Film Reviews

by Jordan Adcock

FILM OF THE MONTH - Star Rating: 4/5

Much was written last year about Tom Cruise coming to cinema’s rescue with Top Gun: Maverick, proving that belated sequels to classic films don’t have to be depressing letdowns (see Indiana Jones for the latest example of just that). This summer, Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt and not only is the Mission: Impossible series still going strong after nearly three decades, it’s a thrilling palate cleanser after a mostly mediocre summer at the movies. This time, Ethan and his team fight off multiple factions for the key to the Entity, a mysterious AI which could sabotage the world’s intelligence networks. On the way they encounter professional thief Grace (Hayley Atwell, who’s a well-judged addition to the series’ main cast) and Gabriel (played with casual intimidation by Esai Morales), a dangerous agent from Ethan’s pre-IMF past.

Dead Reckoning Part One

It’s a long film, but besides arguably slowing the pacing of its final, audacious set piece on a train, you’ll barely notice as the intrigue and action tear across the world. And it’s action with real locations, choreography and stuntwork on show; more feels at stake and it’s frankly much more fun to watch than something consumed by CGI or deliberately cluttered filmmaking. I won’t give away Cruise’s signature stunt for this instalment, but you have to respect his commitment to keep pushing to create spectacles worth watching. There’s also no question he fully inhabits Ethan Hunt, and his chemistry with Atwell, playing both feisty and vulnerable, is very strong. Don’t worry about the “part one” aspect, eitherthis one’s a fully satisfying experience and you’ll itch to accept part two of this mission, coming next year.

Elemental

Star Rating: 2.5/5

Elemental could, at first glance, pass for a classic Pixar film. It’s got a pristinely computer-animated world, populated by sentient versions of the four elements, where love sparks between a young fire woman, Ember, and water man, Wade. But where films like the Toy Story series and Monsters, Inc.

(as just two examples) effortlessly blended ingenious worldbuilding with heartfelt, universal storytelling, Elemental isn’t so, well, elementary. Its obvious references to real-world immigration and prejudice make the film feel curiously smaller and more topical, and the plot fails to fully exploit its worldbuilding potential. It’s content to be essentially a romantic comedy in animated clothing. It’s much better than Pixar’s terrible spin-off film Lightyear but the formidable filmmaking reputation the studio had feels increasingly lost. ✪

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny Asteroid City

Star Rating: 2.5/5

You can rely on director Wes Anderson to be visually distinctive. With previous films like The Grand Budapest Hotel and Isle of Dogs, each shot is so deliberately composed yet with enough charm and essence that they don’t appear artificial. Asteroid City might be even more ambitious than those films as a meandering tale of a tiny desert town in 1950s America, even featuring a framing device where the story is both a play we watch and see developed behind the scenes. But this all comes at the expense of the genuine character and pathos which existed previously. There’s lots of dry dialogue, sprawling between an all-star cast (including Scarlett Johansson) diluted by its own abundance, culminating in a limp ending message to try and justify its own indulgence. ✪

The Flash

Star Rating: 1.5/5

Even if actor Ezra Miller’s recent litany of misdemeanours doesn’t leave a sour taste as they play Barry Allen/The Flash, this film (rightly) believes that their extremely awkward screen persona can’t carry a film alone. So we instead get lots of superhero cameos to fill the bloated screentime. Nothing better represents the attempted DC Comics cinematic universe’s abject failure, which started with 2013’s Man of Steel, than this film bringing back Michael Keaton’s Batman from 30 years ago in a convoluted time travel plot. What tiny sparks of story are here (Barry trying to save his mother from murder and his father from being framed across time) exist amid lots of truly uncanny CGI and the overwhelming feeling of remaining scraps being hurled onscreen to desperately create some audience interest. ✪

Star Rating: 1/5

It’s been 34 years since The Last Crusade capped the original Indiana Jones trilogy but his days as cinema’s most exciting adventurer feel even further away with this thoroughly miserable experience. Indiana Jones is now just a sad old man, living alone, divorcing Marian, his son’s dead in Vietnam and he’s about to retire. Doesn’t sound like much fun? At least his insufferable, self-interested goddaughter played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge will help him rediscover his mojo while also taking his place! Plus there’s incompetent Nazis who want to time travel. Harrison Ford, now aged eighty one, does his best with the wretched material but every action piece is tired, overlong and often outright laughable. It’s like the film was made to embarrass Ford and the character; it definitely doesn’t belong in a museum. ✪

You can follow Jordan on Twitter (@JordanReview) and read his blog at www.reviewsreflections.wordpress.com