Popular series like James Bond, Mission Impossible, or Jurassic Park are not known for their story content but for their mesmerizing execution, action, and thrilling moments providing the big screen entertainment. Their subsequent sequels more or less delivered, ranging from mixed to roaring responses in the past. But thankfully this time, the latest release from the Mission Impossible franchise would receive unanimous praise both from the audience and the critics, particularly for its brilliantly shot action/chase sequences and dare-devil stunts in the climax.
Following a routine format of agents trying to find two parts of a key, to stop a major world disaster, the film begins on an exciting note introducing Tom Cruise with two superbly executed airport and desert sequences. Though the long over-talkative scenes coming at regular intervals do hamper the film’s pace, it is the thrilling actions and chase sequences that deliver the promised entertainment creating a crescendo kind of impact in the end.
While Cruise yet again amazes with his spellbinding performance, daringly doing the life-threatening action himself (at 61), Hayley Atwell beautifully enacts as his accomplice winning hearts. The same goes for the talented supporting cast making the presence felt even in their limited appearances. Skilfully directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the long duration of the film (around 163 minutes) does not seem to be that long as it keeps the viewers involved and engaged, repeatedly bringing them onto the edge of their seats. And that is exactly what one expects or rather demands from such a spy-thriller series.
As a downer, (which might not be a downer for many), the key action sequence showcasing a train wreck, with the coaches hanging from the broken bridge, is heavily inspired (read lifted) from the famous Play Station game UNCHARTED. That said, the sequence remains the major attraction of the film and such thrilling moments only make it a worth-watching movie in the theatres.
The final hour also has insertions strongly reminding you of the enjoyable multistarrer of the 80s like the the lady fighter's change in heart, a helping hand coming at the right moment and more. Interestingly, a similar train sequence was also recently witnessed in the Hindi blockbuster, Shah Rukh Khan's PATHAAN featuring a cameo of Salman Khan, which played a major role in the film’s mega success.
However, watching such action in Hindi films always forces me to question why the VFX appears VFX in our cinema but not in theirs. Even when our filmmakers invite the same foreign technicians, and action directors along with hiring the same post-production studios, how come the VFX in their foreign cinema seem to be more real having an unbelievable finesse and authentic feel in comparison to ours?
Still trying to find an answer to this strange new world mystery, would recommend watching this first offering of a two-part MI series in the theatres as a must, as this is why cinema will always remain a medium of bigger and technically better screens.
Rating : 3.5 / 5 (with the additional 0.5 for the final bike jumping stunt from the cliff performed by Tom Cruise himself, when he could have easily refused at this age as a Star of a reputed stature. At the same time, it is questionable why the director opted for 6 takes for such a risky stunt, when it got successfully completed in the very first attempt itself. Maybe there were technical reasons for the same, but it was indeed strange to risk Cruise’s life repeatedly in 6 multiple takes.)
Note: For interested readers, the complete video of the stunt shoot can be seen on YouTube, officially posted by the producers, which is also a must-watch just like the film.
Cheers!
Bobby Sing
(bobbytalkscinema.com)
