Movie Review - Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

-- Mission: Impossible Week --
Please note that all Mission: Impossible Week film reviews may contain spoilers related to both the film that is being reviewed and other films in the series.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Starring Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Vladimir Mashkov, Josh Holloway, Anil Kapoor, and Léa Seydoux

Directed by Brad Bird

***The review below was originally published on May 27, 2011.  Reading it over, my feelings are pretty much the same now as they were then.  Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is a really solid film and the best film in the Mission: Impossible series.  By far the funniest flick of the bunch (I laughed out loud when the machine that makes the famous Mission: Impossible face masks broke down), Ghost Protocol is also filled with great action sequences -- some of which should be noted for their surprising lack of weaponry and combat, but instead for their ability to create tense moments from something as simple as a desert dust storm.  Enjoy my original review below.***

Although Mission: Impossible II was one of my least favorite movies the year it came out, I don't utterly detest the Mission: Impossible series of films.  Maybe it's just the catchy theme music -- which really is one of the best tv theme songs ever created -- but it's probably more that I like the gadgety spy vibe that runs throughout.  I had heard really good things about animation director Brad Bird's first foray into live action filming.  Fortunately, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol did not disappoint and is probably the best action flick to come out of 2011.

Part of the reason for its success is that this Mission: Impossible has an odd joyfulness to it that I don't remember at all in previous incarnations in this series.  There's a humor here that I wasn't expecting and it added a breath of fresh air to the typical explosions and chase scenes that are part and parcel of a film of this ilk.  Certainly much of the chuckles come thanks to Simon Pegg who is the gadget guru Benji, part of the special team headed by Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt, who after being rescued from a Russian prison finds himself on a mission (impossible) to hunt down a Swedish nuclear weapon expert (Michael Nyqvist) deadset on starting a world war.  Aided by Jane Carter (a very solid [and sexy] Paula Patton), Ethan and his team travel from Moscow to Dubai to India tracking down the baddie.

It also helps matters that the story is very straightforward -- read: easy to comprehend.  Sometimes spy films like this tend to throw more info at you than you really need -- red herrings here, ridiculously convoluted background information there.  MI4 doesn't do that at all and I don't mean this as an insult to it.  Don't think that things are overly simplified -- it's just that Brad Bird and his screenwriters have pared things down to be exactly what is needed to make this story fly by.  Bird also crafts his action sequences without the superfluous quick edits and nonstop explosions that are so prevalent in movies today.  There are some genuinely exciting moments here that rely on tension rather than rapid movement to succeed and that's often a rarity nowadays.

Unfortunately, I think the film falters a tiny bit in two areas.  One, Jeremy Renner's character of a government official who is forced to become part of Ethan's team seemed to simply be there to attempt to craft future movies around him.  He isn't really given a lot to do and although he's fine in the role, this is the one point in the movie that probably could've been fleshed out a bit more.  Secondly, the final act of the movie seems almost unnecessary.  When the team moves to India, I couldn't help but think things could've ended in Dubai to much greater effect -- not all movies need to be two hours and ten minutes long.  The final action sequence (which was genuinely tense and exciting) could so easily have taken place in Dubai that the move to India only screamed "Look at our budget!" to me.

Still, those are actually minor quibbles in the grand scheme of things because Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol really excels in all areas -- acting, directing, writing -- where most action movies nowadays fail miserably.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Disconnect

Disconnect (2013)

Starring Jason Bateman, Hope Davis, Frank Grillo, Michael Nyqvist, Paula Patton, Andrea Riseborough, Alexander Scarsgård, Max Thieriot, Colin Ford, Jonah Bobo, Norbert Leo Butz, Haley Ramm, Kasi Lemmons, and Aviad Bernstein

Directed by Henry-Alex Rubin

Disconnect is one of those movies where a bunch of apparently unrelated storylines have tenuous connections that allow the players from one tale to have interactions with players from another tale.  I typically really like these kinds of films and while Disconnect generally works, it's not nearly as deep and profound as it aspires to be.  Taking on the internet, Disconnect attempts to tell us that we enter this (not so) newfound technological breakthrough at our own risk -- but is that really new information for us?  Aren't we all aware that bad folks are ready to prey on us online?

Still, despite the obvious, we are treated to some good stories here.  The best involves a young high school kid named Ben (Jonah Bobo) who just so happens to look at two of his classmates Jason and Frye (Colin Ford and Aviad Bernstein) in a disdainful way as they play a trick on someone in a mall.  Jason and Frye get ticked off and decide to get back at the shy introvert Ben by befriending him on Facebook with a fake female profile.  Ben finds himself falling for this fake profile as Jason and Frye continue escalating the relationship until Ben is eventually humiliated at school.  Needless to say, the humiliation ends in tragedy, changing forever the lives of Ben, his parents (Jason Bateman and Hope Davis), and Jason and Frye.

Another major story revolves around a news reporter (Andrea Riseborough) who investigates and befriends a young man (Max Thieriot) who was willingly hired to work on an internet porn site catering to those wanting to video chat with young men and women.  The final tale focuses on Cindy and Derek Hull (Paula Patton and Alexander Scarsgård), a couple who recently lost their only child.  While Derek tries to suppress his grief by online gambling, Cindy has taken up visiting grief community websites where she befriends a guy who says he recently lost his wife.  When the Hulls find their credit cards maxed out and their savings depleted, they begin to investigate whether Cindy's online "friend" is the culprit.

While all of these stories are perfectly acceptable and never teeter into "boring" territory, they also fail to be fresh.  I couldn't help but feel that I'd seen all of these tales told before on daytime television.  Thankfully, the acting ensemble is all pretty great from the youngest actors to the oldest ones and they elevate the material beyond the obvious.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" By Sapphire (2009)

Starring Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, and Mariah Carey
Directed by Lee Daniels

Let me just get this out of the way right now. Hand Mo'Nique the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress right now. I find it hard to believe that someone will come along in the next two months or so worth of 2009 movie-watching that will deliver such a tour de force performance. First, I was amazed that it was comedienne Mo'Nique bringing this hideous character she portrays to life. But, even looking past the fact that she "stepped out of her comfort zone" (because I wholeheartedly do not believe that's a reason to give someone an Oscar), she was an incredibly powerful presence and really truly moved me in her final scenes.

All right. Now that that's been discussed, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (one of the most unnecessarily long and ungainly titles of all time) tells the tale of sixteen year old Precious (played by newcomer Gabourey Sidibe), an overweight black girl in Harlem in 1987. When bad things happen to her (and, boy, do they ever) she escapes into her imagination where she's a movie star, an R & B singer, or a model -- realms that are as far away from her reality as possible. As the movie opens, Precious is pregnant with her second child, both of whom are fathered by her own father. At home, her mother Mary (the aforementioned Mo'Nique) abuses her with tirades of both the verbal and physical kind. Mary harbors terrible jealousy that her boyfriend "left her" to sexually abuse her daughter, and she refuses to let Precious forget that fact.

Although she's sixteen, Precious is still in middle school, but the school principal sends her to an alternative school to try to assist in her education. While there, Precious is befriended by her teacher, Ms. Rain (Paula Patton), who sees promise in the battered Precious. Also trying to help the teen is social worker, Mrs. Weiss (Mariah Carey), who desperately tries to get Precious to open up about her abusive home life.

Across the board, the acting ensemble is top notch. In addition to the amazing Mo'Nique, Paula Patton is quite moving as Ms. Rain, injecting sincerity into the role. Mariah Carey also steps up to the plate and delivers an honest performance that, while not showy, is quite touching. Gabourey Sidibe is forced to play the complete opposite of the loud, boisterous Mo'Nique, and Sidibe brings a quiet, understated demeanor to this rather depressed teenager. This young gal did not seem like she was acting in the slightest. In fact, no one in this film did...everyone embodied their roles to a tee.

Unfortunately, bringing the film down a notch is director Lee Daniels who relies much too heavily on camera trickery and an overuse of fade ins and outs. While at times I thought Daniels' techniques were ingenious, at other moments I was rolling my eyes. I completely understand the need to get inside the mind of young Precious and be able to visualize her inner thoughts, but sometimes it seemed like he went a few shots too far. Then again, Daniels certainly knows when to hold back the gimmicks and let his actresses become the focus, including a scene towards the end in which Mary begins to realize her faults -- it is simply one of the most emotionally draining and stunning moments I've seen in theaters this year. Just a "wow" moment.

Precious is often an uncomfortable experience, but it's a truly a riveting film -- one that really shouldn't be missed.

The RyMickey Rating: B+