Postby Galant » Thu May 25, 2006 10:01 am
Here's my problem with the movies - and I say this as someone who enjoyed 1, loved 2 (saw it three times at the movies) but then on a recent review found it to be dis-tasteful, and then found 3....'meh' -
The whole mission impossible series and theme was to bring together a team of experts in their fields to come together to pull off some otherwise impossible job. It was intelligent, thrilling, and the different missions and team members made it interesting.
The first movie kind of had the same approach, though killing off the team and leaving the lone member to clear it up. It was clever. After the first movie though I guess they decided that they really didn't need the team, what they needed was a single hero and some supporting cast.
After seeing the third movie I reviewed my thoughts on the whole thing seeing as I felt a bit disappointed. I decided that what was missing was the intelligence. The cleverness of how the whole thing comes together just isn't there, and neither is the team aspect. Instead of a team fo individuals who rely on one another each an expert, we have Ethan, the uber-member, and then a few necessary extras who come across more as tools for Tom's use. I'd love to see it a little less hero centered and more team centered.
The other thing is the 'impossible' aspect of the movie. The only things impossible are some of Tom's stunts and all the bullet dodging that goes on. I found myself asking a question - if you to to try to write MI:3 as a book how would it come out? Boring I think, because so much of what catches you in the movie is extended action sequencing. You can't write that in a book...'Ethan dodges this and that, shoots here and there, chucks this, dives here', it just wouldn't work. Whereas a movei can rely upon visual and audio flash and bang, a book can't. Therefore, the writer has to grip the reader with the storyline, the characters, the dialogue.
I think what we see in MI:3 is movie makers using the cheap way out. They are using the high-tech solution to give people an eye-popping (no pun intended) ear-blowing experience, where they can suspend their brains.
I guess what I miss is something that really gets you thinking. That just wasn't there, and that's what I hope for in the Mission Impossible series. Wit and smarts rather than just flash and bang.
The movie wasn't awful, none of them were, I actually enjoyed the stylistic qualities of 2 for what they were, but this wasn't really mission impossible to me, it could have been any other action flick.
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