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May 4, 2006
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Mission Impressive? I don’t judge books by their covers and I don’t judge movies by their ko-ko-kooky lead actors. Am I looking forward to watching Cruise get shot at? Yes, and admittedly perhaps a bit too much. Cruise has maintained his action-movie star pedigree where so many other have fallen off. His projects, while not always the most philosophically envelope-pushing, have always been marked by professionalism and traditional Hollywood artistry chiefly because of the cast and crew he surrounds himself with. There is an alchemy to a good blockbuster flick that has often turns foul in unskilled hands (ahem Bruckheimer, I’m looking at you) but director Abrams successfully masterminded two of the best action/adventure series ever to hit the idiot box with Alias and Lost. He has shown the mastery of formula and style and I am confident that the energy and intrigue of those projects will directly translate to the MI series. After all, Mission Impossible was the blueprint from which Alias was so successfully drawn. This, of course, is all looking past the brightest spot of the film in Philip Seymour Hoffman. While I doubt he will be channeling much of his Oscar winning Capote into his super-villainy, the buzz is extremely strong surrounding his performance. Critics are already calling his Owen Davian the new Goldfinger; a smart, ruthless bad guy who doesn’t make you want to smack him for tipping his hand. Dan responds Well, here we go again, summer blockbuster season. And who knew that Philip Seymour Hoffman was that hard up? I guess he can use that little gold statue he won as a paper weight for all the cash Mission Impossible III will likely make. Sigh...why do bad things happen to good people? Tom Cruise, everyone’s favorite Scientologist, is back in the third installment of the popular show-turned franchise as Ethan Hunt. This time, Ethan leaves a cushy training job to go back in the field to save Felicity, er, Keri Russell, from an eeeevil black market arms dealer played by THE GUY WHO WON AN OSCAR FOR PLAYING TRUMAN CAPOTE. Lawrence Fishburne, Ving Rhames and Bill Crupup pick up some pocket change along the way as Ethan’s crack anti-terrorist team, or something. There will be explosions and running and sweating, and reportedly there will be Tom Cruise crying a lot. I guess they call that acting. Someone will ride a motorcycle, there will be a car chase and several members of the “crack” team will not survive. Unfortunately, Ethan Hunt will and there will be a Mission Impossible IV. Please repeat above. I don’t even know where to go from here. J.J. Abrams of Lost and Alias fame will direct so that’s a good thing, but really how interesting can any of it be? I mean what words can you possibly put in the mouth of Felicity that won’t make your ear drums bleed. Co-writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are best known for their work on Xena and Hercules so there you go. Maybe that’s why Tom Cruise is crying. Glenn responds Cruise is free to be as L. Ron Hubbardly as he damn well pleases and that right afforded by THE CONSTITUTION THAT YOU OBVIOUSLY HATE SO MUCH has not prevented him from skillfully preforming in some of the the best films of the past 25 years. Perhaps running, exploding and shooting on film is not Paradise Now enough for your elitist liberal anti-American tastes but let me tell you; it doesn’t get more American then a series of sensless explosions punctuated by the over-sexuallized objectification of Hollywood starlets. And if you hate that, well then you hate the heart and soul of America itself. Comments? Thoughts? Discuss this article and more at hippoflea.com |
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