Ron Does Stuff

Okay, so I was fully intending to watch this anyway, but maybe a little later in the week, but I had one of those rare moments where I wanted to go out just because and not because I had an errand to run, so why not watch this while I’m out?

To give you all an idea of how old I am, I watched the very first Mission: Impossible film in theaters, all the way back in 1996. I’ve watched every Mission:Impossible since, always in theaters, so there was no question that I was going to watch this as well.

This latest film is a continuation of Mission:Impossible — Dead Reckoning and if you’re worrying if you need to remember the events from that movie to understand this one, don’t worry. It’s been two years since that film came out, and I honestly only remember bits and pieces of it, but I was able to follow this latest film very well. It also doesn’t hurt that the film doesn’t skimp on flashbacks when the audience needs a refresh.

In fact, I found those flashbacks to be one of the great parts of this film, because the flashbacks go as far back as the very first film, and it really made the whole movie feel like a proper send-off to the series. Characters that I haven’t even thought about since seeing them make an appearance and a contribution to the action and the mission. It felt like they were rewarding the people who’ve been watching since the series began.

Now, how about the overall plot? I gotta admit, when I was watching Mission:Impossible — Dead Reckoning it was kinda hard to accept the ~evil AI~ as the main villain. But two years later, with AI being a threat to creative industries and AI bros just being assholes like the other tech bros that came before them, it’s not so hard to suspend my disbelief anymore. Is this the film to provide the great denouncement of AI? I don’t think so, but I did appreciate the effort in sending out the message of not surrendering your fate to AI and to make your own decisions and to root those decisions in love.

Another thing that I think they tried to rectify in this final and concluding film is the death of Ilsa Faust in Mission:Impossible — Dead Reckoning. She’s truly dead, by the way, no resurrection is happening, but I think this is the most number of female characters I’ve seen in a Mission:Impossible film who do not directly need Ethan Hunt to rescue them? The women either hold their own or literally outrank Ethan. Angela Bassett plays the president!

Is this the best Mission:Impossible film ever? Not really. I don’t think any of the films that followed the first movie ever really got to those levels again. But it definitely is one of the more enjoyable ones and the one that made me feel the most tension, even if I knew that Ethan Hunt was going to get out of it alive. I really felt anxious in some of those action sequences! If you’re not in the mood for superheroes but still looking for a great action film that will keep you on the edge of your seat, this might be the one for you.