sujanfaster

The Mission Impossible franchise has been most millennial's favourite action movies as we have watched it through different phases of our life. This franchise has pushed the boundaries of action sequences and introduced the cinema lovers to some exotic locations. While doing all this over a period of almost 30 years and 8 films there has been one constant force driving the franchise which is Tom Cruise as the iconic character Ethan Hunt. With the final piece of the puzzle, Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning, Ethan Hunt continues on his mission from the previous movie The Dead Reckoning with some unique challenges this time around.

As the previous part ended in an almost cliffhanger this film continues the journey of Ethan Hunt and his team continue to fight against two antagonists with one being the AI known as Entity. The movie starts with a bit of a time gap from where it ended previously to show the negative impact that Entity has had over the world and also sets up the new arc for some characters. Ethan continues his pursuit of the antagonist Gabriel who has been playing games with Ethan and team from the previous part while the governments try to get ahold of the Entity in their own ways. Ethan unlocks one puzzle after another to find ways to stop Entity from taking over the world and also ensure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands of Gabriel. The intense screenplay doesn't really leave too much time for the audience to think and analyze. It comes as no surprise that the movie has its fair share of emotional scenes and also some fun nostalgic moments. It'd be better to recap your knowledge of the previous movies before watching this movie to have a great experience. The movie does lack a strong antagonist over the two parts and the ending almost seems very similar to some other parts as well. The movie also leaves a part of the past unexplored which kept teasing the audience over two parts.

This time the adventure takes us through some incredible underwater and up in the air stunt sequences. The movie turns into a very intense immersive experience when it shifts to the IMAX ratio for some key sequences. This movie probably has the least man to man combat scenes compared to the previous parts. That doesn't take away anything from the adrenaline rush as there are many adventurous scenes. The technical departments of the movie continue to operate at the highest level.

At this point of time, my words can barely do any justice in describing how good Tom Cruise is. The whole world knows and everyone is in awe. Compared to the previous movies, Simon Pegg doesn't really have a whole lot of quirky moments but is still very impactful. Ving Rhames completes his journey in the series with a strong goodbye. Hayley Atwell's character turns slightly serious in this part and most times only ends up being a spectator. I could say that Pom Klementieff's character is one of the most well written characters of this franchise. Angela Bassett, Nick Offerman and Holt McCallany shine in their limited screen presence. I cannot reveal much about some other key characters which are written and played well as it could be a spoiler. Esai Morales' role in this film is not as intense as it was in The Dead Reckoning and the mystery+intent around the character could have been better.

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning is a very well thought out conclusion for a hallmark franchise.

We live in the era of almost all industries competing to have the next big Pan Indian landmark cinema from their end. Malayalam industry aren't usually part of these gimmicks but the exception had to come some day or another. L2: Empuraan comes out with all guns blazing literally and figuratively While the Part 1 Lucifer was a slick political thriller, this is more of an out and loud juggernaut.

If you are expecting the origin story in this part (because that's what Lucifer promised towards the end) you're gonna have to wait. Empuraan goes sideways with its storytelling bringing a different origin/revenge plot. The makers do not hide their intention in the political agenda that they are trying to display, especially comparing Kerala politics with the national politics. But the major issue here is how they try to forcefully integrate that with the already existing political plot from Lucifer and bring in some unnecessary characters. Movie's screenplay somehow manages to remain engaging despite a very lengthy runtime. While the budget has been spent quite generously it doesn't really seem like it has gone to waste as the movie is technically brilliant and beautifully shot. Some scene transitions and symbolization are a treat to watch. The action sequences are good for most part except for some unnecessarily long hand to hand combat. However the intensity of certain action sequences aren't well justified. The movie starts with a violent sequence which is quite well shot but the action sequences in the latter part of the movie does not maintain the same consistency. The sound design for the action sequences involving guns is top notch. The background score is mostly decent for the most part but misses the intensity in some key sequences. Some dialogues are really classy with good references and I really like the characters speak in their regional languages and not unnecessarily forced to speak in Malayalam.

It is not fair to say Empuraan is an out and out treat for Mohanlal fans because Mohanlal's character is written to suit the screenplay and story. The movie does give its ode to the legend with stylish sequences and mass portrayal but there isn't a significant plot supporting his character in this film. Tovino's character as Jathin Das had a very good arc in Lucifer but in this movie his character arc seems a bit forced and it feels the same for Manjula Warrier's character as well despite her having some good moments. Antagonist Abhimanyu Singh has really given justice to his role along with Sukant Goel but their roles also suffer from weak writing. The movie wouldn't have felt much different without Kishore and Suraj Venjaramoodu's characters. While Jerome Flynn shines as Boris Oliver, other foreign characters feels like they have been pretty much added for the flair.

L2: Empuraan is a decent addition to the big budget Pan Indian which justifies its scale and spend through the technicalities but same cannot be said about the writing.

You want some movies to surprise you despite having certain expectations about them. When I watched the premise of Mickey 17 that is what I had in mind. Although I wasn't a big fan of Parasite I did like the surprise element in the movie and with Bong Joon Ho tying up with Robert Pattinson set my expectations for this movie a tad too high. If not for anything else, I was hoping to walk out with some great visuals and entertainment considering the movie is set in an out of the world theme.

Mickey 17 follows the story of an expendable in outer space being used for different kinds of human experiments. Bong Joon Ho continues with his theme of exploitation of the lower class by the rich in this movie but projects it a bit differently. You cannot help but draw parallels to some of the things that are happening in the world currently in some scenes. Sometimes it is way too obvious that they make the scenes look jarring. The movie chooses to go with over the top portrayal of certain characters and concepts. The problem is that there isn't enough pay off in the end for these choices. The movie could have also been technically better as there aren't really captivating visuals or background score for this type of film.

Movie's narration is primarily laid out by the character design. Robert Pattinson as Mickey Barnes does play a unique role and also speaks in a way we haven't seen him do before. It is refreshing to watch but you also kind of miss the quiet Rob. Mark Ruffalo as Kenneth Marshall is clearly written as a Trump/Republican politician and the character loses its sheen after a few minutes into the movie. Antics played by his character along with his wife played by Toni Colette feel repetitive after a while. Both Mark and Toni seem trying too hard or maybe their character writing isn't good enough. While Steven Yeun's role starts off with a promise, it does not add anything significant to the movie eventually. Other supporting characters seem similar to the character from some of the quirky MARVEL movies. There was a great opportunity for Bong Joon Ho to make an emotional impact with the other world CGI characters but they end up being gags which is a big letdown.

Mickey 17 is another experiment on an already proven concept which is unseriously serious.