Movies Update - Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part 2 delayed by a year until 23 May 2025

[Kal-El814]

3 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

Well, Tom Cruise had excellent chemistry with Brad Pitt in Interview with the Vampire, but I know what you mean. Tom Cruise isn't really that type of guy, which to me is why his performances in Magnolia and Eyes Wide Shut work so well, because there's no actual chemistry there. I agree with you about him and strong on screen chemistry with love interests in his films.

 

I think it helps if you binge these movies in a row at once because the connective tissue helps you care more in the moment during these scenes. Obviously we know Simon Pegg (his character's name is Benji) likely hasn't betrayed Ethen Hunt (this is in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation) but when they interrogate him the upteenth time about it, there's tension for me since this is one of Hunt's few long-term allies (since the 3rd movie) and Benji is relatively new to this kind of stuff. But I usually watch at least the previous film when a sequel drops so I can get some narrative momentum and investment, I don't just drop right in to the sequel, and that's always helped. I used to watch every canonical movie in a series when a new sequel came out (in any series) but that was a bit much.  Point is, watching each of these movies every few years silo'ed in isolation any dramatic momentum would be significantly dulled, I agree. Now that could be a flaw of the series but I imagine most movie series expect you to have just seen/be very aware of everything that has happened "so far". 

 

Yeah that’s all fair.

 

I would have landed on Benji eventually!

 

And again, these movies are super fun, and I think that @TwinIon hit the nail on the head… I appreciate how much they’ve changed over time.

 

Also I’ve said it before, but in 2023 the unintentional comedy of Ethan finding Job in the first one by randomly emailing someone YOU LIKE CRIME, YES? and then Job just responds with YES LET’S MEET FOR CRIMES WHICH WE HAVE ESTABLISHED THAT I LIKE. ALSO PRIVACY IS IMPORTANT is just… so fucking good.

[Greatoneshere]

34 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

Also I’ve said it before, but in 2023 the unintentional comedy of Ethan finding Job in the first one by randomly emailing someone YOU LIKE CRIME, YES? and then Job just responds with YES LET’S MEET FOR CRIMES WHICH WE HAVE ESTABLISHED THAT I LIKE. ALSO PRIVACY IS IMPORTANT is just… so fucking good.

 

Computer stuff in 1990's movies (and 2000's movies) is always pretty great for unintentional comedy! However, I'm gonna get a bit Mission: Impossible nerd here because I've heard this criticism about the original film online before elsewhere and I don't think people are watching the movie carefully enough (I always watch movies with English subtitles which helps me; additionally, the original film is very surreal in terms of its editing, which is one of the things that turned off regular audiences on the film at the time but can make basic scenes confusing). Let me know if I'm missing something that makes this all inherently stupid for how the internet worked at the time (I was 10 years old at the time and we did have a computer at home and I remember how the internet worked back then but not super well). But basically (spoilers for a 27 year old movie): 

 

Ethan Hunt's team gets killed a half hour into the film except for Emmaneulle Beart (Claire) and Jon Voight's (Phelps) characters who we know are married in the film. Anyway, immediately after escaping a clear plan by Phelps to pin everything on him as the fall guy, Ethan returns to their original operational safe house to rest, recover, etc. He remembers during his meeting with CIA honcho Kittridge (when they tried to capture Hunt because they truly believe he is the mole when he's just the fall guy) that the CIA decoded a message on the internet from a black arms dealer named "Max" (who agencies presume is a man but is a woman). A message probably freely leaked by Phelps because he wants to fake his death and pin everything on Ethan. The CIA believes the operation to get the NOC list was referred to as "job 314". Now, the actual ridiculous part (this is LOL worthy to me) is Ethan then remembers, after looking at a bible in his line of sight behind the laptop, remembers Phelps' connection to Bibles as he had said stuff about bibles earlier in the film (remember, Ethan knows Phelps is the true traitor so any coded communications that were happening between Max and Phelps over the NOC list must be somehow related to Phelps at least). The problem was Kittridge said "job 314" like an occupation, not "Job 3:14" like the Bible so the different pronunciation of Job throws Ethan off initially (clearly Kittridge and his team didn't decode the message completely correctly, not realizing Max and Phelps are communicating coded messages via the Bible). 

 

So, Ethan searches all internet usenet groups for "Bible" and comes up with 126 entries. He has to specify a sub group and he does "book of Job" (we don't know how many entries of this he gets, but a lot). It's important to remember Ethan has no idea if any of this will work, it's all a shot in the dark, he hopes he's come to the right conclusion about it being the Bible to decode the way to communicate with Max. He also stays up the rest of the night emailing, in every language, every different "book of Job" sub-group he can find hoping one of them is the right one, so he doesn't just get it right on the first try, the first try is simply the one they bother to show what he's emailing, then it's a montage of him doing more of the exact same email to every "book of Job" group for what is implied to be hours. Yes, ultimately the first try was the right one, but that's just luck. Also, the content of the emails are incredibly vague, and it's clear the CIA, etc. have no idea about this email group/form of communication. It's less stupid than people think it is I think.

 

I'm sure this was too long and no one read it.  

[Kal-El814]

31 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

Computer stuff in 1990's movies (and 2000's movies) is always pretty great for unintentional comedy! However, I'm gonna get a bit Mission: Impossible nerd here because I've heard this criticism about the original film online before elsewhere and I don't think people are watching the movie carefully enough (I always watch movies with English subtitles which helps me; additionally, the original film is very surreal in terms of its editing, which is one of the things that turned off regular audiences on the film at the time but can make basic scenes confusing). Let me know if I'm missing something that makes this all inherently stupid for how the internet worked at the time (I was 10 years old at the time and we did have a computer at home and I remember how the internet worked back then but not super well). But basically (spoilers for a 27 year old movie): 

 

Ethan Hunt's team gets killed a half hour into the film except for Emmaneulle Beart (Claire) and Jon Voight's (Phelps) characters who we know are married in the film. Anyway, immediately after escaping a clear plan by Phelps to pin everything on him as the fall guy, Ethan returns to their original operational safe house to rest, recover, etc. He remembers during his meeting with CIA honcho Kittridge (when they tried to capture Hunt because they truly believe he is the mole when he's just the fall guy) that the CIA decoded a message on the internet from a black arms dealer named "Max" (who agencies presume is a man but is a woman). A message probably freely leaked by Phelps because he wants to fake his death and pin everything on Ethan. The CIA believes the operation to get the NOC list was referred to as "job 314". Now, the actual ridiculous part (this is LOL worthy to me) is Ethan then remembers, after looking at a bible in his line of sight behind the laptop, remembers Phelps' connection to Bibles as he had said stuff about bibles earlier in the film (remember, Ethan knows Phelps is the true traitor so any coded communications that were happening between Max and Phelps over the NOC list must be somehow related to Phelps at least). The problem was Kittridge said "job 314" like an occupation, not "Job 3:14" like the Bible so the different pronunciation of Job throws Ethan off initially (clearly Kittridge and his team didn't decode the message completely correctly, not realizing Max and Phelps are communicating coded messages via the Bible). 

 

So, Ethan searches all internet usenet groups for "Bible" and comes up with 126 entries. He has to specify a sub group and he does "book of Job" (we don't know how many entries of this he gets, but a lot). It's important to remember Ethan has no idea if any of this will work, it's all a shot in the dark, he hopes he's come to the right conclusion about it being the Bible to decode the way to communicate with Max. He also stays up the rest of the night emailing, in every language, every different "book of Job" sub-group he can find hoping one of them is the right one, so he doesn't just get it right on the first try, the first try is simply the one they bother to show what he's emailing, then it's a montage of him doing more of the exact same email to every "book of Job" group for what is implied to be hours. Yes, ultimately the first try was the right one, but that's just luck. Also, the content of the emails are incredibly vague, and it's clear the CIA, etc. have no idea about this email group/form of communication. It's less stupid than people think it is I think.

 

I'm sure this was too long and no one read it.  

 

 

 

[Greatoneshere]

2 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

 

 

Yeah I don't blame you. 

[Kal-El814]

3 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

Yeah I don't blame you. 

 

I did read it, and I liked it! Of course it's not actually as bad as Ethan emailing "crimes@job.com" or even if it was, that doesn't strain credulity anymore than an elevator that was specced out seemingly to only pose fatal risk to elevator technicians. Or you know... Emmanuelle Beart fucking Jon Voight.

[Greatoneshere]

7 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

 

I did read it, and I liked it! Of course it's not actually as bad as Ethan emailing "crimes@job.com" or even if it was, that doesn't strain credulity anymore than an elevator that was specced out seemingly to only pose fatal risk to elevator technicians. Or you know... Emmanuelle Beart fucking Jon Voight.

 

I appreciate ya taking the time! Completely agree about the jury rigged elevator and especially Beart with Voight. 

[SoberChef]

Pretty sure this is going to be the first film I see in both IMAX & 4DX.

[SoberChef]

Yet another delay in production...

[TwinIon]

On 5/17/2023 at 10:57 AM, Greatoneshere said:

He also stays up the rest of the night emailing, in every language, every different "book of Job" sub-group he can find hoping one of them is the right one, so he doesn't just get it right on the first try, the first try is simply the one they bother to show what he's emailing, then it's a montage of him doing more of the exact same email to every "book of Job" group for what is implied to be hours.

Pulling the scene up, you're right in what it implies, but it only really shows him doing it once more and then falling asleep. I understand it's a very unexciting thing to montage, but it's really easy to miss that the film is trying to show that he's doing this en mass. Just a few seconds of him clicking send a bunch of times would have made it much more clear.

 

The whole film really is a Swiss watch of little hints that all fit together to give you everything you need to know. Where the later movies get more bombastic in their stunts, they're also much more clear in their plotting, for better or worse.

[Greatoneshere]

1 hour ago, TwinIon said:

Pulling the scene up, you're right in what it implies, but it only really shows him doing it once more and then falling asleep. I understand it's a very unexciting thing to montage, but it's really easy to miss that the film is trying to show that he's doing this en mass. Just a few seconds of him clicking send a bunch of times would have made it much more clear.

 

The whole film really is a Swiss watch of little hints that all fit together to give you everything you need to know. Where the later movies get more bombastic in their stunts, they're also much more clear in their plotting, for better or worse.

 

I agree - the movie's editing does this a lot, where you're kind of unsure what the film is trying to exactly imply/say. It's by design it seems to keep the plot esoteric but can at times make the film hard to parse as well, though that's pretty typical for director Brian De Palma. I also enjoy the little hints sprinkled throughout the film, as you mentioned.

[TwinIon]

Reviews are starting to come out and they're pretty darn good. It might not be the best entry in the series, but it sure seems like another worthwhile entry, which is enough to get me into an IMAX theater.

[TheLeon]

I forgot this was a Wednesday release, which means it’s actually a Tuesday release, and that happens to be one of my off days. Gotten a IMAX ticket for 2PM on the 11th. 

[Fizzzzle]

Sounds like a MI marathon is in order. I still haven't seen the last one, I don't think. I also haven't seen top gun Maverick.

[Dre801]

These movies have been consistently good.

[5timechamp]

Im definitely curious to see how they create tension here..

 

Fallout used many great fakeouts  to the point that someone needs to be sacrificed to re-establish tension because Ethan has been running perfect operations for too long

[EternallDarkness]

2 hours ago, Fizzzzle said:

Sounds like a MI marathon is in order. I still haven't seen the last one, I don't think. I also haven't seen top gun Maverick.

 

what you waiting on son!?!?

[MarSolo]

10 hours ago, 5timechamp said:

Im definitely curious to see how they create tension here..

 

Fallout used many great fakeouts  to the point that someone needs to be sacrificed to re-establish tension because Ethan has been running perfect operations for too long

I feel like no one ever dies in these flicks, and when they do, it’s not someone important. Want to create tension? Do this:

 

Spoiler

Kill off Ving Rhames or Simon Pegg’s character. Create some actual stakes.

 

 

[TwinIon]

Watched it last night and came home unimpressed. Partly it's just a result of the very high standard that these films have set for themselves. It's propulsive and exciting and funny and still doesn't really measure up to its predecessors.

 

I also felt like it was a bit too goofy at times in ways that felt out of character for Mission Impossible. The Paris character in particular felt out of place, like she fell out of a Bond or even a Fast and Furious movie. That's a vibe that I got more than a few times watching Dead Reckoning.

[Kal-El814]

21 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

Watched it last night and came home unimpressed. Partly it's just a result of the very high standard that these films have set for themselves. It's propulsive and exciting and funny and still doesn't really measure up to its predecessors.

 

I also felt like it was a bit too goofy at times in ways that felt out of character for Mission Impossible. The Paris character in particular felt out of place, like she fell out of a Bond or even a Fast and Furious movie. That's a vibe that I got more than a few times watching Dead Reckoning.

 

Short of Tom consenting to actually getting shot by a .22 or something, I just have no idea where these movies can actually go. The characters are all incidental, despite what the filmmakers say every time they're hyping up one of these. And I love practical effects and stunts as much as the next guy, but... when Henry Cavill reloading his arms is more iconic than Tom hanging off a plane as it takes off or HALO jumping, maybe they should think more about creating actual human stakes and relatable suspense in these from time to time?

 

I dunno. I like my time with these movies but the sizzle to steak ratio is just way off and has been since maybe the first 15 minutes of the third one?

[TheLeon]

I think it probably ranks in the middle of the pack. People have been asking “how can they possibly keep topping themselves?”, and they don’t, but I still had a lot of fun. After being disappointed in the fake-looking action of Dial of Destiny (and most non John-Wick action movies of the last few years) I was ready for Cruise and Co. to show everyone how it’s done. And they do, mostly, but my expectations might have been a little too high. 
 

[SoberChef]

Remember, while yes it should stand on its own, this IS a part 1 of 2. McQ himself said he'd like for someone to be able to surely watch both individually, but that as a whole, it has a better pay off. I'm going in, knowing full well it is only half of the story, so in terms of a full review, is it warranted necessarily until we can all step back & behold the full tapestry at work here?

 

As for Pom's character, I've heard she would be better suited in a John Wick universe flick than this, but hey let's have some fun, shall we?

[cusideabelincoln]

I have enjoyed the movies and find the last few movies pretty damn good.

 

But personally, the action will never top the Burj Khalifa scene in Ghost Protocol. I am not good with heights, and just watching that scene makes my asshole pucker and my tummy tumble every time.

[SoberChef]

2 hours ago, cusideabelincoln said:

I have enjoyed the movies and find the last few movies pretty damn good.

 

But personally, the action will never top the Burj Khalifa scene in Ghost Protocol. I am not good with heights, and just watching that scene makes my asshole pucker and my tummy tumble every time.

 

Try jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, then see how that goes (as a fellow non-fan of heights, I did just over a year ago!)

[TheLeon]

My biggest problem with splitting this up into 2 movies is that it feels completely unnecessary. If you’re adapting a massive novel or something, I get it (Dune feels like the movie that’s done this best, so far). But this feels artificially stretched out. Vague-ish spoilers:

Spoiler

All the globe-trotting, all the set pieces in this very long movie, are in service of what is step 1 of a mission that doesn’t seem complicated enough to justify the runtime. Plot mechanics aren’t the most important part of these movies, obviously, but it was exhausting in this that everything in this movie is about getting this one item, which isn’t the ultimate goal. 

 

[TwinIon]

I agree that it didn't feel like this movie needed to be split in two. There isn't anything compelling enough about the problem presented or the solution to it that didn't feel entirely achievable within a single nearly 3 hour movie.

 

When I compare Dead Reckoning to Across the Spider-verse as half narratives, Spiderverse comes off looking so much better. In Dead Reckoning they lay out the problem and the solution from the get go. They even acquire the mcguffin pretty early on, spending the rest of the movie trying to catch up to the knowledge that the audience already has.

 

Spiderverse took a different tack, only ever even revealing the full scope of the hero's challenge towards the end of the film. Yes, it was still half a narrative and much more of a cliff hanger, but it each action set piece served as setup and/or payoff with real character and story consequences. Dead Reckoning definitely felt like the epitome of going to cool place because that's what the action called for rather than the story.

 

I don't want to be too down on Dead Reckoning. It's fun. It's the funniest MI yet. The action is very well done. It's too long, but you hardly feel it because McQuarrie keeps the pace at a beautiful frenzy throughout. It just has the champagne problem that being a good action movie is only good enough to qualify as a mediocre MI flick.

[EternallDarkness]

fun flick

[MarSolo]

Yeah, I enjoyed it but I feel like automatically telling people this was Part One of Two was kind of a bonehead move. I knew the story wasn’t getting resolved in this flick.

 

That said, I’m glad Hayley Atwell got a lot of screen time and hopefully this movie leads to her becoming a bigger name.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Can't say that I'm surprised by this at all:

 

Tom Cruise’s Next ‘Mission: Impossible’ Movie Delayed a Year to 2025

WWW.HOLLYWOODREPORTER.COM

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Paramount has also pushed 'A Quiet Place: Day One' back two months as it reshuffles its 2024 calendar amid Hollywood's ongoing labor strife.

 

Quote

 

Tom Cruise‘s next Mission: Impossible movie is departing the 2024 box office calendar. The eighth installment in the action spy franchise appears to be dropping the second half of its previous title, Dead Reckoning, Part Two, with a new title expected to be announced at a later date.

 

Paramount and Skydance have pushed back the film back to May 23, 2025, off its previous date of June 28, 2024. The feature shut down production to allow for star Cruise and the cast to promote Dead Reckoning, Part 1. Then the SAG-AFTRA strike hit in mid-July, which meant the cast could not return to work on the film, which hails from director Christopher McQuarrie.

 

 

[Greatoneshere]

Damn, now it won't be out for 1.5 years from now? I understand why but that's considerable. A shame as I finally watched part one and it was really good but very much a part one and that's a long wait until part two. 

[SoberChef]

I know I'm holding off on purchasing Dead Reckoning on physical as I'm hoping they'd have had a 1-2 punch dual release perhaps down the road. Now that not only it's pushed a whole year, but will have a whole other name, yeah I'm guessing that won't be a thing now. DAMMIT!