Re: MI:4 w/Jonathan Rhys Meyers?

MFalc1 wrote:

If the current film still grosses an acceptable worldwide amount and
Cruise decides to move on, do you think the franchise would have
longevity with a younger lead plus most of the supporting cast?

You're welcome to suggest an already-bankable younger actor for the
potential lead.

What it really needs is a more mature, level-headed sort of lead. And they need to focus more on tight plots and planning, which is what made the series so successful. When those spiffy plans are put into play, that's where the appeal really is.

Here's how this latest movie breaks down. The first major sequence is a typical snatch-and-run rescue, with explosions, machine gun fire, ending with a helicopter chase-and-crash. This didn't really feel like an IMF type of execution, as in the old TV series. It's loud, quick, frantic, and really sort of boring, because there's really no cleverness in it.


The second IMF team plan was more in keeping with the concept of the series, in that the job appeared impossible, involved split second timing, and the plan involved the TEAM donning disguises and interacting with the targets of the deception. This is the point at which the movie works best, and there are real moments of tension as one second things are going along fine, and the next second introduces an element that threatens the execution of the plan. To those who've seen it, you know what I'm talking about. This, of course, was followed by more pyrotechnics, helicopters, SWAT costumes, and so on.

The third IMF plan involved snatching the "rabbit's foot." This plan was lackluster and unimaginative, and it took looked typical of every other action movie you've ever seen. This time, once Ethan is in the laboratory, you're not even taken inside. You're treated to the POV of his team, outside on top of the buildings, until Ethan comes smashing through a window and parachutes to the ground. We have no idea how he found the thing, what happened to him -- you saw NOTHING.

This is followed by the rest of the movie. There's a twist or two. The end.

But the movie didn't really satisfy me as much as the first one did, as it just didn't include enough of a really cool plan, with the disguises and switching and so on. That Vatican sequence was the only thing in the movie that really worked on the level of the TV series, and it was just too short. There's something gratifying about seeing things put in place, and you're puzzled as to what this or that is for, or what purpose this person serves, then when it falls into place, there's that "ah" moment. It's like "Ocean's 11": it all comes together then everything you've seen makes sense. There wasn't enough of that in the movie.

And there wasn't enough of Philip Seymour Hoffman.


--
Alric Knebel
http://www.ironeyefortress.com/C-SPAN_loon.html
http://www.ironeyefortress.com
.

Relevant Pages

  • Mission Impossible III: my fair review
    ... "Minority Report" was a stunner of a science fiction film, and "War of the Worlds" is not far behind. ... The subjects of the plot never knew what hit them until it hit them and the IMF team were gone. ... the movie is divided up into three segments. ... While the filmmakers went through the motions of making this look like a finely honed plan, in execution it was more about shock-&-awe, and in the confusion the agent is rescued. ...
    (rec.arts.movies.current-films)
  • Re: The moment the willing suspension of disbelief died
    ... >> water in a block or two radius. ... The big plan, then, is to reload the MTEZ into a monorail and drive ... Get Batman out of the way by killing him and burning down his ... > character well, but not that great a movie, because there are so many ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: Sean Penn and wife Robin to divorce after 11 years
    ... in the midst of a selfish, greedy world - and that **the plan was ... but human nature was not good enough for it**." ... I'm glad you see that resonance. ... a book or movie that one likes, in spite of public opinion, ...
    (rec.arts.movies.current-films)
  • Re: abc vs cbs tonight
    ... I really did plan on making my own opinion and watch it.... ... Trade Center movie I went to see, ... Really a piece of history this film. ...
    (rec.music.gdead)