I don’t have much to add to my thoughts about Mission: Impossible since reviewing the last edition in the series. It’s a TV series disguised as a movie franchise with little continuity outside of familiar characters. Each story from here on out, I believe, will have a similar structure, and that will allow the franchise to be flashy without being risky.
One thing that kind of bothered me was that Tom Cruise was back, and Simon Pegg was back, and Jeremy Renner was back, and Ving Rhames was back, but the series featured a new female character, and they didn’t include the female character from the last episode. Is it a problem to put more than two prominent female characters in the same action movie? Was it super important that they show Jeremy Renner being marginally important by appearing in 4 or 5 scenes and argue with Tom Cruise about some stuff but not important enough that Paula Patton’s character (who was characterized as flawed and emotionally compromised in the previous movie because she was grief-stricken over the loss of her boyfriend, another secret agent) have a chance to reappear as a badass female secret agent?
Or did Paula Patton just not want to do another movie in the series? Maybe I could find these things out if I had some sort of massive network of all human knowledge that was accessible at a moment’s notice, but since no such technology exists, I suppose I’ll move on.
Tom Cruise’s last 8 movies, dating back to 2008, include 7 action movies (two mission impossible, two sci-fi, an action rom-com, a sort of noir type, and a historical thriller) and Rock of Ages. This is a far cry from the rest of his career which is full of variety. It’s weird because I remember always thinking of him as an action star but truly there isn’t another 8 year period in his career with out at least a role in a drama, an oscar-bait actor-showcase, or a lighthearted movie. He’s also pretty much stopped working with famous directors. His next 4 movies are a remake of The Mummy, another M:I sequel, a Jack Reacher sequel, a Top Gun sequel, and two movies directed by Doug Liman.
Maybe Doug Liman can save Tom Cruise. He directed the only truly enjoyable movie Tom Cruise has been in during the last 10 years (Edge of Tomorrow) and the only movies he’s planning on being in that aren’t remakes, sequels, or spin-offs.
More Tom Cruise analysis to come…
Next: Going Clear
Every Tom Cruise Movie 