I am very happy for Tom Cruise. Ever since he jumped on that couch in 2005 and had people dislike him for his personal scientology beliefs, he has had a rough few years.
"M:i:III" which was released in 2006 was the first of a string of under-performing Cruise movies, followed by "Lions for Lambs", "Valkyrie" and "Knight and Day".
"M:i:III" suffered as much from the backlash of the couch incident as it did with story and character issues. Audiences found it difficult to deal with Ethan Hunt getting married (look what happened when they tried to do that with James Bond in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" in 1969) and Philip Seymour Hoffman's villain was too dark.
"Lions for Lambs" was just plain boring...and anyway American audiences dislike seeing how their government has made a mess of their international affairs.
"Valkyrie" was actually a very good movie and I cannot account for the mixed reviews it received. I have a feeling that director Bryan Singer was dealing with his own backlash following his hopeless Superman reboot.
I think "Knight and Day" would represent the nadir of Cruise's filmography during this period...a very generic action movie featuring a female lead with whom he had no chemistry whatsoever (I could argue that it is not possible for anyone to have chemistry with Cameron Diaz, but that's another article).
The only bright spot in between was his brilliant turn as obnoxious movie producer Les Grossman in "Tropic Thunder"...that dance sequence has to be one of my favourite movie scenes of all time.
So, I am very happy for Tom Cruise to be tasting genuine success with "Ghost Protocol", the live action feature debut by Brad Bird, who until now was famous for his 3 outstanding animated features "The Iron Giant", "The Incredibles" and "Ratatouille". In fact, these 3 rank among my most favourite animation movies of all time. What Brad Bird excels at is his ability to humanize his characters...an important skill to have for an animation director. One could argue that after John Woo and JJ Abrams' respective takes on the M:I franchise, it was in need of a human touch...without losing out on its DNA of complex plot lines, tight editing and breathtaking stunts which Brian dePalma so brilliantly brought to the screen in 1996.
"M:I - GP" clearly stands out from its 3 predecessors due to the occasional doses of humour which makes the audience care for the characters...although I have to admit, seeing Ethan Hunt smile and have a drink with colleagues does take some getting used to.
The opening scene followed by the prison escape scene both do an outstanding job of setting the tone for the movie before the credits even roll (in true James Bond style). The highlight of course, is the action set piece on the Burj in Dubai. The Kremlin operation is truly entertaining as well...look, another interesting use for the iPad!!!
The scenes with the Indian industrialist bordered on the ridiculous however, but it all goes by so quickly, interspersed with the action elsewhere, that one doesn't really mind. Although the pre-film publicity would have us believe that this movie would have Tom Cruise hand over the reins of the franchise to Jeremy Renner, I have to say, this is a Cruise film all the way through. Renner is very good in his supporting role, but he just doesn't have the charisma to match Tom Cruise. It is also an amazing achievement that a man who is going to be 50 years old this year can be in such incredibly good shape. But that really is Tom Cruise doing a lot of his own stunts and this represents the kind of dedication and commitment that Cruise brings to all his film projects.
Among the other cast, Simon Pegg is excellent; I didn't really remember him from M:i:III, but here he plays pretty much the same light-hearted counterfoil role that Jean Reno played in the first film, which I thought was missing in the 2nd and 3rd installments.
There is no doubt that Brad Bird has breathed new life into the M:I franchise as well as Tom Cruise's career. Talks are already on for a fifth M:I film, while Brad Bird moves on to the ambitious "1906" project, chronicling the effects of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. We will next see Tom Cruise in 2012 play Stacey Jaxx in the 1980's hair rock musical "Rock of Ages". I was very excited to read about the "Rock of Ages" project, but after seeing the first trailer, I am wondering if this will represent yet another mis-step in his career. Fortunately, he has yet another action thriller coming up in 2013 playing Jack Reacher in "One Shot" an adaptation of the Lee Child novel.
"M:i:III" which was released in 2006 was the first of a string of under-performing Cruise movies, followed by "Lions for Lambs", "Valkyrie" and "Knight and Day".
"M:i:III" suffered as much from the backlash of the couch incident as it did with story and character issues. Audiences found it difficult to deal with Ethan Hunt getting married (look what happened when they tried to do that with James Bond in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" in 1969) and Philip Seymour Hoffman's villain was too dark.
"Lions for Lambs" was just plain boring...and anyway American audiences dislike seeing how their government has made a mess of their international affairs.
"Valkyrie" was actually a very good movie and I cannot account for the mixed reviews it received. I have a feeling that director Bryan Singer was dealing with his own backlash following his hopeless Superman reboot.
I think "Knight and Day" would represent the nadir of Cruise's filmography during this period...a very generic action movie featuring a female lead with whom he had no chemistry whatsoever (I could argue that it is not possible for anyone to have chemistry with Cameron Diaz, but that's another article).
The only bright spot in between was his brilliant turn as obnoxious movie producer Les Grossman in "Tropic Thunder"...that dance sequence has to be one of my favourite movie scenes of all time.
So, I am very happy for Tom Cruise to be tasting genuine success with "Ghost Protocol", the live action feature debut by Brad Bird, who until now was famous for his 3 outstanding animated features "The Iron Giant", "The Incredibles" and "Ratatouille". In fact, these 3 rank among my most favourite animation movies of all time. What Brad Bird excels at is his ability to humanize his characters...an important skill to have for an animation director. One could argue that after John Woo and JJ Abrams' respective takes on the M:I franchise, it was in need of a human touch...without losing out on its DNA of complex plot lines, tight editing and breathtaking stunts which Brian dePalma so brilliantly brought to the screen in 1996.
"M:I - GP" clearly stands out from its 3 predecessors due to the occasional doses of humour which makes the audience care for the characters...although I have to admit, seeing Ethan Hunt smile and have a drink with colleagues does take some getting used to.
The opening scene followed by the prison escape scene both do an outstanding job of setting the tone for the movie before the credits even roll (in true James Bond style). The highlight of course, is the action set piece on the Burj in Dubai. The Kremlin operation is truly entertaining as well...look, another interesting use for the iPad!!!
The scenes with the Indian industrialist bordered on the ridiculous however, but it all goes by so quickly, interspersed with the action elsewhere, that one doesn't really mind. Although the pre-film publicity would have us believe that this movie would have Tom Cruise hand over the reins of the franchise to Jeremy Renner, I have to say, this is a Cruise film all the way through. Renner is very good in his supporting role, but he just doesn't have the charisma to match Tom Cruise. It is also an amazing achievement that a man who is going to be 50 years old this year can be in such incredibly good shape. But that really is Tom Cruise doing a lot of his own stunts and this represents the kind of dedication and commitment that Cruise brings to all his film projects.
Among the other cast, Simon Pegg is excellent; I didn't really remember him from M:i:III, but here he plays pretty much the same light-hearted counterfoil role that Jean Reno played in the first film, which I thought was missing in the 2nd and 3rd installments.
There is no doubt that Brad Bird has breathed new life into the M:I franchise as well as Tom Cruise's career. Talks are already on for a fifth M:I film, while Brad Bird moves on to the ambitious "1906" project, chronicling the effects of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. We will next see Tom Cruise in 2012 play Stacey Jaxx in the 1980's hair rock musical "Rock of Ages". I was very excited to read about the "Rock of Ages" project, but after seeing the first trailer, I am wondering if this will represent yet another mis-step in his career. Fortunately, he has yet another action thriller coming up in 2013 playing Jack Reacher in "One Shot" an adaptation of the Lee Child novel.
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