(trailer review) - Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning

If you have followed me for any period of time, you may have learnt a few things. I have not seen all the movies or even the classic ones. I do not just watch comic book and action movies. My cousin was 2 years older than me, so some films were introduced to me by him. I have mostly seen Arnold movies over Sly. I love Zack Snyder, Christopher Nolan and Wes Anderson movies. As well as John McClane being one of my favourite protagonists, Ethan Hunt is quite possibly at the top as I love sci-fi and spy movies. This trailer not only brought a tear to my eye, but it just had me so intrigued, and I even wondered, did they show every scene in this movie as a lot seems to be going on.


This is the sequel to Dead Reckoning part one, which was a movie that ended on a cliffhanger. Ethan Hunt is essentially battling an AI threat to save the world. It sounds bonkers, but effectively, a man named Gabriel has been tasked to do the bidding of the AI and he also has a vendetta against Ethan Hunt. This film is to pick up after the events of the first movie and looks like it pulls from every experience Ethan has gone through where he has saved the world and often, by going "rogue", to lead him to this moment facing the entity and its henchman. The part in the trailer where they are reeling off a list of "achievements" Ethan has done, such as the bombing of the Kremlin or the gassing of the security briefing, I'd imagine there is more listed there. Also, it is so great to see Nick Offerman, but the disbelief they have of someone they have trained to be a ghost and do the impossible mission makes me laugh. If you see Ethan, it is often because he wants you to see him. This ultimately looks like it may be the last Mission Impossible movie for Tom Cruise, but seeing the gang back along with Hayley Atwell, who is a new addition to the team, and those Dutch angles, I am completely involved. I have no idea where this movie's plot is going but I need to see this now! Our lives are the some of our choices. I have chosen this mission. I have accepted it.

(trailer review) - Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One

Perhaps the longest Mission Impossible name title, maybe...but I'd be lying if I told you I was not hyped for this movie. Are you kidding me? I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, Ethan Hunt is THAT GUY! He is one of my favourite characters in film and I don't have many. I would need to sit down and think about my characters, but the Mission Impossible franchise has been going on since 1996, the film franchise anyway, as it was a TV show in the 80's. The films just seem to get better and better. And maybe part of the excellence of this franchise is the sheer dedication of Tom Cruise and his stunts and what he puts into this franchise. The story is never dull. The action is always great. The drama is thick with tension and...and whilst gadgets are minimal, with everything working together with synergy, the Mission Impossible movies just deliver for the espionage action spy seeker like me...and others, of course.

This trailer, just like the music, gradually climbs to where we leave off at the end, Tom Cruise performing a real stunt. At first I didn't like the music choice, but as the visuals and scenes were getting better and the music's seeps into the Mission Impossible theme, we gradually get to see more in these quick cuts, such as the regular characters returning with some added new ones like Hayley Atwell and the guy from Ozark, Elsia...I think. A Mission Impossible movie would not be a Mission Impossible movie if we didn't see Tom Cruise Sprinting to save the world or riding a motorcycle to save the world. These are his "go-to's". Oh, and also, there has been a few films with car chases and doors not attached to the cars, hurtling down small European roads. Imagine this is just the teaser and it is exhilarating enough as it is. Definitely something I am looking forward to.

(trailer review) - Top Gun: Maverick

(Big Spot Game Trailer)

(Original Trailer)

I just want to say that I'm not sure if it is my love for Ethan Hunt, or my love for the character he plays in 'Edge of Tomorrow'...hell, it could be simply my love for Tom Cruise - in which I didn't think I had any, but his role as Ethan Hunt might have made me like him more, but although I have not seen the original Top Gun, I am definitely down for this one.

The breathing in this trailer makes it soo much more atmospheric than the previous trailer and that plane sequence in which I'm pretty damn sure was filmed with a small go-pro camera in a real life cockpit as Mr. Cruise's dedication to the craft holds no bounds, is absolutely legit and exhilarating.  For that sequence alone AND the bad boy attitude accompanied by obligatory fight and break up scene, has definitely made me want to watch the prequel before this one comes out!

Directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, Val Kilmer

(trailer review) - Top Gun: Maverick

I've not seen Top Gun.  I mean Tom Cruise was never my speed.  I got into his movies when I watched the Mission Impossible franchise.  However, this trailer has me interested and I might even go back, in fact, I will go back to watch the first one.  But I've seen a bunch of his films, you can read my reviews here.

Actually, A Few Good Men?

Directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, Val Kilmer

(film review) - Mission Impossible: Fallout

A lot of people don't like Tom Cruise for his scientology or for his height, maybe for both, but for me, I don't actually care.  Tom is a superb actor with quite a bit of range but I really love a few of his films.  Live Die Repeat (or whatever they decided to call it in the end), Minority Report, Tropic Thunder and Mission Impossible, the latter being his best work and one of the best franchises out there.  His dedication to stunt work is unparalleled and I have to say his character of Ethan Hunt is what the Character John McClane is to me.  Over the years, unlike Bruce, Tom has NEVER dialled in a performance to my knowledge, I don't think he would know how to, as he is someone who has to be ALL THE WAY INVOLVED, to even breaking his ankle doing a REAL STUNT in this movie for AUTHENTICITY.  So, when they say, break a leg in showbiz, Tom actually did.  But was it worth it?  Well without sounding bias at all, of course it damn well was!!!

Fallout picks up 2 years after the events of Rogue Nation and the capture of Soloman Lane.  What is left of Lane's terrorist group get a hold of 3 Nuclear Weapons known as Plutonium Cores, while Ethan (Tom Cruise) is re-tasked to retrieving the Plutonium, he is also being shadowed by lead operative August Walker (Henry Cavill) from the Special Activities Division.  When IMF discover that an extremist named John Lark is interesting in purchasing the Plutonium, Ethan must capture him, but when that goes wrong, Ethan must pose as him.  When Ethan is actually outed as the real John Lark, IMF are forced to disband or be labelled traitors to the country and Walker must capture or kill Ethan.

Just when you think the Mission Impossible franchise could not get any better, they prove me wrong with this one, just like they proved me wrong with the last one.  Sure, I'm bias but who doesn't love all that spy stuff? On top of that, trying to keep up with the Mission Impossible story per movie and with whom you should trust is a task in itself, always has been and doubles up in this movie then times' it by 10 just to make you feel on edge.  No one can be trusted, but the world needs to be saved from these extremist groups.

As usual, Tom Cruise literally breaks a leg for this performance and apparently, flew a helicopter by himself with hidden camera's just for authenticity.  He carried out real Halo Jumps proving, there is no one in the movie world as an actor, as dedicated to their craft as him and the film is all the better for it.  There is a shot where he jumps out of a Cargo Plane which looked Amazing. The visuals and cinematography is excellent. The camera work is excellent and as usual, the action is very visceral and entertaining.  I do chuckle when he limp/runs off after breaking his ankle though, I'm not going to lie.  These films are what they say on the tin, action, espionage, thrillers and/or spy films done right.  However, it would be interesting where they will go with 7 because not only do they get better, the stunts get wilder and wilder.  Oh, and just in true Mission Impossible fashion, there is some running and there are motorbikes, two MI must haves for EVERY MOVIE and strangely enough, you may role your eyes at them, but they are still entertaining, regardless.

I cannot think of any flaws with this film at all as Henry Cavill is excellent, the supporting cast are also excellent and if anything, maybe we could have the IMF team do just that little bit more than what they are already doing, somehow.  It's great to see Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames etc, but where do they go next? Does Ethan have a successor because he must die, right...eventually?  Well, let's hope Tom doesn't and he intends on doing more movies because although we have no clue where they can go next, wherever they do go, it will be entertaining, guaranteed, Tom's Leg Approved.

(film review) - Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

I like Tom Cruise, but there are people who don't. I don't know what it is as to why people don't particularly like him, whether it is his face, his acting, his nose, I don't know. I mean, if you don't like him because of his height, then I guess that could be a reason why you may not want to take him seriously, but with prejudices like that, ultimately, you are preventing yourself from having some fun in the cinema. He isn't that much shorter than Robert Downey Jr. and everyone loves Ironman (a 6-footer). An example of fun at the cinema would be, Edge of Tomorrow. The marketing for that film was poor and it made you think it was Oblivion 2 or something. Even though Oblivion wasn't that poor, it just wasn't a great film. Edge of Tomorrow is a great film and it just didn't get the push it really needed, whether you like Tom or not. Excellent story acting and a stunning Emily Blunt. But what I will say is that, Tom knows how to make action movies, action thrillers as well. Collateral was great. The Mission Impossible franchise is a franchise which knows exactly who it's audience is and what to do to make a very entertaining film, like the Fast & Furious franchise. So what I'm really saying here is, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is brilliant.

The Impossible Mission Force is a highly organised, skilled and dedicated ghost unit who operate undetected across the world saving the world from notorious villains and threats. When rumours of the Syndicate emerges, Ethan Hunt tries his best to seek out who they are and their agenda. With the pressures of the IMF having their operations shut down, Ethan discovers that the Syndicate is a Rogue Nation, who are the polar opposite of IMF and are also highly organised, skilled and dedicated. Ethan and his team are tasked with the impossible mission of revealing a ghost organisation twhotheoretically, does not exist and stopping them from acting out their sinister plans.

Pretty simple right? I mean the synopsis is far from impossible. Their task doesn't sound impossible does it? Ethan, Benji & Luther can do this type of thing with their eyes closed! Well, I can only state to you that this film combines the tension of the first film and the action of the last film, Ghost Protocol and gives you an excellent sequel. The team as we know it is the same. The dynamics are lived in and you can tell, everyone has each others back. The camaraderie is real and evident in the film. So as everyone works together, the stakes are believable. And boy are there some pretty high stakes. There is a under water scene which plays out soo well, I was clutching my chest as my heart couldn't take the suspense. Gasping here and there and gasping for breath, the suspense was actually trying to kill me, I swear. The action scenes were enough and engaging, it didn't over do it. With the perfect amount of comedy, gadgetry and fisty-cuffs, this film aims to please and does it soo damn well. If you saw what the trailer had to offer, the film offers that and then some without being over the top or extravagant.

If you are looking for a film to see, it's not Fantastic Four, unless you really have to. It is this film. You are going to have fun with this. If you don't, it's because you hate Tom Cruise and his face.

(film review) - Edge of Tomorrow

First and foremost, before I get into anything. Whether or not you like Tom Cruise, if you put him aside or don't even factor him in as the star, then you should love this film. I say this because I know some people who don't like him too much and I think he is cool. Maybe I am somewhat a fan and possibly, slightly bias but his films haven't all been poor to me.
I've said before that, whenever he does a film, I do not see him as the character, only Tom Cruise in a different role, but with that said, even if it is just another Tom Cruise movie, this one is good.
I'd also like to say that the marketing for this film is very poor. It is very confusing and as it seems like it is a futuristic film like Oblivion, some people actually thought this film was a sequel to that movie. No, it isn't, but I totally understand why you would think that. And I will tell you this for free. Although I liked Oblivion, it had a cool concept and the landscapes and scenery and special effects were all great, THIS film knocks that film out of the park. Let's get involved.

Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) is a member of the NATO-led United Defence Force who is summoned to London to have a meeting with General Bringham (Brendan Gleeson). When the General orders cage to cover combat for the war, things take a unexpected wrong turn in the meeting for Cage who is subsequently knocked out and wakes up at an Army Base. Not knowing where he is, disorientated and completely unaware of what is happening, Cage is enlisted by Master Sergeant Farrell (Bill Paxton) to join a bunch of reject soldiers called 'J Squad'. As the squad is used in the first wave of the attack on the beach the following day, Cage witnesses everyone dying and when he dies, he wakes up the day before the beach assault back where he started with Master Sergeant Farrell. When this happens a few times, Cage eventually saves Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) a highly decorated war hero who he explains his situation to. From this point, Cage and Vrataski embark on a quest to win the war which will involve a lot of dying and dying and dying and dying and dying.

We need to give credit where credit is due. The story is excellent. The premise is really cool but risky. However, Doug Liman did a very very very good job in directing this film adaption of a book of a slightly cooler name "All You Need Is Kill" and was able to pull this off without the film coming across long-winded, Repetitive and boring. Considering the main character has to Live, Die & Repeat, not once did I feel like I was watching something again I had already seen and the scene felt over used. I didn't feel like any scenes were unnecessary, tiresome or tedious. The editing was done in such a way, every scene, no matter how often you saw it, felt fresh.

Tom Cruise is a great actor. Sometimes it is the films he is in that don't do him any favours. Yes they are enjoyable, but some fall short in areas. This film on the other hand, the direction, the pace and the dialogue fit soo well. The acting was great and I could sympathise with Cruise's character's struggle as the film went on. The chemistry between him and Blunt was greatly handled. I always find Tom always "in bed" with the other female star. Always has to get the girl or save the girl. Although this is slightly the case in this film, you can only imagine, having to relive the same moment over and over again with a fit female, you would start to develop feelings. With that said, for me, this brought on a lot of the comedy elements to the film where, the trial and error moments, I found hilarious in places.

Another excellent film to add to my 2014's top 10 films of the year.

I suggest you watch it. There is absolutely no reason to feel disappointed.

(film review) - Oblivion

Only through watching this film, I realise I have a degree of liking for Tom Cruise. I don't love the guy or love his films, but I do enjoy them. I sat down in the cinema watching this film while the person next to me was whining about how I'm never picking a film again and how they can't stand Tom Cruise, I on the other hand thought it was bizzarre. I mean, I've said it before, Tom Cruise in a film is, well, Tom Cruise. Kind of like how Jason Statham is Jason Statham and some actors don't necessarily totally embody themselves into a character and make that character their own. You could say that about a lot of actors and maybe say, this is bad acting. But when I got hom I realised, maybe it isn't bad acting, it's a method of having a living person stand out as that person rather than a character played out. So instead of seeing the characters played by Tom, you see Tom playing different characters, which is a lot different. Anyway, just something I was thinking. think about it.

However, after all of that, I'd like to say I enjoyed the film. Why? because it's a Tom cruise film and they are always entertaining and you not what to expect. Action, some romance and a little cheese here and there. Two, I found the story really good. I'll explain.

Jack Reacher is a...sorry, Jack Harper is a technician of unit Tech 49 who, along with his partner Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) are the clean up crew of a desecrated earth in the year 2077, 50 years after aliens partly destroyed the moon which in turn destroys most of planet Earth. They are assigned to maintain patrol of the planet or area, ensuring all drones are operational and the resources extracting machines used for gathering earth resources are fully operational so all contents can be transported to the human colony situated on Saturns largest moon, Titan. Scavengers or Scavs for short are beings who dwell on earth who make monitoring of drones and the resource extraction machines difficult to take care of.

With only two weeks until Jack and Victoria head back to the colony situated on Saturns largest moon, an alien craft crash lands and when Jack investigates the crash, he finds the female of his dreams, literally. From this point, Jack starts to question his memories as well as his actions and who he works for.

Without spoiling the film, I could only say that this film is a combination of other great films before it. I won't mention them as this will reveal spoilers, but the beauty of the story told, visually is great. At one point, it reminded me of a Halo game. Visually impressive. The weapons, the tech and even the earth. The ruins of planet Earth after Tsunami's, Earthquakes and a Nuke, looks absolutely beautiful. Ice, desert sand dirt and waterfalls and lake make for impressive imagery. Even the Chopper/Jet Jack flies which has an inbuilt bike, yes.....a in built bike you can just pull out and ride away on are amazing. The building they live in and the....EVERYTHING. It's like living in a Apple computer. Sleek and shiney everything. But above all the visuals, if should you be really interested in the story or Tom Cruise being, well....Tom Cruise, I would say stick it out to the end as, maybe it's me...but I didn't expect the story to pan out the way it did. Nice, clever and visually stunning, but from the director of Tron: Legacy, what would you expect? Kind of like Poetry accompanied with a oil painting.

(film review) - Jack Reacher

Such a simple name for such a simple guy. Jack Reacher. A name that kinda sticks a little as well if you say it a few times.

Tom Cruise is Jack Reacher. And although a lot of the times, if not nearly every single film Tom Cruise has ever done, bar Tropic Thunder and as an IMF Agent, Tom Cruise is like Jason Statham to me. He is only 1 Character. I think there comes a time in viewing history that an actor doesn't necesarily look like a character, only who they really are. And I think this is due to make-up or even bad acting. Bruce Willis, Tom Cruise, Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham act to be all these different characters, yet to some people, i.e, myself they just look like themselves in a different movie. Maybe it's my lack of imagination. But Michael Fassbender, Sir Ian McKennen, Hugo Weaving & Johnny Depp to me, AREN'T who they are, but the characters they portray. Do you get what I mean? Maybe it's just me. However with that said, it doesn't take away from the movie for me. For example, I saw Safe starring Jason Statham recently and although I said to myself, "ahhh, another Jason Statham film" I still enjoyed the film for what it was. Plus Jason Statham does do entertaining films.

This film however, I'm going to dig into it.

Imagine, you commit a crime in which you can virtually get away with it and leave no clue, prints or trail, but just as you think you are in the clear, this guy comes along and tells you he's got you by the short and curly's, all because of the way he processes information and removes and fits pieces of a puzzle together. Moreover, he has no regard for anything and nothing to lose as well as naturally being a "ghost" and can't be found. Yeah, you would find yourself in a bit of a pickle.

The film revolves around a sniper and him being accused of killing innocent people in broad daylight in a park. Before he is sentenced to either death or jail, he asks for Jack Reacher to help. His Lawyer (Rosamund Pike), wanting to prove his innocence but isn't quite sure starts to gather the information they know about their client but bumps into Jack who appears out of nowhere. With the little information she has on Jack, she then asks for his help as the police, led by Emerson (David Oyelowo), especially as her client asked for him specifically, in solving the case. Problems arrise as the closer they get to a lead, people would go missing or die putting their lives in grave danger. In addition,

First and formost, although this is a good film, this film isn't really cinema worthy IMO. It felt like it dragged a little, but not to say all cinema movies must be packed to the brim with action, love and suspense, but I just felt that this was a really good film but was a waste of time in the cinema. Some people would enjoy it, but I think I possibly wanted a little more action from it as there wasn't a great deal of action, but there was a lot of suspense.
The dialogue was really good and the story was well scripted. Clever/whitty lines, phrases and even a sense of realisation as to what the real world has become.
Someone I know said it sticks very close to the book, which is a good sign and Tom Cruise for me was more, Jack Reacher! (See what I said earlier about actors playing roles)
Another thing I must point out though, this is not a Michael Bay film. What I mean by this is, people do not explode and there is not a lot of blood and guts everywhere or anything like that at all. No wild car chases or unauthorised explosions, this film is a real as hell! Not trying to say that Michael Bay's films are over the top, but this films had 1 car chase. I don't even think there was a single explosion or someone flying through a window. I mean, I left the cinema thinking, "wow, that was a realistic film" and for those who want something realistic, this is it!

I definately say, watch this film especially if you want something a bit more realistic with action and drama. However, you don't necessarily need the cinema for this!