MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT (2018) – My rating 8.5/10

Mission: Impossible – Fallout is an action spy film written, produced and directed by Christopher McQuarrie. It is the sixth installment in the Mission: Impossible film series, and the second film to be directed by McQuarrie, after Rogue Nation (2015), making him the first person to direct more than one film in the franchise.  Since there have been 5 Mission: Impossible films, I couldn’t wait to see if the 6th sequel could possibly be any good.  Surprise, surprise, many critics hailed it as the best installment in the series, with some considering it one of the greatest action films of all time.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout starts two years after the capture of Solomon Lane, an anarchist mastermind who was the leader of “The Syndicate” during Rogue Nation.  The remains of Lane’s organization “The Syndicate” have reformed into a terrorist group known as “The Apostles”.  While in Belfast, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is given a mission to intercept three stolen plutonium cores before the Apostles can sell them to a fundamentalist named John Lark. He joins Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) for the mission, but they fail when Ethan chooses to save Luther’s life and the plutonium is taken by the Apostles in Berlin. The team capture and interrogate nuclear weapons expert Nils Debruuk (Kristoffer Joner) and learn that he built three portable nuclear weapons for the Apostles.

CIA Director Erica Sloane (Angela Bassett) instructs Special Activities Division operative August Walker (Henry Cavill) to shadow/monitor Ethan and his team as they attempt to retrieve the plutonium, after their failed mission in Berlin. Together, Ethan and Walker infiltrate a fundraiser party in Paris where Lark is believed to be buying the cores from an arms dealer known as The White Widow (Vanessa Kirby). They track a man whom they suspect to be Lark but he is killed when Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) intervenes. Ethan impersonates Lark and meets the White Widow. He warns her that agents of the Apostles have been sent to kill her and the two evade their pursuers. .

This basically describes the introduction into “The Fallout”.  The plot thickens and gets much more intense from this point.  The action is exciting and some of the stunts are unbelievable.  This movie is brilliantly acted and executed.  From Ethan to the White Widow to Alan Hunley’s surprise involvement, you will enjoy every minute of this mission, which seems to really be impossible.  There is so much more to see and so much more to enjoy.  Tom Cruise is proving, age is just a number, for some!  Check it out, you won’t be sorry.

 

READY, PLAYER ONE (2018) – My rating: 8/10

Ready, Player One is a  science fiction adventure film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, and written by Zak Penn and Ernest Cline, based on Cline’s 2011 novel of the same name.  Ready Player One is half real life and half virtual reality.  It’s shows what the world could look like in the future, everyone as obsessed with virtual reality as they are with Smart Phones.  This is all shown via a movie featuring a game — not my usual film preference however, this adventure is pretty good.

In 2045, many of Earth’s population centers have become slum-like cities. To escape their desolation, people engage in the virtual reality world of the OASIS (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation), where they can engage in numerous activities for work, education, and entertainment. Users have discovered Anorak’s Quest inside OASIS, a game programmed by the late OASIS creator, James Halliday (Mark Rylance). The first player to find the Easter egg, locked behind a gate requiring three keys within Anorak’s Quest is promised full ownership of OASIS, among other gifts. This has attracted a number of Gunters (“egg hunters”) to play the game. Innovative Online Industries (IOI), a video game conglomerate and manufacturer of most of the virtual reality equipment used to access the OASIS, also wants ownership. The new CEO of the company, Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), has amassed an army of debt-indentured players, known as “Sixers” (due to their six-digit identification), to seek the prize. However, to date, no one has managed to finish the first quest, a vehicle race across an ever-shifting version of New York City.

Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), an orphaned, 20-year-old Gunter, lives in a Columbus, Ohio, slum with his Aunt Alice (Susan Lynch). In the OASIS, Wade goes by his avatar, Parzival, and has partnered with Aech (Lena Waithe), a male avatar that serves as a virtual mechanic. He later befriends well-known player Art3mis (Olivia Cooke) after saving her from dying in-game – referred to as being “zeroed out” – which would reset her avatar’s character progression and remove all her goods. Wade decides to study the virtual OASIS library to learn about Halliday’s personal life, hoping to find a hint to finish the race. Wade learns that Halliday felt regret when he had to accept the resignation of his partner, Ogden Morrow (Simon Pegg), over a personal falling-out, musing, “Why can’t we go backwards for once? Backwards really fast, as fast as we can – really put the pedal to the metal.” At the next race, Wade reverses from the start line, finding a hidden, safe path to the finish line of the race. He gains the first key and a clue to the next quest. Aech and Art3mis, as well as players Daito (Win Morisaki) and Sho (Philip Zhao), follow Wade to finish the quest, and the five appear atop the global scoreboards, becoming known as the “High Five”.

IOI takes interest in them, desiring to learn their real-life identities. Bounty hunter i-R0k (T.J. Miller) overhears Wade tell Art3mis his real name, disclosing it to Sorrento, who approaches Wade in an attempt to convince him to join IOI to solve Anorak’s Quest, but Wade refuses. In retaliation, Sorrento has his assistant F’Nale Zandor (Hannah John-Kamen) attack Wade’s slum, killing Wade’s aunt and her boyfriend. Wade is rescued by Art3mis’ real-life friends and is taken to a Gunter hideout in Columbus, where he meets Art3mis’ player, Samantha Cook (Olivia Cooke). The two discover that Halliday had once dated Kira (Perdita Weeks), who later became Morrow’s wife , and was the source of their falling-out. In the virtual OASIS archives, Wade wins a bet with its Curator regarding whether Kira’s memory remains anywhere within the archives, winning a 25-cent coin and access to Halliday’s memories of Kira, which turn out to be the entrance to the second quest. In a re-creation of The Shining, the High Five team each gain the second key and the clue that the last quest is in Castle Anorak on Planet Doom.

Ready, One Player get more intense that includes blackmail, hiding in a van, a rescue, deception, IOI, a kidnapping, and finally the winning of the company.  I found this film interesting but more for the younger folks.  You’ll stay in the game throughout the entire movie, making Ready One.. almost a total animated movie. If you like this sort of venture, you’ll love this movie but if you older and not into computer games, don’t bother.  Check it out if you dare!

 

STAR TREK BEYOND (2016) – My rating: 9/10

Finding new adventures for the Star Trek series can’t be easy after so many years of TV episodes and the many versions produced on the big screen. Star Trek Beyond is the 13th sequel of the Star Trek franchise and the 3rd reboot.  I’m amazed how well these stories are written. Aside from the fact that I’m a big Star Trek fan, I believe these stories have a lot to offer everyone. This time around, a deceitful survivor and Krall’s henchwoman, Kalara / Jessica Wolff  (Lydia Wilson) lures the USS Enterprise into an ambush as Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and crew respond to a distress signal to rescue her ship stranded on Altamid, a planet within the nebula.  Upon entering Altamid, The Enterprise is attacked and torn apart.  An alien commander called Krall, (Idris Elba) and his crew board the Enterprise searching for an Abronath that Kirk obtained on an older mission many years ago.  Unable to find the Abronath, Krall captures many of the Enterprise crew.  Still, as the ship continues to break apart, the saucer section hurtles towards the planet Altamid.  The remaining survivors abandon the ship in escape pods.

At this point, most of the Enterprise crew is captured by Krall and in his possession, the rest is either scattered around the planet hurt, dead or just stranded without resources. Without giving away too much, I will reveal a wounded Commander Spock, (Zachary Quinto) first officer and science officer and Lieutenant Commander Leonard McCoy M.D., (Karl Urban) end up together searching for other survivors.  Also a new character, Jaylah (Sofia Boutella) is introduced, she is an alien scavenger who previously escaped Krall’s encampment. She lives in her own makeshift home, the grounded USS Franklin, an early Starfleet vessel that went missing over a hundred years ago. Meanwhile, we learn that the Abronath is the missing half of an ancient bioweapon, created by the planet’s original inhabitants, that can instantaneously disintegrate a humanoid. Krall is ruthless and has a plan to match.

There’s no doubt that Star Trek Beyond is a great movie, well acted with an excellent story and fantastic special effects.  So to get answers to the following questions, you have to go see the movie or look it up on line!

** Some Mild Spoilers Below**

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Spock – 1) Will Spock and Uhura get back together?  2) Will Spock leave Starfleet and return to New Vulcan to work in his father’s foot steps?  3) Does it make since to leave his relationship with Uhura since Spock is half human and cannot make 100% Vulcan babies anyway?

Spock learns from New Vulcan that Ambassador Spock has passed away.  Spock and Lieutenant Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldana) communications officer, amicably end their relationship.  Spock also confesses that the only reason he broke up with Uhura, is because of the shortage of Vulcans. He wants to do his part to repopulate.   Captain Kirk recommends Spock as the future new captain of the Enterprise.

Captain Kirk and Yorktown – 1) Will Captain Kirk Leave StarFleet?  2) What is Yorktown?

Captain James Kirk has applied for a promotion to Vice Admiral and commanding officer of Yorktown.

Starbase Yorktown is a massive space station for resupply and shore leave for her tired crew.

Krall -1) Who is Krall?  2) What is Krall’s plan?

Krall was Captain Balthazar Edison, former commander of USS Franklin who became a powerful mutated alien creature under the alias of Krall.

Krall plans to destroy the Federation starting with Yorktown.

Jaylah: Does Jaylah join Star Fleet?

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In Loving Memory:

The film pays tribute to Leonard Nimoy who died a year before it’s release.

Star Trek Beyond marked one of the final film performances of Anton Yelchin who died in a car-related incident on June 19, 2016, a month before release.

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Other Crew Members of Star Trek:
(Simon Pegg) as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, second officer and chief engineer
(John Cho) as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, third officer and helmsman
(Anton Yelchin) as Ensign Pavel Chekov, the ship’s main navigator. This is the final Chekov performance from Yelchin, as he died on June 19, 2016.

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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION (2015) – My rating: 8.5/10

Tom Cruse continues to show the world that he is able to frolic through a physical production like a young buck (who, BTW, just turned 53) with no problems.  He was injured 6 times in the making of MI, but all is well and MI – Rogue Nation is a big hit.  Still electing to do his own stunts, Tom has signed up to do a sixth sequel, to start filming in 2016.

Rogue Nation stars Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust (known for Starz’s series The White Queen).  Rebecca displayed some pretty fancy moves and was an added delight to the cast.  In this sequel, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruse) must prove that an international criminal consortium known as the Syndicate exist against their organization (IMF).  CIA director, Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) thinks Ethan’s Syndicate theory is just that, a theory, so he dismantles IMF, dissolving them into the CIA and goes after Hunt causing him to go rogue.  Hunt is captured by the Syndicate but gets away to start his journey to prove their existence.  The Syndicate is headed up by Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) who will stop at nothing to discredit IMF and get what he needs to keep the Syndicate well financed and undercover.  The Syndicate employes various skilled and dangerous villains like Janik “Bone Doctor” Vinter (Jens Hultén).  Their skill level and intelligence is tantamount to IMF.    There are many, many twist and turns, car and motorcycle chases, hidden agendas, special effects and thrill soaked scenes.  There’s some corny and humorous scenes and some very intense scenes as well as some totally unbelievable scenes.  The entire IMF gang was there, William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames).  I thought Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation was very entertaining, well acted and had a pretty descent plot.  Can’t wait for the next sequel.  Check it out!