Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol- A one look pony..

For those of you who have seen the previous installment of the Mission Impossible series, Mi:III, and who enjoyed that entry, may find a different feel to the newest installment, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. For starters, JJ Abrams didn't direct this, he "produced" it, which can mean a great many things in terms of how much control or fine tuning he had on the final product. Add to it a new director, Brad Bird, and you have a very different feel for this film compared to the last. That's good and bad in my opinion.

Let's start with the good. The action scenes don't let up, everything is choreographed beautifully, and in a way you're not going to feel sick from trying to keep up with what's being punched, kicked, or thrown out of a window on the screen. Brad Bird shot this film's action scenes in the best way possible, so he gets top billing for that in my book. Even the opening scene has a certain charm to it, with Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt character having to break out of a Russian prison, and I won't spoil what gives it that extra zeal. I would even go as far as saying fans of the original 60s TV series, may sense the same vibe of the classic show in spades throughout this film. Even Michael Giacchino's soundtrack truly pays homage to the classic TV series in a big way. These are all nice touches, but I still came away from this film feeling it missed some things that made the third entry work so well.

So what did it miss? This film lacked that emotional resonance the third one had, and I think that was due in part because Ethan Hunt didn't have his wife to directly worry about as the course of the film went on. Her character was essentially written out of this installment, and only mentioned a few times. There wasn't that major payoff like you had in the last film where Hunt and his wife go to hell and back together and win. Secondly, the films main villains in this were no names compared to the kind of acting chops brought to the table by Philip Seymour Hoffman's villain in the last film. That was the final nail in the coffin preventing me from giving this movie full marks. Every action film has to have that definitive alpha male villain, without it, it prevents it from reaching greatness status. Every classic action film has had them in the past, this one did not!

However, it's definitely worth an evening, and one bowl of popcorn. The action sequences alone hold this baby together, even without a big emotional payoff in the end. Getting to see Tom Cruise act crazy and (no stunt doubles, really!) scale the worlds tallest building in Dubai warrants 2 hours of your time.  Nuff said.

American Reunion: A successful one!

Alright, I'm going to get to the point. If you don't remember the American Pie films from the late 90s, early 2000s, then you just may not see the nostalgia factor in the latest, and most likely final installment of this franchise. However, for someone like myself, who was in their senior year of high school when the original came out in 1999, it was a welcomed trip down memory lane.


The beauty part about this fourth entry in the series is the entire gang is back from the original three films. Does everyone have something worthwhile to do? No, but the main characters you want to see have the most fun, and get their due screen time in this installment. The great story arc to this movie is you get to see a group of friends who have gone on to do various things in their lives 13 years later, and every one of them is having doubts about where they're at in adulthood. It's the kind of thing most people my age can truly relate to, and something that transcends the overtly funny laughs and gags of this film. Sure you get to see Stifler, Finch, Jim, Oz, and Kevin getting into trouble, and getting out of trouble, but the main theme of this film is the fact they all sort of realize they're doing OK in life by the end of the reunion. Many people from my generation will most assuredly enjoy the chance to escape for a few hours and get lost while watching characters going through similar transformation in their life.

Now, the important stuff, Stifler's mom? check. Jim's dad, check. Both are in here and provide some hilarious moments that keep the films comedic pace moving along without any hiccups. Eugene Levy is in top form playing Jim's dad.  The best surprise of all? We get to meet Finch's mom for the first time. That's right, and I wonder how many people will be able to figure out what famous actress she is? She brings new meaning to the term "cougar", and I think you'll find that Stifler agrees!

So go out, enjoy American Reunion, you won't regret seeing the old gang back together again for their high school reunion that couldn't go worse, but yet make you pound your kneecap in laughter wanting more!

Retro Review: License to Kill

It should be noted that most people don't even remember this entry into the James Bond franchise. When I organized a screening for this hidden gem into the Bond films on Syracuse University's campus, not one person ever remembered the title of this film, let alone the actor who played Bond in this criminally underrated entry. Why? Probably because their parents never knew about it either. United Artists and Eon Productions originally spent millions on marketing materials for this film to have a different title: License Revoked. However, at the last minute, producers assumed American audiences wouldn't understand that title had any connection to 007, and instead mistake it for having ones drivers license revoked. Don't laugh, it's true! In the end, they pissed all the money away on a marketing campaign they couldn't use in the U.S.

Having said that, this film brought Bond films back to the 60s flare and style. It had a serious villain, exotic locations, and didn't have an over the top plot that had the film's main villain wanting to take over the world. In this case, the lead villain Sanchez, played by Robert Davi (you may remember him as a special agent in Die Hard, as well as one of the Fratelli brothers in The Goonies) merely wanted to be the king of cocaine dealing for the free world. He was truly one of the best Bond villains in the history of the Bond franchise, adding more than just a one dimensional layer to his character. Davi's portrayal would have you believe Sanchez appreciated loyalty from his workers, and was consistent with rewarding that concept. You may also recognize a very young Benecio Del Toro, playing Sanchez's hencemen, Dario. He was very effective, with a few choice lines that helped elevate his character beyond the few words of dialogue his character was given. Not to be forgotten, the two women playing the Bond girls for this film, Carey Lowell, and Talisa Soto. Both brought more of an edge to the stigma of being a Bond girl. Carey's character Pam Bouvier, plays a CIA operative, and really sells the tough girl persona throughout the film. Talisa's character of Lupe Lamora makes you not only believe why Sanchez would be obsessed in not let letting her out of his grasp, but you also gets the sense she can only take so much abuse before snapping herself.  And last but not least, the actor playing James Bond, Timothy Dalton, did a lot of his own stunts, and tried to earnestly project a persona that Ian Fleming wrote about for the Bond character in the original novels. This wasn't Roger Moore, ham it up Bond. This was grab the girl by the throat, and not even have the courtesy to wink at her or the camera "intense Bond", projected so effortlessly by Dalton. The real shame? He (Dalton) never really started getting credit for his portrayal of Bond until about 17 years later when Daniel Craig played Bond in very similar fashion. It took American audiences almost two decades to really appreciate what Dalton was trying to do with the role in this film and his first entry into the series.

Overall, this film hit all the right notes with amazing action stunt sequences from the films opening montage as Bond and Felix Leiter take to the skies in a DEA helicopter to reel in Sanchez, to the films climax in which Bond uses a tanker truck to his advantage in trying to seek revenge on the death of Leiter's wife. I'm not going to spoil the rest of this film, but it's got some of the best, if not the best action scenes ever put on the silver screen. The pace of the film just works. Just when you think it's going to slow down and suffer from the same fate as a lot of the Roger Moore entries, it picks right up and never lets go. Not to be underrated a fantastic score by the late Micheal Kamen, who scored other action films such as Die Hard and Lethal Weapon during the same era. It's a shame poor marketing, and being released in the ultra competitive "summer of 89" prevented it from becoming the blockbuster it should have been financially.

Hopefully, like many films from decades past, it will continue to become more of a fan favorite as time goes on. One of the Bond producers recently said the film was too dark for the time it was released, and I can only help but wonder what a blockbuster it could have been if released in our current era of darker themed heroes and films. Nuff said.