![]() ![]() Instead, we are stirred and amused by a preternatural sight: men as little machines. Watch Keaton sprint along the crest of a hill, a century ago, in the finale of “Seven Chances,” or Cruise in full flow on the roof of an airport, in “Dead Reckoning.” Relentlessness of this order ought to be chilling. ![]() They run unstoppably yet with an oddly formal poise-torso held upright, like that of a waiter with a tray, above the pumping pistons of their legs. In addition, each of them is most at ease when in haste. Nice.Ĭruise has none of Keaton’s dreamy stoicism, but both actors, trim and compact, define themselves by the outsized magnificence of their stunts. “Don’t hate me,” she says, leaving Ethan bewitched, bothered, and be-handcuffed to a steering wheel. Ever practical, she ties her hair back before clambering onto the outside of a speeding train, and, as she and Ethan are harried through Roman streets by multiple vehicles, exclaims, “Is there anyone not chasing us?” An excellent question. Observe how she pauses, with a frown of uncertainty, before putting on one of those rubber masks which more seasoned habitués of “Mission: Impossible,” when switching identities, don and doff like gloves. Although she has a sheaf of passports, like Jason Bourne, she is new to mayhem, never mind to brutality, and Atwell does a lovely job of suggesting that Grace’s natural state is one of criminal innocence-wide-eyed yet without a flake of ditziness, and far too schooled in common sense to be a femme fatale. The thing about bumping into Grace is that, post-bump, you will find yourself bereft of valuables, for her fingers are feather-light. ![]() She is a thief, whom Ethan bumps into at the Abu Dhabi airport. Make no mistake, Cruise is in control of these movies-“A Tom Cruise Production,” the opening credits of “Dead Reckoning” announce-but he has the wit to realize how dreary that dominance would become if Ethan were not, at regular intervals, unmanned by women. Also in the mix is Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who made her début in “Rogue Nation.” To my eyes, it was with the arrival of Ferguson that the franchise truly took flight her manner was tranquil even at the height of tension, her character’s fealty was elusive, and she was splendidly unimpressed by the hero. Any government or terrorist outfit possessing it will wield unquenchable power, and the one person who can stop it from slipping into evil hands is, of course, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), Frodo Baggins having taken early retirement.Įthan assembles his usual gang, consisting of Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), who has been on call since the first “Mission: Impossible” (1996), and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg). ![]() (What next? The Intimation? The Word in Your Ear?) It seems to be a species of A.I.-“an enemy that is everywhere and nowhere,” we hear, with “a mind of its own.” Access to it is granted by a cruciform key, in two sections collect the pair, slot ’em together, and the Entity lies within your grasp. In “Fallout” (2018), we had the Apostles. In “ Rogue Nation” (2015), we had the Syndicate. In the world of “Mission: Impossible,” villainy gets bigger and more abstract by the movie. The topic of the meeting is the Entity, which is discussed at such length, and in tones of such grandiloquent awe, that I understood it even less at the end than I did at the start. It’s eventually halted by a guy who throws smoke bombs around, unleashing clouds of pretty green gas-a mild surprise to those present, who were presumably expecting coffee and a selection of pastries, but by this stage any interruption is welcome. intelligence personnel, which goes on and on. The first sign of swelling, in this latest adventure, comes with a gathering of U.S. Concision junkies will have to look elsewhere. If Part Two, which is due to be released next June, is of similar dimensions, we’ll be landed with a tale that is more than five hours in the telling. The new movie, which is directed by Christopher McQuarrie, runs for two hours and forty-three minutes, and its full title is “Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One,” which takes about half an hour to say. We brace ourselves, and adopt the Mission position. Now, as the seventh chapter of the saga begins, we hear no melody at all: nothing but the rhythm, thudding forth. (Paddling furiously in its wake is that of “Hawaii Five-O.”) For the ensuing movie franchise, the tune has been repeatedly stretched and tweaked-or, in the case of the second film, lacerated by Limp Bizkit. Most of us know the trills and thrills of Lalo Schifrin’s original score, which remains the most exciting theme tune ever composed for TV. Like the beat, beat, beat of the tomtom, a pounding of the drums tells us that another installment of “ Mission: Impossible” is under way. ![]()
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