"Mission: Impossible - Fallout"

The Mission: Impossible films have been going for over 20 years now, and this is the sixth film in the series. Do either the franchise or its lead actor Tom Cruise show any signs of slowing down?
Most definitely not.

There has been a lot of hype with regard to the major stunt work and action sequences that Cruise has been involved in. It does make one wonder how nervous the Insurance Company executives must have been?

After the Capture of Soloman Lane, the IMF team are trying to retrieve 3 cores of plutonium, which are meant for the hands of 'The Apostles', the remaining remnants of Lane's group. Alas things do not go to plan. The plutonium is still out there, and The Apostles are hoping to deal with the mysterious terrorist John Lark, who aims to cause anarchy, as most terrorists do. His identity remains a secret, though he has inside information on the goings on at both IMF and the CIA, could it be one of the IMF team?

Rather than slowing down, the gauntlet has been well and truly thrown as to how far action sequences can be taken, especially with the involvement of the leading man. A lot has been about this in the press, especially after the injury sustained by Cruise during a rooftop jump in London. The action sequences are some of the best that have ever been put on celluloid. But I felt they also detracted from the plot. It is almost as though the plot has been written around the action, rather than the other way round. The story starts off well, especially with Hunt being investigated as a possible John Lark. The mistrust from the CIA makes for compelling viewing. But the second half the plot gives way to Hunt either on the road, in the air, or on a mountain edge. All great sequences, but what of the Apostles? Are they being saved for the inevitable MI7?

The cast are all as reliable as ever Some are hailing this the best Mission: Impossible film. I would not go that far. There has been better. And for anyone planning to watch it on the IMAX...save your money, I cannot for the life of me fathom out why the film was shot in 3D. It is a truly wasted format, and it adds nothing to the film. It would have been far better on the IMAX in the traditional 2D format.

Although for me it is not the be all and end all of action movies, it is still worth watching.....7 out of 10

"Man Of Steel"

The cinematic legend began 35 years ago, when Christopher Reeve so wonderfully wore the cape and proved a man could fly. Doing such a wonderful job, you can just about forgive him the final film in the series. Then we had Brandon Routh in Bryan Singer's reboot, and for the record I loved it. I know it gets some bad press, but it was loved here.

Now in 2013, the "Man of Steel" is back.
It certainly has some big time Hollywood talent involved in the production. We have Director Zack Snyder, who has not exactly endeared himself to me, with films like "Watchmen" and "300" neither of which were all that popular. In fact one of the movies I could not even bear to complete watching.
On the plus side, the Producer is one Christopher Nolan, who completely reinvigorated the "Batman" franchise with his stunning trilogy of movies.

So once again we pay a visit to Krypton, at a time before the planet fell.  Jor-El has a new born, the first original organic born on the planet in some time. He is keen to see the child thrive, but is aware that the planet has been plundered for its resources, and will soon destroy itself. His pleas to try and save the people of Krypton fall on deaf ears, So he takes the only action he can, and sends his newborn son on a perilous journey, to the planet Earth.
Before the planet falls, one of its own takes a stand, Zod and his band of followers attempt to regain control those they hold responsible for the planets impending destruction. They fail, and are sent to the Phantom Zone, and Krypton is left to its inevitable fate.
This is a vision of Krypton like none that we have seen before. Forget all that you have seen in the past. There are real wonders to behold.

Kal-El arrives on Earth and is taken in by the Kent family. They raise him as their own, and try to instill their values within. But they know that he is not of this Earth, and do their best to shield him from the Authorities. There is also the internal struggle for Clark, as he knows that he has these special powers, but he could use them to such a degree that people would become of what he can do. And Jonathan is concerned that the people of Earth will become afraid of his Son. So he tries to make his Son only use them in exceptional circumstances, and that does come at a price.

Inevitably Zod and his followers are released from their prison, and follow Kal-El to Earth. With their home world in ruins, they seek to find a suitable replacement, and what better place than the World currently inhabited by one of their own, Earth.
So the battle for Earth commences. And this is where the major letdown of the film also begins. I would wonder if it was ever possible to say the following, but here goes - there is too much action in the film. It is an onslaught of continuous and needless action. Characters suffer, there is a lack of good dialogue. It just reminded me of the major battle towards the end of  "Avengers Assemble". Whether the film makers felt that they needed to compete, I am not sure but that is how it felt.

Henry Cavill has some big shoes to fill, and does so admirably. Though hopefully we will get more of a chance to shine in the next movie. Amy Adams is decent enough as Lois Lane, but her character I feel is one that suffers due to lack of decent structure. Russell Crowe gives a worthy performance to take on the mantle of playing 'Jor-El'. Michael Shannon does seem to do a lot of shouting, and never really seems to be at one when playing 'Zod'. The one performance that really stood out for me was Kevin Costner as 'Jonathan Kent'. The humanity he projects was excellent, and makes his final scenes so moving.

Yes the visual effects are quite stunning, from the visionary Krypton, to seeing the Man of Steel take flight, and then the attempted wiping out of Earth. The score from Hans Zimmer is as reliable as ever, though it does lack that signature tune that became the hallmark of the original movie.
As is becoming alas the norm, the 3D aspect of the film was again a woeful waste of time. I was still happy to pay for the IMAX experience, but the use of the 3D glasses was unnecessary as it proved such a huge disappointment.

All in all a great film, just needs some tweaks here and there......8 out of 10.

"The Cold Light of Day"

Will Shaw is a man with problems. The firm he owns is about to go belly up, and despite wanting to stay at home and try to rescue his firm from financial disaster, he has to endure a far worse fate. Having to spend the weekend on board a yacht with his family. Clearly there are some family tensions.
When tensions get the better of Will, he heads to the mainland. He makes his way back to the yacht, but it is not where it should be, and also his family are all missing.

The local Police provide no help whatsoever, in fact they wish to hand him over to a gangster, who will do lord knows what with him. But in the struggle he is helped by his Father, played by Bruce Willis. It transpires that his Father Martin works for the CIA, and has in his possession a briefcase with sensitive and a whole host of nasty characters want to get their hands on it, including his Superiors, who come in the guise of Sigourney Weaver.

What follows is a travesty of a film, with below par dialogue, a mess of a story, lots of car chases, shooting, bad acting, in all a general mess of a film. The camera work at times can induce vomitting, in fact so can many other aspects of this film.
The cast member I feel most sorry for is Sigourney Weaver, she should give real consideration to firing her agent, what with this following "Abduction", she really needs some decent material to work with.
Aside from the hope that the new "Die Hard" movie will erase the memory of the dire "Die Hard 4.0", maybe Mr. Willis should consider retiring, as he clearly is suffering from a similar fate to that of Miss. Weaver, and given that he is 67, the action roles will not exactly be flying in his direction.
And my only hope is that Henry Cavill can do a far better job with the new "Superman" franchise that what he has displayed here.

A mess, save your time, your money, and your sanity......3 out of 10