Directed by: John Woo Written by: Robert Towne Brannon Braga Ronald D. Moore Starring: Tom Cruise Thandie Newton Dougray Scott Ving Rhames Anthony Hopkins Brendan Gleeson William R. Mapother

Favorite Lines from the Movie:

"To go to bed with a man and lie to him? She's a woman. She's got all the training she needs."

"Oh! Now I'm mad."

Reviews

Shankster

This is what the summer movie scene is all about. Hot cars, hot women, and lots of gunslinging, explosive action. It helps that the soundtrack is cool as well. John Woo delivers another heart pounding, adrenaline rush, action movie and I was not disappointed. Unfortunately I like explosions, impossible stunts, and a lot of frenetic action, but there were moments where this movie was almost too slow for me. The slow parts do a good deal to develop Ethan Hunt into a sensitive, caring, multi-dimensional character.

I can guarantee you will leave this movie shaking your head knowing that a lot of the stunts were/are impossible, the laws of physics or even simple reality don't appear to allow them to happen. All I can say is this: stay through the credits and you will see there are very few (if any) Computer Graphics people and only a handful of visual effects people compared to a list of more stuntmen then actors.

Tom Cruise turns in a plausible performance as he continues to do the action hero justice. Don't expect a whole lot of originality in the plot line, the movie is rather formulaic it takes some of the original story line and throws it together with any one of a dozen Bond flicks and then dumps the action on top. Do expect the mind blowing disguises (one of them is a DEAD giveaway this time), a lot of action, and to have a good time.

I could have done without the slow parts, but it helped make it romantic enough that my wife felt there was a plausible side plot of a love story. All in all a good movie that is a soft enough to be a date movie while kicking ass at the same time.

Batman

If I had walked into the theater, sat down and watched the first fifteen minutes of the movie, then gotten up and gone elsewhere for about forty five minutes and then come back for the last hour, I would have given this movie five stars. That's how great the action is in those sections of the movie. But then there is that other forty five minutes.

During that period of time the movie slowly drags to a halt. I'm sure the idea was to flesh out the characters a bit and lay the groundwork for the action to follow but it just moves ssssooooo ssssllllooooowwwwllllyyyy. I came close to nodding off at one point. The sad thing is that even with that section we never really get to know two of the major characters. Our villain, Shawn Ambrose (Dougray Scott) is pretty much of a mystery. He's a former IMF agent and he wants a lot of money. Apart from that the film never gives us any hint at his past or motivations. Naya (Thandie Newton) is a professional thief and a love interest Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise). That's about all we know about her. Sure she's drop dead gorgeous and charms the pants off of Cruise's character (literally) but there isn't much else to her character.

Cruise does a damn fine job with the action. He impressed the hell out of me with his stunts and his fights. The scene where he's climbing a mountain is shot in a way to make you feel a bit of vertigo. To do that stunt himself I'm surprised he could climb effectively with the big balls necessary to do it. Don't expect acting on par with his recent performances in Eyes Wide Shut and Magnolia though. When the scenes are quiet he comes off a bit dull actually.

There are a lot of great actors in small parts in this movie. Anthony Hopkins has a brief appearance as the IMF director. He flat out steals scenes from Cruise. Ving Rhames is as cool as ever. Too bad he couldn't get into the action a bit more though. Brendan Gleeson was almost criminally underused.

Of course the real reason anybody is going to this movie is for the action. It delivers in spades. When it finally kicks into high gear the movie is clearly John Woo's baby. I can't think of another director working today who can make action look so good. The stunts are wildly creative and frequently made my jaw drop. My only complaint is that this movie had to be rated PG-13 forcing Woo to pull back on the reins just a tad. Still, the action sequences have amazing energy and will almost certainly have my butt back in the theater for a second viewing.

As an aside to the many X-Men fans reading this site, be glad that Dougray Scott was replaced with Hugh Jackman for the part of Wolverine. Scott was fine in this movie but I simply could not picture him playing Logan. I think they ended up with the right actor.