Movie Review MINOR SPOILERS: Mission Impossible Rogue Nation

After a misstep in the middle of the series by going to hardcore and trying to make Ethan Hunt more like Jack Bauer; dark and gritty, the Mission Impossible series found it's feet again with the fourth installment. It was fun, over the top stunts and action. They found the right tone and pacing. The fun continues in Rogue Nation. 

I was able to see it in IMAX and I highly recommend and prefer that format over 3D. The clarity, crispness over all field of vision dominance are vastly superior to look how cool this effect of a thing in your face is?!" 3D style. The visuals in Rogue Nation were outstanding, especially during the motorcycle chase scene. 

With so many movies, you wonder if you saw the best stunts, effects or jokes in the trailer. Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt hanging of the side of the plane has been in all the trailers and promotional material. I was surprised of the timing of it in the film. The whole film had me engaged and not sure where it was going next. 

Cruise is Cruise and I still believe that Hunt is his most comfortable role. Simon Pegg is perfect as the nerdy foil and the movie gives the two a lot more to do in terms of creating and dealing with their interpersonal dynamic. 

Likewise setting up Jeremy Renner as the behind the scenes administrator and giving him a foil in Alec Baldwin justifies his part much better than as the presumed heir apparent to Hunt as he was last time. Ving Rhames fills out the team another technology link but isn't given that much to do. 

The main villain is ok. And the film makes the governments/structures of modern spy work more the villain than one man. But as someone who had an early crush on GI Joe's female antagonist, The Baroness, it's no surprise that Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa Faust would be my favorite. 

Faust and Hunt's give and take, mystery and intrigue give the movie it's soul as much as Pegg and Cruise give it a heart. Ferguson pulls of so much with her eyes alone. Especially in the scene with her MI6 handler. I am smitten. 

Overall I found the twists and turns intriguing. The filmography and sound excellent. And the pacing and tone spot on. 

There should never be any doubt that Hunt and his compatriots will succeed for they always do. What I enjoyed most about Rogue Nation was I often couldn't figure out how they would. And when they did I enjoyed every single second of it. 

If you enjoyed the other Mission Imposisble movies and have a night to suspend disbelief and marvel at stunts, explosions, car chases and some interesting interpersonal dynamics, I highly recommend Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. 

Movie Review: Paul

Tuesdays are currently my favorite day of the week. They often involve outings with my son, to the library to the pub for lunch, to the park etc. And Tuesday nights are the one evening that I don't have work or kid commitments, so it's all mine. Yesterday I have the pleasure of finally taking in a movie at an actual movie theater.

Paul starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, the creative minds behind Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz is unique for me in a way. It was the first movie that I have gone to see strictly because of it's promotion on Twitter. I've been following Simon Pegg (@simonpegg) for more than year and his updates have had me eager to see Paul for months. In fact, on the way to the theater I realized that I hadn't even seen a trailer for the film!

As Shaun of the Dead was to zombie movies and Hot Fuzz was to action so Paul is to science fiction. It exists as both an homage and a something of a spoof. Smartly written by Pegg and Frost, the script bounces from memorable landmark to the next in a cross country road trip that is part Crosby/Martin and part Tommy Boy.

It's clear that Pegg and Frost as writers love the subject matter as much as the characters they portray. The ensemble cast as a whole, is excellent with Jason Bateman, Sigourney Weaver, Jeffrey Tambor, Jane Lynch and more. There is even a vocal cameo by Steven Speilberg.

Paul is well paced and just long enough. It's smart enough to step up the line and just barely cross it. All in all, it was exactly as I expected. A clever, funny, well done film thats as much about science fiction fans as it is aliens.

Grade: A