MISSION IMPOSSIBLE FALLOUT

Plus, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Ant-Man and the Wasp

I saw all of three of these movies recently and though the action in them was good, they all left me feeling a little bit disappointed and almost uncaring at what was happening on screen. I enjoyed parts of the movies, but other parts were slow, disjointed, or too predictable to be enjoyable for me.

Perhaps, I expected too much going in to see these movies and that’s why I felt so blah about them coming out, but every single one of these films left me with lukewarm feelings instead of the love and adrenaline rush that the first films in the franchises produced.

I gave all three films I saw this week four stars because for the most part, they were good films and they did entertain, but in all honesty, I didn’t want to talk—or write— about any of these films after seeing them. There just wasn’t anything that stood out and excited or wowed me. I expected to be excited and wowed in different ways with these movies and I just wasn’t. Which was a serious letdown because I had high hopes for each of these films.

Mission Impossible: Fallout had some stellar action scenes, I have to admit, and I’m almost 95% sure Tom Cruise is not human. The dude doesn’t age and his action stunts are by far what made this movie for me. Well, that and Henry Cavill, Simon Pegg, and Ving Rhames.  These actors worked extremely well together and their collective scenes were some of the best in the movie. These people are at the top of their game and it showed. I think my biggest problem with this film was in the slower parts and maybe the length of it. I think they could’ve cut some scenes and made a much more cohesive action film than this one turned out to be for me. The plot just didn’t gel enough to keep me focused, instead I just kept wondering how much longer it would go on. Sad to say, but true.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom had some epic dinosaur moments that kept the movie from falling too far below my enjoyment level. I thoroughly enjoyed Isabella Sermon as Maisie Lockwood but didn’t like the cartoonish villains at all. The villain plot felt too predictable and their performances felt like I’ve seen them a hundred times in other films, and I probably have.

I could relate to Chris Pratt and Isabella Sermon’s characters the most in this film, as they had that little extra something that made them standout, but the other actors, or rather their characters, failed to resonate in any meaningful way for me. I did enjoy Zia Rodriguez, the doctor played by Daniella Pineda, as she has that vibrant personality that captures your attention when she’s on screen, but she should’ve been given more to do, in my opinion. She was a way underutilized talent in this. Jeff Goldblum was awesome in his brief appearances as Malcolm,  though I wish he’d had more screen time as well, and a scene with Chris Pratt would’ve gone a long way to help the issues in the plot of this one. It will be interesting to see what the next film in the franchise will be and how it will redeem itself from where it went in this one.

Ant-Man and the Wasp was my favorite of the three movies. I enjoyed most all of the movie, despite its failure to live up to the joy I felt after seeing its predecessor for the first time. I liked the relationship between Scott and his daughter a lot in this one, and I felt that both actors handled that quite well. But in truth, if it wasn’t for Paul Rudd and Michael Pena, and the movie being part of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe, I’m not sure I’d care what would become of most of the characters in this film. I have to say, Michael Pena stole every scene he was in and, outside of Paul Rudd’s Scott, Luis was by far my favorite character in this movie.

All in all, a disappointing week at the movies for me. But…I’ll be seeing The Meg tomorrow and it’s a movie I’ve been looking forward to watching for a while now. I’m seriously hoping it lives up to its previews because I love a good shark movie and haven’t seen one for a long time.

Have you seen any of these movies? What did you think of them? Was I just having an off movie week, or did you experience something similar? 

Let us know your opinion in the comments!

ABOUT THE FILMS

Mission Impossible: Fallout

PG-13, 2 hr 26 min

Genre: Action | Spy Thriller | Sci-Fi

Release Date: July 27, 2018

Summary: The best intentions often come back to haunt you. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT finds Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team (Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) along with some familiar allies (Rebecca Ferguson, Michelle Monaghan) in a race against time after a mission gone wrong. Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett, and Vanessa Kirby also join the dynamic cast with filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie returning to the helm.

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie

Written by Christopher McQuarrie, Dylan Kussman

Produced by Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, Jake Myers, J.J. Abrhams

Production Co.: Paramount Pictures

Starring: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris, Angela Basset, Vanessa Kirby, Michelle Monahan, Alec Baldwin, Wes Bentley, Fredrick Schmidt

 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 

, PG-13, 2 hr 8 Minutes

Genre: Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Release Date: June 22, 2018

Summary: When the island’s dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen and Claire mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event.

Directed by J.A. Bayona

Written by Derek Connolly, Colin Trevorrow

Based on characters by Michael Crichton

Production Co.: Amblin Entertainment, Legendary Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Perfect World Pictures

Starring: Chris Pratt, Brice Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, James Cromwell, Jeff Goldblum, BD Wong, Isabella Sermon

 

Ant-Man and the Wasp

, PG-13, 118 Minutes

Genre: Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Release Date: July 6, 2018

Summary: As Scott Lang balances being both a Super Hero and a father, Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym present an urgent new mission that finds the Ant-Man fighting alongside The Wasp to uncover secrets from their past.

Directed by Peyton Reed

Written by Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Paul Rudd, Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari

Based on Marvel Comics by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby

Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena, Michael Douglas, Hannah John-Kamen, Walton Goggins, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Abby Ryder Forston, Randall Park