Missão: Impossível - Acerto de Contas Parte Um

This movie started out promising but by the end, it just felt like being robbed of two and a half hours. I am a big fan of the MI movies (including MI2, which people seem to hate) and I could appreciate this movie for the few scenes that it did right, but it treats the audience like idiots in its bland, repetitive storyline (how many times do we need to hear the words "the key" and "the entity"? It was as if the writers of this movie just gave up on their jobs when they wrote this. Easily the weakest MI movie ever filmed. It had me staring at my watch every 20 minutes. As others have mentioned, the character development in this movie is also truly awful. I have barely any interest in seeing Part Two of Dead Reckoning at this point. The high scores this movie is getting absolutely baffle me. This movie by no means deserves a score higher than a 6 or a 6.5.

The arms race of big-budget action movies is on full display in this Tom Cruise production (yes, he gets a possessive credit for the movie in the opening credits, which don't show up on screen until 28 minutes into the overlong film). I found the derring-do scenes exciting to watch but was not thrilled by the pointlessness in toto.

Of course, an action movie requires action, though even here there are several intrinsically dull and static scenes of the actors carefully and deliberately reciting the dialogue exposition establishing the basic details of an AI-themed end of the world (unless Cruise can save the day) scenario. Especially with the feature climaxing on a train, I would vastly prefer a less pretentious, suspense/thriller with more small-scale issues, as in the classic "The Narrow Margin" by Richard Fleischer or its remake by Peter Hyams.

I had trouble recognizing Hayley Atwell, the dexterous leading lady, who I had admired in more full-figured (even her face is different) form in "The Duchess" and "Agent Carter". The more emotional scenes between friends and dire enemies are the highlight, as all of Tom's running, flying, biking and fighting are merely a given. Outdoing everyone else's stunts and one's own time after time is a pointless exercise.

The lavish Italian party segment only reminded me of a better (and more visceral) sequence from one of the John Wick movies, and the hokey final perils on the falling train cars was merely the same kind of showing off that made the recent "Uncharted" film so silly.

Around 1970 (after "Easy Rider' was such a hit) movie budgets were capped and the resulting films were all the better for it. If the comic-strip movies were reduced to Saturday matinee level and scale, and the ridiculous spending in the hundreds of millions ceased, I think overall storytelling and quality films could make a comeback.

Remember that classic MI scene where they broke in at CIA, and Cruise was hanging from the ceiling using wires? It's not a huge setpiece, but that scene is a nailbiting example of ingenious problem solving.

In 'Dead Reckoning' there's none of that. Here it's keys changing hands every 10 minutes that is suppose to pass as suspense. And of course the only true selling point: the stunts performed by Tom Cruise.

But I want and expect more than that.

A large part of the film is devoted to people sitting or standing in a room, explaining what the plot is. Endless talking and explaining. We are told in several scenes the same information we just heard. Worst one is Benji, who is merely there to repeat things for someone in the cast, to make sure everyone in the audience knows what is going on. That is sloppy writing. One of the biggest no-no's as a screenwriter is resolving to "so what you are saying is, that..." info sharing. Benji does this all the time. And he is as incompetent as usual. And he is supposed to be a part of a small and unique team that is saving the world? Really?

I hope MI:8 isn't just another Tom Cruise stunt reel where it looks like they make the story up as the go along, as long as all marks are checked in the end (running, face swapping, dealing with heights etc), and where character development takes a backseat. Bigger is not always better. And the action ALWAYS has to serve the story, not the other way around.

While this movie maintains the stunning action sequences and stunt work, the rest of the movie is severely lacking. Despite the development of the characters from previous movies, they feel very thin and hollow in MI 7. The pacing of the film and writing are quite peculiar. It almost feels hacked together in a messy way. The previous movie managed to create compelling characters, with moments that clearly defined them and made them standout from one another. In this iteration, they feel like rote action movie characters without distinguishing characteristics. The previous movie also managed a sense of whimsy through the writing and cinematography that was completely absent from MI 7. This general tone and pacing was perhaps my favorite aspect of MI 6, so for it to be missing this time around felt like a huge step backwards for me.

Overall, the movie just felt a bit bizarre. Almost like an AI wrote it or something. I seriously hope the next one tries to get closer to the tone of MI 6.

Just saw this one in a theatre, and boy... what an adrenaline rush it is. The latest Mission Impossible features some of the most incredible stunts ever put to camera. The story is absolutely exhilarating and continues to bring new life to a veteran movie franchise. The sheer scale of this movie is epic, and with every twist and turn of the movie, you cannot help but marvel at the incredible sets used to bring this movie to life. Such a movie begs to be seen on the biggest screen possible where you can truly feel the grandeur of the film. Tom Cruise has once again delivered one of the best movies of the year, and I cannot recommend that you see it enough!