Tom Cruise – Splatter: on FILM

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT (2018) movie review

August 2, 2018August 2, 2018Leave a comment

If you’ve waited for the summer blockbuster to arrive, the action is finally here in MI: Fallout.From every Tom does-his-own-stunts Cruise classic rooftop run to helmet-less Top Gun throwback motorcycle ride, the now quintessential action hero must face harder crashes and crazier action, taller towers and gravity-defying thrills.Throw a mustachioed Superman in there and the fists of fury will fly.Now toss in a little romantic tension and the gang of old friends going rogue with Tom yet again in order to diffuse a few plutonium bombs.Add a chopper chase, stormy parachute drops, street races in Paris, and London tower climbs, and you’ve got a #1 summer film.It’s a stunt movie fueled by themes of mercy for the innocent, for the weak, for the one and for the many.It’s a cavalcade of mind-bending feats, each one topping the next. The decent script offers a load of exposition, but enough twists and tension to keep it interesting. The mission, if you CHOOSE to accept it…

“A storm is coming…”
“I am the storm.”

JACK REACHER (2016) movie review

January 31, 2017December 26, 2016Leave a comment

Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher is still the bold-chested throat-kicker that’s not to be messed with. Tom’s vagabond Jack is on the road and roaming. Reclusive, he avoids interactions without punchlines, friendships, or family ties. This character reserves his smiles for the deserving, and it seems none are truly deserving. His fight or flight responses usually begin with warnings of how it will be done and end as he says they will.Brutality and daddy issues frame this almost road trip film as ex-marine Jack finds a friend in his old office and asks her on a date. The day he drops in to meet her, she’s been imprisoned and falsely accused. jack1 Jack to the rescue. Jack on his own. Handsome and smart, he remains one step ahead of the other guys. Yet, there’s something inside of me that often questions the validity of his offensive moves… Sure some are defensive – someone’s coming to kill him so he kills them first. But this kind of violence seems too commonplace and somehow unextraordinary. jack-reacher-tom-cruise-slice Somehow it’s the opposite of what Jack Reacher really does stand for. He’s a rogue on a mission… Always alone, always fighting. What is he fighting for if he doesn’t stand for something? Is he actually a vigilante? We asked the same of Batman… So why not Jack?

EDGE OF TOMORROW (2014) movie review

June 30, 2014October 25, 20152 Comments

Groundhog Day gets an action makeover with Tom Cruise. It’s about time a sci-fi alien-fighting action film got its epic day in eternity. This film is pure action, but paced well. It’s never Cruise ad nauseam.

Emily Blunt, no longer the frail secretary from Devil Wears Prada (2006), has turned in her stilettos for a pair of army boots and a hard to maneuver 100 lb metal weapons suit. The suit is much smaller than those circa Avatar (2009) and Matrix 3 (2003), but a little more throwback to Sigourney Weaver’s in Aliens (1986).

Tom gives his character the necessary arc beginning as the cowardly recruiter with no field experience and ending as…well as Tom Cruise. Audiences will love the mirror throwback moments ala Top Gun, Cocktail, Jerry Maguire. Less shake it crazy on Oprah’s couch, more show-me-the-money.

Very violent, but not a ton of blood. Though summer has just begun, I will dare to call Edge of Tomorrow the best action film of the summer.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 4: GHOST PROTOCOL (2011) movie review

January 1, 2012October 25, 20151 Comment

I wanted to walk right back in and watch it again on the biggest screen possible –and that’s rare for me, even for an action flick. It’s lousy with intensity, explosions, and hand-to-hand fight scenes. It also has this lovely hand-of-God element, forcing a slight hesitation from each actor before the big jumps and big missions. They aren’t as cocky anymore. They shoot from the hip, on hunches, but don’t negate the possibility of death. This element makes it more suspenseful, and possibly more fun. Attainable. Personal. I maybe want to be a spy…or just write spy flicks.

Perhaps this level of pleasant, humble humanity stems from the writer / director, Brad Bird, who is new to live action. He is most famous as writer / director of both Ratatouille and The Incredibles. Impressive mantle to take on the next of the MI series.

Such a tease to play Sawyer’s (Josh Holloway) cocky mug in the beginning. Oh, J.J. Tom Cruise is back in impressive array, doing his own stunts, and taking it for the team. Despite his quirks, he’s a real movie star. Perhaps the memory of his crazy couch jumping incident lies dormant in the shrouded tomb of Oprah’s show. If Ghost Protocol is his awakening, I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.

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