Simon Pegg – THE REVIEW MONSTER

I first got into the Mission: Impossible franchise, not long after the release of the previous film Fallout, which I thought was one of the best movies of 2018.
So, going into the seventh installment in the series, once again directed by Christopher McQuarrie, I was expecting a well-directed action film with a fun story and characters, and thrilling stunts from Tom Cruise, which is exactly what I got.

The latest *Mission: Impossible* movie captures everything great about the franchise.

Dead Reckoning Part One follows Cruise’s IMF Agent Ethan Hunt, who is tasked with collecting a key, which could be used to eventually control a powerful rogue AI known as the Entity.
However, believing that the Entity is too dangerous, Ethan instead sets out to kill it, along with his fellow agents and friends Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg).
They are not alone in the search for the key, as Ethan has to enlist the help of a thief named Grace (Hayley Atwell), all the while being pursued by Gabriel (Esai Morales), a dangerous man from Ethan’s past.
The story of Dead Reckoning Part One is a lot of fun, with its still surprising portrayal of espionage, and interesting take on AI with one reveal about the Entity being pretty intense.

Speaking of intensity, the film is not all fun because there is some sadness to be had, due to specific events that I cannot get into because of spoilers.
There is some good humor to balance the sad moments, though.
One thing I was worried about going into Dead Reckoning Part One is the Part One of the title.
Movies being separated into parts seems to be a returning trend in movies these days and this can lead to some frustrating experiences, most notably Across the Spider-Verse which, while still one of the best movies of the year, ends very abruptly with the rest of the story being continued in Beyond the Spider-Verse.
Thankfully, this was not an issue for Dead Reckoning Part One because, despite being only the first part of the story, it still ends in a satisfying way, while making me want more.
This “more” includes more amazing stunts from Tom Cruise.
I honestly don’t know how the guy can keep doing these death defying scenes, with a cliff jump in the teasers being particularly nerve wracking.

Tom Cruise does it again with the amazing stunt work.

I just hope he doesn’t end up seriously injuring himself or worse with these stunts.
Overall, Dead Reckoning Part One is a satisfying beginning for a two-part story in the Mission: Impossible franchise.
Fingers crossed that they can pull off Part Two just as well but there is nothing which leads me to doubt that.

Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal pretty much traumatized me as a child.
I remember seeing a Skeksis crumble to dust in the opening minutes of the film and being absolutely terrified.
Now, years later, the Jim Henson Company and Netflix have released a prequel series to the original creepy, puppet, fantasy movie, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
Directed by Louis Leterrier, I came into this series with a vague sense of the original movie, since I think I was 12 the last time I watched it.
Well, Age of Resistance made me want to go back and watch that film because the Netflix series is fantastic, delivering a riveting story with great characters, music and puppetry.

UNIT_326.tif — The puppetry in *Age of Resistance* is often top notch, with very few moments of an uncanny valley.

The Dark Crystal movie came out in 1982 so a lot of time has passed and this has given the creators the chance to improve on the puppetry and CGI.
The way the practical effects merge with computer generated effects is perfect, giving Age of Resistance a grand sense of scope.
The story follows three Gelflings; castle guard Rian (Taron Edgerton), the cave dwelling Deet (Nathalie Emmanuel) and Princess Brea (Anya Taylor Joy), learning that their lords, the Skeksis, are not so benevolent as they thought.
Realizing the threat the Skeksis pose to the world of Thra, the three Gelflings set out on their own individual journeys to stop the Skeksis and the Darkening they have caused by abusing the Dark Crystal.

Rian and friends.jpg — Rian, Deet and Brea’s journey to stop the Skesis results in numerous moments of high tension, fear, and sometimes laughter.

I came to care about all three of these Gelfling, who are all magnificently voice acted, with my favourite probably being Deet.
I liked her arc from beginning to end and also really enjoyed her friendship with the Podling Hup (Victor Yerrid).
Another thing I surprisingly enjoyed was the Skeksis themselves, who are over the top evil in the best of ways.
The Emperor (Jason Isaacs) is a commanding overlord, and The Scientist (Mark Hamill) uses his genius in cruelly malevolent ways.
By far the most investing Skeksis is Simon Pegg’s backstabbing Chamberlain.
With his constant “MMMMMMMs!”, he is as delightfully two-faced as I remember him being in the original movie.

The Chamberlain.jpg — Describing The Chamberlain as a weasel is probably the most accurate way to describe his backstabbing nature.

As for the music, it further highlights the majesty of the world of Thra, and the danger whenever the characters’ lives are at risk.
Speaking of, there are a lot of deaths.
I have heard some describe this series as Game of Thrones with puppets and that is fairly accurate; although this should have been expected, given where the original movie starts off.
However, there are a few things that stop Age of Resistance from being perfect.
One is the fact that it is sometimes hard to take certain dramatic scenes seriously because, well, the characters are puppets.
Granted, these moments are few and bar between but they still happen.
By far the biggest problem, though, is that many of the characters seem to have changes in motivation at the drop of a hat.
Seladon (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is a prime example of this; but easily the biggest instance of this is in episode four where at least four characters’ motivations seem to change almost instantaneously with no buildup.
Still, these issues do not ruin the experience as The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is a well made show with a great story and characters, and brilliant effects, both practical and computer generated.
I highly recommend it, especially for fans of The Dark Crystal movie.

Tag: Simon Pegg

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Review: A Satisfying First Part.

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Review. MMMMMMM!!!