. The car chase scene is giddily chaotic - taking the most tired of setpieces and making it fresh again by adding a few extra dashes of randomness and anarchy to proceedings. The big train sequence escalates the stakes repeatedly, and the climactic escape there takes another familiar setpiece (the cliff side dangle) and multiplies it, ramping up and up with each subsequent complication and obstacle. And it’s terrifically funny at times too, including a particular last second entrance that is audaciously absurd.

McQuarrie and his team are naturals at this at this stage, and the style and craft on display remains a delight to behold - both in the spectacle and the quieter moments. Even a shaky-cam (one of the banes of modern Hollywood action cinematography) brawl in a narrow alleyway feels like it’s properly motivated by the environment. And fair play for continuing to find imaginative, funny and striking ways to film Tom Cruise running extremely fast.

For all the relentless forward momentum, it definitely did feel baggier and less refined than Fallout in its middle act (more in pacing than plot), and the motivations of some side characters weren’t always convincing. A definite consequence of extending out the story. Still, I did like how it allowed more time to have those big dramatic pauses in dialogue scenes, and it keeps the stakes admirably simple despite the many characters being juggled.

Some great additions to the cast, particularly Atwell and Klementieff. Although…

not sure I liked how they handled Isla’s death, although I wouldn’t rule out a typical Mission:Impossible style fake out in part two.

silverharp · 11-07-2023 2:01pm

the hype is real

https://twitter.com/ErickWeber/status/1678624676850049024

AMKC · 11-07-2023 2:19pm

Just seen it. It's excellent. A great ride certainly will be going to see it again. A lot in it but it's quiet clever and definitely the most well written Mission Impossible film. It has a very clever story to it and some great action scenes too.

My one bugbear was some idiot up the front who kept taking their phone out like WTF. You are in the cinema. Once the film starts put it away or do not go to the cinema. I almost through something at them. Next time I will have something. Anyone bugs me like that they will get it I tell you.

Otherwise I Really enjoyed it.

Will go see it again.

10 out of 10 I think.

silverharp · 12-07-2023 6:20am

10/10 , making car chases great again , Venice looked great , hadnt checked the runtime but didnt drag, no obvious cgi. welcome to the billion $ club!

bucketybuck · 12-07-2023 9:30pm

Saw this today. I'm a fan of the series and its definitely a Mission Impossible movie, has that same tone and feel of the recent ones. I enjoyed it well enough, wasn't bored at any point and don't regret seeing it.

But I didn't walk away thinking WOW, and it is definitely not a 10/10 movie. I really don't understand where the high praise is coming from, especially with regards to the action scenes. They were all fun, not saying they weren't, but none of them left much impression on me, just more running, more car chases, on a train yet again, we've seen all this before.

The villain was also a misstep. Discount Del Toro added nothing to the film and they didn't even try to make the magic AI something I should give a **** about.

There is something lacking and I don't think time will be kind to it. When the dust settles short term I'd say most discussion will be about the plotholes, and in years to come when people rank their favourites of the series it will probably be a middle of the pack also-ran.

silverharp · 12-07-2023 10:09pm

In hindsight discussing it with my son, we came to the conclusion that the last John Wick was more fun, but they arent films you sit around thinking about. 30min out of the cinema there is no reason to think anymore about them

Lefty2Guns · 13-07-2023 7:21am

Seen it last night in Dun Laoghaire cinema. Really enjoyed it, wasn't aware it was a two part film. Some great action scenes in it.

Looking forward to part two.

On a side note, was great to see Screen 1 3/4 full for last nights film.

AMKC · 14-07-2023 8:30am

I had to laugh. I just heard Q102s film bufff say he thought that this film was not as polished or basically as good as "Fallout" lol. Must be a while since he watched it. I can tell you that this is so much better than "Fallout" . Now if he had of said "Rogue Nation" or "Ghost Protocol"OK maybe but not Fallout sorry.

I will be going to see this for a second time at the weekend :)

AMKC · 14-07-2023 8:39am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120843940#Comment_120843940

There is something lacking and I don't think time will be kind to it. When the dust settles short term I'd say most discussion will be about the plotholes, and in years to come when people rank their favourites of the series it will probably be a middle of the pack also-ran.

I totally disagree. I think this film is bang on with where we are in the World now with the emergence of AI.

I think time will be kind to this film.

Maybe it's not ahead of time but it's certainly dealing with issues that are happening now a bit like Star Trek.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120844115#Comment_120844115

Ye maybe. I have to say I thought more about the Indiana Jones Film after I came out of the cinema than this. Still this was way more enjoyable. Indiana was too just a lot of noticible CGI in it.

bucketybuck · 14-07-2023 9:45am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120849309#Comment_120849309

Soloman Lane had been a far more interesting villain over multiple films.

Henry Cavills character had infinitely more charisma and screen presence than anything in Dead Reckoning.

The HALO jump, the bathroom fight, the convoy attack, the countdown to disarming the bombs while Tom was duelling helicopters, the action in Fallout was both better and also more in service to the plot itself.

The plot was much, much tighter in Fallout. More straightforward and so much better for it. The plot of Dead Reckoning has more holes than swiss cheese.

There are a lot of objective reasons why Fallout is a better film, I'm happy to believe that in years to come popular opinion will rank them accordingly.

johnny_ultimate · 14-07-2023 9:51am

I liked this film a whole lot and think it has a successfully distinct and interesting tone compared to Fallout. But Fallout is such a tightly-wound and designed machine that it’s still the series highlight for me: just the purest distillation of everything the series does well.

silverharp · 14-07-2023 10:20am

Also Hayley Atwell/Grace was excellent in it and a great example of how to write a believable and engaging female lede

bucketybuck · 14-07-2023 10:35am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120849840#Comment_120849840

She did ok, though it was quite frustrating that:

Her answer to every situation was to ditch Ethan and run away, which caused no end of problems but fair enough, thats her thing. Or at least it was right up until she is yet again running away, then runs around a corner and sees Sicario standing on a bridge with his back to her.

She sees the guy who threatened her so what does she do? She runs away, yeah? She turns and legs it in the other direction fast as she can, right?

No, for the first time in the movie she decides not to run, instead she attacks the main bad guy with a pocketknife.

It just didn't fit at all. Grace wasn't trying to get somewhere specific, she was just running away so didn't need to get past Gabriel, in character she would have just turned and ran the other direction.

We all know why they did it, but it was a very clunky way to write Ilsa out of the movie and just highlighted the question of why Ilsa was even in the damn movie to begin with. Sicario didn't even take the key from Grace after beating her up, the whole fight served no purpose, it literally only existed as a way to kill Ilsa.

homerun_homer · 14-07-2023 12:24pm

Loved the film. I find the funniest aspect being that romantic motivation in the film is "Tom Cruise/Ethan Hunt exists in the same vicinity as female".

The action is fantastic but for all the legitimacy they put behind the stunts, so many of them still looked green screeny, particularly the bike jump. I know they built the big ramp, but when you have to erase and replace with mountain then it doesn't look real for all their efforts.

I knew Pom wouldn't die, as she loves jumping out of helicopters and doing stunts so I figured she would be a shoe in to be joining the team come part 2.

Ilsa's death was a shame, she didn't get to do much in the film, and it leaves the end of Fallout that little bit flatter for it. I wish they would just park romantic interests given their missions are so important they shouldn't have those kinds of personal ties, as they've already established in the franchise.

bucketybuck · 14-07-2023 1:22pm

I thought the teasers released showing Cruise doing those stunts really lessened the impact of them in the movie itself.

Ok, here is the big motorcycle jump, that we have actually already seen happen in real life...

It just takes you out of the movie, how can you not see it as an actor doing a stunt when you had literally already seen him doing it in real life. Those things should have been left for DVD extras, or whatever the modern alternative is.

pixelburp · 14-07-2023 2:33pm

Just out of that and my first thoughts are: I would also like to be handcuffed to Hayley Atwell.

Second thoughts are: a rollicking arresting film that's the standout actioner of the year..., but definitely lacked the visceral immediacy and relentlessness of Fallout. The Entity bordered on Sci-fi silliness and it kinda lost its way before that fantastic set piece on the train. Fallout was just chef's kiss perfection, this felt oddly more perfunctory in places - with the personal stakes a bit too contrived against Fallouts own.

The stunts were as spectacular as expected, but the Rome sequence was oddly my favourite and more convincing ... cos as I feared, the CGI patina over the train crash and parachute jump took away from the fact they were real stunts. They made them look more fake than they really were.

Oh and it doesn't come up enough but I think the secret sauce of these films, beyond the real world stunts, is the soundtrack. Lorne Balfe's arresting escalation of drums and intensity does a lot of unheralded work in these films.

johnny_ultimate · 14-07-2023 3:30pm

In terms of the Ilsa stuff here…

I definitely think her death feels abrupt and even throwaway relative to the importance they’ve given her in each of the previous two films, and feels like they’ve left aspects of her relationship with Ethan unresolved. As good as Atwell is, dumping the excellent Ferguson just to have a new female lead seems a bit random. Her death does provide motivation for Hunt’s actions in the rest of the film, but just feels like there are a few crucial scenes missing.

BUT I do think there’s a chance there’s a fake out afoot. It makes sense that the team are playing four-dimensional chess in a bid to outplay the algorithm’s plan - pretending things are happening as predicted (and getting at their weakness - each other), but actually up to something else entirely. The whole fake Ilsa death at the start of the film also points that direction, not to mention the first Mission:Impossible film also had a big fake out death.

But that’s one of the problems with two part films. You don’t have the whole film to go on, and so have to make judgements on partial info. I didn’t feel shortchanged here by any stretch, but yes I think Ferguson deserves better than what she gets in part one at least.

Agent Coulson · 14-07-2023 3:40pm

I will say the streets of Rome have gotten some battering between this and Fast X.

bucketybuck · 14-07-2023 11:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120851581#Comment_120851581

In response to that:

I hope they don't go that way. I completely agree that there are signs that it could be pointing that way, and to add to your reasons, I did think that in the "recruiting Grace" scene following there wasn't much grief on display from Ethan and the team. It was very much back to the job for everybody.

But it will definitely feel very cheap if they do it. A contrived and meaningless scene to kill her just to get her out of the way, it could only end up in a cheap reveal if she comes back in the end.

pixelburp · 15-07-2023 6:58am

It should also be pointed out that "Ilsa Faust" remains a fabulously silly, but awesome name.

Unearthly · 15-07-2023 7:06am

Another incredible experience. I got lost in the time that I was expecting another big set piece then it dawned on me that it was Part 1. Hope it does well at the box office

fluke · 15-07-2023 7:38am

Not sure how I feel about this one. As it's a part one it doesn't feel as wholly complete as previous entries. I would also say it feels like it's pulling punches on one hand, but on the other hand, it makes story choices that feel unnecessary.

I'm hoping part two elevates this a bit or redeems in a way that's akin to Johnny Ultimate's comments.

Some random thoughts:

Lorne Balfe's score does a lot of heavy lifting.

I would also say the big bad in this feels underwhelming and weirdly reminded me of I Robot, Transformers (the sound effect) and Sauron of all things.

gmisk · 15-07-2023 8:38am

On way to see this morning!

Rewatched fallout yesterday such a fun film.

~Rebel~ · 15-07-2023 9:14am

Yeah, agree with most of the above - good fun, but doesnt' quite hit the heights of Fallout. I'd actually have it slightly behind Rogue Nation as well, about on par with Ghost Protocol. Better action than GP, but GP had more charm and wit.

One thing that continuously bugged the bejesus out of me, and kept taking me out of the film, was the way almost every longer 'conversation' was just a series of people continuing on a sentence from the previous person. Each person saying a line and the next person continuing the thought instantly as if they'd all learned a monologue off by heart and just split it up. It never felt like people talking TO each other, it felt like the writer talking AT us. It happened in so so many scenes, and just felt very lazy and weird.

Shank Williams · 15-07-2023 10:03am

I fell for they hype - would recommend people to buy not go into screen until there’s 30-40 minutes left on this (from start of train scene) as everything before that is tough, tough going- I was bored out of my mind.

Boring nonsensical plot , unbelievably stilted exposition heavy dialogue (bing Thames in particular phoning it in) and nothing special action for most of the film- tbf the action scenes in last 40 mins are something else but like everyone I’d already seen the main stunt from every conceivable angle already

The Black Oil · 15-07-2023 11:48am

Alas, Dead Reckoning Part One didn't really work for me at times and frankly, isn't a patch on Fallout in its execution. I was smiling once the opening credits kicked in and I liked it on an emotional level, mostly. It sets up the next one well, but it is certainly missing an ingredient or two - I can't put my finger on what. The hyper-marketing of the stunts took away some of the enjoyment.

Shank Williams · 15-07-2023 12:04pm

Actually the main Gabriel bad guy reminded me of Eric roberts in Michael Flatleys blackbird as did an awful lot of the clunky dialogue- just boring as opposed to funny in blackbird.

enjoyed blackbird more overall

gmisk · 15-07-2023 1:36pm

Saw this morning overall really enjoyed it, but I didn't think it was that tight plot wise (a few holes to say the least), dialogue a bit meh, action was terrific (up there with the last wick film but on a different scale for good and bad), whole train section especially, car chases, surprising highlights for me were a lot of the female cast tbh, despite not always being given tonnes to do! Hayley Atwell (she oozes charisma and her and Cruise excellent chemistry), Vanessa Kirby really good fun, Pom Klementieff excellent too. Henry Czerny reliably snarly! The guy playing Gabriel was a bit bland.

Looking forward to part 2. But not quite getting the insane hype it's maybe a 7.5/10 for me.

Shame they killed off the Faust character (at least it seems..but who knows!) but I suppose that is a pretty regular thing in mission impossible films...Cruise ages...his opposite woman get killed off and replaced by younger models.

Could "the entity" not just end things at any stage lol...for a start f#ck the Simon Pegg character over a cliff in his self driving car.

dodzy · 15-07-2023 1:41pm

Enjoyed it, but not a patch on Ghost Protocol or Fallout IMO. But IMAX, sweet jesus, simply unreal.

speedboatchase · 15-07-2023 3:23pm

Another $300m flop. Numbers in US are not looking good.

Full_Circle_81 · 15-07-2023 3:35pm

Sadly this was one of the weakest MI movies for me, with probably only 2 lower in my overall ranking.

Hayley Atwell was a great addition to the cast and practically leapt off the screen from the moment she appeared. Its a little sad that its taken Hollywood 12 whole years since she first appeared as Peggy in Captain America to give her another (semi) leading role in a big movie. Her scenes with Cruise were a definite highlight of the film.

It was also great to see Pom Klementieff having such a ball with all her scenes, a totally bonkers breath of fresh air. I always enjoyed her in Guardians, but thought she did a fantastic job here too, getting a character across with just hugely animated expressions and a potent physicality.

And while we've seen countless chase scenes before (even within the MI franchise itself), I thought the extended Rome set-piece was excellent, elevated by Cruise deftly playing up the whole comedic side of the on-screen chaos.

However......this is the one where the plot just jumped the shark for me. It was certain clever (and timely) to incorporate AI into the narrative, but to have

the main villain of the piece basically be Skynet

was just pushing it too far into the realm of sci-fi for me. I also thought a lot of the dialogue this time around was particularly cringe-worthy, with awkward exposition scenes (the backstory of Atwells Grace spring to mind) and extended monologues that almost felt laughable. This movie was sorely missing the wry delivery of lines from the likes of Baldwin and Renner in previous movies in order to offset the sometimes po-faced dialogue they are given (even though I know Czerny, Elwes and the always excellent Whigham are more than capable of delivering on this front).

And as much as I love Rebecca Ferguson, I'd have preferred that they didn't bring her back, given her role was so slight. It felt like she had two lines of dialogue at most.

I'm also surprised to hear people complementing the score. I am not a fan of Balfe at all and felt that the music took a nosedive since he came on board (especially after Joe Kraemer knocked it out of the park in Rogue Nation, but I'd take Giacchino back in a heartbeat as well).

santana75 · 15-07-2023 8:18pm

Just back from this and all I can say is Wow. What a film. It explodes out of the blocks and does not let up for even a second. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and for film to become crap(like so many have of late)but it never lost any pace. If anything it built and built to a magnificent crescendo. I haven't enjoyed a movie this much since......well since Top Gun maverick, this time last year. And with "Oppemheimer" out next next it seems as though Tom cruise and Chris Nolan are saving the art of film making. I saw Indiana Jones and the dial of destiny a couple of weeks back and I walked of that movie deflated, it was awful but this is the polar opposite. Its genuinely thrilling, the subject matter could've been somewhat ridiculous, but Cruise and Mcquarrie have pulled something special out of the bag. My only concern now is that there is no way the second part can he as good as this.

Mrs Shuttleworth · 16-07-2023 12:27am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120856505#Comment_120856505

Just back from seeing this in the ISense. Incredible execution and very entertaining but the usual "MacGuffin" everyone is chasing. Weirdly reminded me of the Roger Moore / Pierce Brosnan Bonds. Thought Simon Pegg was particularly assured in this one. Loved the grander AI theme. I suspect Part Two will be more stately and Kubrickian in nature.

~Rebel~ · 16-07-2023 6:34am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120855224#Comment_120855224

Doing alright really... has the highest 5-day of any MI movie so far. Looking like it'll probably clear 200m globally by the end of the weekend. And with positive reviews and word of mouth, it'll likely have decent legs over the next few weeks.

The big-budget also comes with the caveat that some of that budget will be offset between the two films, since there's a lot of overlap in production. For a 2-film shared production project like this, to get the full picture we really need the combined budget, and box-office. The extra complication in that of course is that production of the last bits (they've been shooting it since March 2022) has stopped on Part 2 with the strikes, so we just have to see how that effects things down the line.

pixelburp · 16-07-2023 6:56am

Yeah, while not shot in one go, both Dead Reckonings have been a joint production - and, presumably joint budget.

And while there has been a lot of comments about it not being as good as Fallout, the word of mouth is still generally positive. Good not being the enemy of perfect n all that.

eggy81 · 16-07-2023 7:37am

Saw it yesterday. Fell asleep momentarily a couple of times in the middle before it reached the train scene. Visually impressive film but my god some of the dialogue and acting in it is sh!te.

Very loose plot wise too. The 2 cops just looked ridiculous throughout the movie and made zero sense.

Overall it was disappointing imho.

gmisk · 16-07-2023 7:40am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120855224#Comment_120855224

The predictions I saw looked pretty good?

Hey also America ain't the world, I'd say internationally people will lap it up.

Box office wise maybe coming out so close to barbie (okay different demo generally) and Oppenheimer (some overlap) not the best idea

JoeA3 · 16-07-2023 8:32am

Saw it lastnight and I was a bit underwhelmed tbh. I’d rank it as one of the weaker entries in the series.

The action sequences were very impressive for sure but there was bit of same-ness about them… we’ve seen car chases and train-top fight scenes before, both in this series and in recent Bond’s. My wife sitting next to me was bored, particularly in the drawn out middle section.

I felt that I didn’t care much for many of the characters, the interaction between Ethan and his team wasn’t as fun as previous films and I felt it lacked a good charismatic bad guy that some of the other entries have had.

That said, as a stand-alone movie in its own right it is very good. Just not to the standard of the previous couple of entries. Actually MI:3 is still my favourite of the lot.

Full_Circle_81 · 16-07-2023 10:57am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120857387#Comment_120857387

I'm kind of surprised to see so many people say that 3 is (still) their favourite. Back when it came out I remember absolutely loving it, and being a huge fan of Alias at that point, I was thrilled what JJ did with it and even excited to hear he was directing the next big Trek movie. I've since completely soured on him and his very obvious bag of tricks, so I'm sort of afraid to back to MI3 now in case the stink of JJ takes from my enjoyment of the movie......

JoeA3 · 16-07-2023 11:07am

For me, #3 was great as it brought back the concept of the “team” working together (after the abysmal #2 where Cruise was mostly running around solo… in slow motion). There was great interaction and dialog between Cruise and his sidekicks, it was Simon Pegg’s first appearance in the series and his dialog was fresh and amusing. Laurence Fishbourne was also very good as the IMF boss. Seymour Hoffmann absolutely stole the show though as the antagonist. He made an excellent villain.

pixelburp · 16-07-2023 11:24am

I rewatched 3 recently enough and as great as Hoffman was as the villain, the film looked like a TV pilot from the era - the action overcompensated with more shakey cam than I remember.

Full_Circle_81 · 16-07-2023 12:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120857827#Comment_120857827

I guess it was his first movie, so should cut him a little slack for that. Funny thing is, I distinctly remember watching an interview of Cruise at the time the movie came out (may even have been on MTV) when he was doing the publicity rounds, and he was SO complimentary towards JJ, saying how happy he was with him (and his abundant energy/enthusiasm) and that he was going to be doing big things in the future!

flasher0030 · 16-07-2023 1:15pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120857775#Comment_120857775

Loved MI3 - the rabbits foot, and the electrocution scene at the end. Haven't seen #7 yet. But #3 is the one that stands out for me from the entire series. It is probably due to having such low expectations after #2, and then being pleasantly surprised that that it was more than a decent movie. #2 was horrible. From what I remember of it, it just seemed like a Tom Cruise marketing vehicle - slow-mo of Tom's action movies, the long floppy hair, I know there are many many unbelievable moments in MI movies, but at least they try to make them as believable as possible. That scene near the end where he kicks up the gun out of the sand, and shoots the bad guy. Absolutely horrible. I watched it there out of curiosity to see was I being a bit harsh. It's actually worse than I had remembered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lu4jwOo3no

JoeA3 · 16-07-2023 1:18pm

Yep! I absolutely hated MI:2. It sticks out like a sore thumb in the whole series, totally jars with the other 6 imo.

pixelburp · 16-07-2023 1:42pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120858054#Comment_120858054

Perhaps but Abrams technique hasn't changed either. Lens flare, shake the camera, edit it like a trailer.

Though the charms of this series is there are few entries that aren't people's favourites either. Maybe John Woo's I suppose, it tends to sit the bottom of many rankings.

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning

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