Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (7/10): The franchise continues to be very much alive.

“Every one of the attacks you attributed to the Syndicate, the IMF was there.”

It’s been nearly 20 years since the first time Tom Cruise played IMF agent Ethan Hunt, and after this fifth installment of the franchise there is no sign of him stoping any time soon. Like good wine, these movies seem to get better the older Cruise gets. The weakest link in the series is by far the first sequel directed by John Woo, but J.J. Abrams managed to reinvigorate the franchise in the third Mission Impossible film with Philip Seymour Hoffman’s memorable performance as the main villain and the introduction of Simon Pegg’s character who brought the much needed comic relief. Brad Bird continued what Abrams started with Ghost Protocol and introduced Jeremy Renner to this world, and now it was up to Christopher McQuarrie to continue the hot streak. McQuarrie had previously worked with Cruise in Jack Reacher, a film I seem to have enjoyed more than everybody else. In Rogue Nation he followed what the previous directors brought to the series and continued to build on it with a similar tone during the action sequences that once again took us around the globe. There is a fantastic opening action scene involving Cruise jumping on a plane while it’s about to take off, then it is followed by another wonderful sequence at a Vienna Opera house, and it is topped by another one involving a heist in Morocco that ends with a spectacular motorcycle chase. If there is anything negative I can say about Rogue Nation is that the film opens in such a spectacular fashion and maintains such a steady pace that by the time the bike sequence in Morocco ends the film seems to overstay its welcome. There was just no other way to top those action sequences so the final thirty minutes were a bit of a letdown with the predictable twists that any fan of the franchise could see coming. Other than that this was a fantastic ride which proves once again what a star Tom Cruise really is. 

Upon receiving instructions for his latest mission, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), discovers that it has been compromised by a rogue organization that he refers to as the Syndicate. He is captured by its leader, Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). While held captive, right before being tortured a mysterious woman known as Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) helps him escape. Ilsa claims to be a British Intelligence officer who has gone deep undercover to infiltrate Lane’s Syndicate and win his trust. Meanwhile, William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), is forced to testify in front of the US Chairmen committee in response to the agency’s latest dealings which haven’t been accounted for. CIA director, Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin), wants IMF disbanded because he believes Hunt is a liability. The committee decides in Hunley’s favor convinced that the Syndicate doesn’t exist and that Hunt is behind it all. IMF is disbanded so Brandt and Benji (Simon Pegg) are forced to work for the CIA and bring Hunt in. So Ethan is left on his own to try to stop this dangerous organization, but he always finds a way to get his crew back together and accomplish the impossible. Ving Rhames is also back for a fifth time as Luther Stickell as he and Cruise are the only characters who’ve been here from the start. 

The screenplay for Rogue Nation which was written by McQuarrie himself hits pretty much the same beats as the previous two films in the franchise. It has a similar tone and it’s surprising how similar these films are to each other considering they’ve been directed by different directors. You know what direction these spy stories are heading, but the ride is what you are here for. Rogue Nation opens with a spectacular first half and ends in a weaker note, but it is still one great experience thanks to those spectacular action sequences and Cruise’s charm. McQuarrie also manages to do two things right: first of all making Sean Harris’s Solomon Lane a threatening villain and second giving Rebecca Ferguson a strong female character with some great choreographed fighting scenes. These two additions provide the franchise with the freshness it needed to go along with the familiarity of what the rest of the cast always brings. Besides the three action sequences that stood out for me in this film, there is a cool moment where Ethan receives instructions for his latest assignment that is perhaps the best in the franchise. Similarly to what many action films are doing now appealing to the past and our sense of nostalgia, Ethan receives his instructions in a vintage record store in what was one of the most memorable scenes in the film and a great way to introduce the villain of the story. The early escape scene is also quite thrilling, but it was spoiled by the trailers. Rogue Nation proves once again that this franchise is very much alive and that Tom Cruise isn’t getting slower despite his age. It doesn't hurt either that the series has one of the best action scores of any franchise.      

Avengers: Age of Ultron (7/10): And the Build-up continues...

"I know you're good people. I know you mean well. But you just didn't think it through. There is only one path to peace... your extinction."

Age of Ultron doesn't live up to the first Avengers mostly because the novelty of seeing all these superheroes together has warn off, but it is still a very entertaining film with some positive elements to take out of it. First of all, the villain voiced by James Spader is an improvement over most others we've seen in the Marvel Universe. He is actually a menace to the heroes, and although Ultron isn't as charismatic as Loki, he still represents a much more dangerous threat for them so we feel there is much more at stake. The addition of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch also enhances the franchise. Olsen is an actress I've admired ever since her screen debut in Martha Marcy May Marlene, so it was exciting to see her play this role alongside other fantastic actors. Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Quicksilver wasn't used as well as he was in X-Men, but it was still fun to see him on screen. Quicksilver was the highlight for me in the latest X-Men franchise, but here he is simply another new character. It was much more fun to see his quick movements in slow motion instead of at such a rapid pace. The returning characters also enhance the sequel and make it entertaining. Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man is by far my favorite character in the franchise and Mark Ruffalo's Hulk always delivers some of the best comedic moments. Age of Ultron delivers plenty of fun scenes, but it also tries to take itself a bit more seriously, and that didn't work as well for me considering I found Captain America The Winter Soldier to be a slightly better and interesting serious thriller. In summary, it doesn't match the comedy of its predecessor and it doesn't stand out as a more serious film either. The run-time does begin to feel a bit heavy, but I still have to admit that I had a fun time with the movie. There is a lot going on and with the addition of the new characters some of the scenes feel rushed and the plot gets a bit convoluted.

The main problem  with these Marvel movies is that they're getting more and more difficult to view as individual films. They seem to be always building up to something and I expected all the build-up in the previous films was going to lead to something important in this second Avengers movie, but what we get instead is more of a build-up to the next phase of the Marvel universe. Ultron presented a great threat to the heroes, but everything was rushed and it seems it was resolved all too easily by the end. It's still hard to resist a film with so many likable characters and charismatic leads, but I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed with Age of Ultron when the introduction of the main villain seemed promising. Spader's voice work stood out for me in this film as one of the best performances. I was also happy to see Jeremy Renner get much more screen time with his character, Hawkeye, as well as Scarlett Johansson with Black Widow. This is probably as close to an individual film about them we'll get. Captain America and Thor however, are underused and I really didn't care too much about them here.

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Kill the Messenger (7/10): A story worth hearing about.

“Some stories are just too true to tell.”

Ten years after their initial collaboration together in 12 and Holding, director Michael Cuesta and Jeremy Renner team up for this political thriller based on the true events surrounding the life of journalist Gary Webb and the investigation that led him to uncover  a conspiracy between the CIA and some Nicaraguan drug dealers with the specific purpose of arming the Contra rebels fighting the war against drugs in that country. It’s a shame the film didn’t do well at the box office because Jeremy Renner gives his best performance since The Hurt Locker. He does a convincing job portraying this journalist who during the first half of the film is doing some great investigative journalistic work and in the later half is trying to protect his family and convince people that he is telling a true story when he becomes the target of a smear campaign. 

Many people have claimed that the theme of the film is outdated considering the events took place during the early 90’s, but I have to disagree. With everything that has happened in the last couple of years with the Snowden whistleblowing incident I think we can learn a few things about government conspiracies and journalistic unbiased reporting. Having watched the Academy Award winning documentary CitizenFour recently, I have to admit the way he came out in public with the information was rather brilliant. There was no way he could leak this story to a journalist in the USA because what happened to Gary Webb would probably happen to him. It seems that the American government has a history of washing away their guilt by pointing the finger at someone else and smearing their image. That is what happened with Webb when all of a sudden the focus stopped being the story he reported and everything started centering on who he was and his past. That is why in the documentary Snowden is always concerned with getting the story out in the public first before coming out because he knew that as soon as his name was out there, the story would shift its focus on him. It is something that continues to repeat itself in history so forgive me if my faith in good journalistic reporting is a bit shaky. They simply shift the attention of the story and instead of digging into it and uncovering conspiracies they end up smearing the name of the person who is trying to expose the crimes of our country because it is much easier and convenient to do so.

The film works best during the first hour when the actual conspiracy is being investigated by Renner’s character. The journalistic investigation was thrilling and gripping as Webb began following each lead and ultimately unraveling a dangerous conspiracy. During this first hour there are a number of strong performances as we get cameos from Andy Garcia and Michael Sheen. Mary Elizabeth Winstead also delivers a solid performance as Webb’s editor while Oliver Platt convincingly portrays Webb’s boss. In the second hour the film does lose some of its grip when it begins to shift the focus of the journalistic story to the smearing campaign and some family issues that ensue. Rosemarie Witt however delivers a strong performance as Webb’s wife. Despite some issues with the pacing during the second half of the film, the brilliant cast makes up for it and keeps un engaged. Kill the Messenger is a solid entry into the investigative journalism genre. I’m glad the story got told, but it’s unfortunate that not many people went to see it.   

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My Review: The Immigrant (6/10)

"Don't give up the faith, don't give up the hope. The American dream is waiting for you."

The Immigrant is Joaquin Phoenix's fourth collaboration with James Gray in the director's chair, although this time the lead role went to the beautiful and talented Marion Cotillard who gives a subtle melodramatic performance without going over the top. She always delivers great work and watching her alongside Joaquin Phoenix was near perfection. The major problem I had with this film was that the story really didn't engage me despite the potential it had. The Immigrant takes the American dream premise and turns it upside down by focusing on characters who were much less fortunate during that time. Despite the great performances I never warmed up to the characters and found the melodrama a bit tedious. I'm on the minority when I say this because critics have fallen in love with Gray's work, whose fan base has been growing over the years. I still prefer his earlier film, We Own the Night, but this is the film he will probably be remembered for from now on. It was a bit disappointing for me, although I did enjoy a couple of scenes (especially Phoenix's revelation near the end) and the talented actors who were cast in this film. The 20's atmosphere created by Gray didn't really impress me either, but there is enough here to give it a mild recommendation. 

The screenplay co-written by Gray and Ric Menello (who also collaborated with Gray in Two Lovers) begins by introducing us to two polish sisters, Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and Magda (Angela Sarafyan), who have just arrived at Ellis Island from Poland. Their dreams of a better life are shattered when the officials take Magda away because they discover she has tuberculosis. Ewa isn't allowed entrance either because the officials claim that the address where they were supposed to stay (their aunt and uncle's home) doesn't exist and that no one from their family is here to account for her. A man named Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix) happens to be there at the right time and offers her an opportunity to stay with him. Having no other option she accepts. Bruno takes advantage of the situation and tricks the innocent Ewa into working for him as a prostitute. Wanting to save her sister, she will do what it takes but Bruno is a deceiving man who has fallen for her. When Bruno's charming and charismatic cousin, Orlando (Jeremy Renner), arrives he teaches her not to lose hope and have faith that she will be able to meet her sister again. But Bruno isn't too happy with Orlando's arrival and sees him as a potential threat so a jealous rivalry ensues and so the plot thickens.

Jeremy Renner was perhaps my favorite character in this film and I enjoyed his performance. Perhaps it helped that he had a likable character and was the less restrained of the actors, but I thought he was the highlight of this film. I really enjoyed Phoenix and Cotillard, but Renner was the one that helped me get engaged with the story. The scene near the end is perhaps my favorite moment and by far Phoenix's best performance in the film. Phoenix is such a talented actor and he has made a lot of great films so this performance might be forgotten over time, but Cotillard does shine in her first English language lead performance. The scene where she is confessing her sins to a priest is the one that audiences will remember her for. It would have been very tempting and easy for her to be more melodramatic in a harsh film like this, but she gives a restrained performance that allowed the story to feel more real and believable. I still think she is better in the roles she gets in foreign films, but this was a great opportunity for her. The Immigrant has a pretty straightforward narrative with melodramatic moments that would have failed tremendously if it wasn't for the cast who managed to pull off believable performances. 

My Review: American Hustle (8/10)

"She was the Picasso of passive-aggressive karate."

American Hustle is an entertaining and fun film with the best performance from an ensemble cast all year. Director David O. Russell delivers a solid comedy and brings out the best from his actors which in my opinion really are the highlight of this film. I think American Hustle has been overhyped a bit, and perhaps I went to see it with way too high expectations, but despite being entertained and enjoying this I still felt like this was a bit of a let down for Russell compared with his other films. The comedy worked really well thanks to a slick and clever script, but the crime elements lacked some thrills. I also had some issues with the pacing of this film; it started off really slow and didn't pick up until halfway through the film when the science oven scene took place. A lot of credit has to be given however to the attention to detail because it really felt like a groovy 70's film. It had a lot of style and the hair and makeup in this film deserves an Oscar. In the opening scene where you see Bale's character getting a comb over you know you are in for a ride. American Hustle is an ambitious film that explores the American Dream and the need to reinvent oneself through some very memorable characters. The characters are the real center of this film.

The film is very loosely based on the Abscam political scandal that took place during the 70's in New Jersey. Irving (Christian Bale) is a successful con man who has survived thanks to keeping a low profile. He immediately falls in love with Sydney (Amy Adams) when he meets her at a party and introduces her to his world. She actually helps him thrive in his business thanks to her seductive powers, but they get into trouble with the law when an FBI agent named Richie DiMaso catches up with their illegal actions. Being the ambitious agent that he is, Richie doesn't want to settle for these small crooks and forces them to help him catch bigger fish like corrupt politicians and power-brokers. Sydney tries to convince Irving to flee the country together, but he doesn't want to leave his son with his unpredictable wife, Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) who would never let him take the boy. Things get dangerous when the mafia get involved in the scam and Irving befriends the local Mayor, Carmine (Jeremy Renner), who despite having good intentions gets caught up in the middle of the mess. Irving and Sydney will have to pull out their greatest con job if they want to come out of this alive.

This entertaining and ambitious film succeeds thanks to a wonderful cast. Christian Bale and Amy Adams give outstanding performances in the lead role. Bale went through an extreme physical change gaining several pounds for his role and Adams looks sexier than ever with all the 70's glamour. They are completely believable in their roles and share several funny moments on screen. Bradley Cooper is also great as the wild and impulsive FBI agent who wants to get to the top as quick as possible. The scenes he shares with Louis C.K. are hilarious. Jeremy Renner is probably the weakest character in this film, but his quiet performance is solid. Despite all these great performances no one stands out the most as Jennifer Lawrence. She truly shines in this film and deserves an Oscar for her supporting performance. She's unstable and volatile while being very manipulative and she's just extremely funny in this movie. It is a memorable performance and Lawrence is turning out to be one of the best actresses of our generation. The cast are responsible for making this film such a fun and entertaining one. The film may not be original or groundbreaking but it is a near perfect imitation of other great films kind of like the replicas of the paintings that Irving sold. "Now who is the master, the painter or the forger?" That's Russell's question for the audience for the audience to decide.

My Review: Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (3/10)

"Me and my sister... we have a past. We almost died at the hands of a witch. But that past made us stronger. We'd gotten a taste of blood. Witch blood. And we haven't stopped since."

Hansel & Gretel is yet another classic fairytale that has been brought to the big screen in an atrocious manner. This new wave of dark fairytales have been a complete disappointment for me considering I really didn't like Snow White or the Jack the Giant Slayer films either. Despite consisting of a talented cast and a well known story, these movies seem to lack any character development whatsoever and these well known Hollywood actors can't do anything to save them from being a complete failure. The problem may lie on the screenplay considering they take such classic and familiar stories and present ridiculous twists while trying to be much darker. Even when these films try to be funny, the comedy doesn't work either; and despite having some extremely nice visuals the set pieces aren't enough to draw us in and make us care for the characters. Hansel & Gretel is basically one action sequence after another with lots of blood and without any buildup for us to identify with any of the characters. Despite being such well known actors, these characters failed to attract me, and even the villain in this film (played by Famke Janssen) is poorly developed. The movie is less than 90 minutes long, and the action sequences take up almost the entirety of the film making this just a boring and tedious experiment where we see one character who we never really know get his head blown off. The film is directed by Norwegian filmmaker Tommy Wirkola following the success of his 2009 local horror film, Dead Snow, involving Nazi zombie soldiers. He was also responsible for the screenplay as well. There is not much positive things I could say about this film, except that I really like the two lead actors and am a little disappointed they chose to play these characters.

The story introduces us to Hansel and Gretel as kids escaping from the candy house after the witch had imprisoned them. Everything from that point on is a reinvention of the fairytale by Wirkola. The two siblings grow up to become witch hunters after their horrific experience. Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) travel from town to town collecting bounty fees for killing off the evil witches nearby. At the moment, the Mayor (Rainer Bock) of a small village recruits the siblings' service after 11 children have gone missing. The Sheriff (Peter Stormare) isn't too pleased with the arrival of these two siblings considering they made him look bad in front of the entire town after saving a local village woman named Mina (Pihla Vitala) who he believed to be a witch and wanted to burn her at the stake. The two witch hunters begin to investigate the disappearances of the children and realize that a dangerous witch named Muriel (Famke Janssen) is behind the kidnappings. With the help of a local boy named Ben (Thomas Mann) and Edward the troll (Robin Atkins Downes) they face off against Muriel and her covenant of witches. 

There is really no need for me to continue on blabbing about how much I disliked this film. There is nothing going on here plot wise. These fairytales haven't crossed over too well to the big screen and I'm afraid they might be ruining all these childhood stories I enjoyed reading about. Having seen all these classic fairytales turned into movies I have to admit that Shyamalan's The Lady in the Water is becoming more and more valuable to me. This genre has resulted rather difficult for me to enjoy, but somehow Lady in the Water which plays out like a fairytale worked a lot better than these films. Shyamalan might be criticized by many people, but he knows how to make movies better than your average director. He has failed recently in his last two big film adaptations (After Earth and The Last Airbender), but he has made so many great films in the past and Lady in the Water is turning into a masterpiece if you compare it to these recent fairytale adaptations that have come out. Hansel & Gretel may just be the worst one in this genre and it is a shame because I really like Jeremy Renner and believe he has made some incredible films. I also like Gemma Arterton, who I loved as a James Bond girl, and despite looking very good here, her talent is wasted in this senseless action film. This is one of the worst films of 2013.

My Review: The Bourne Legacy (8/10)

¨Jason Bourne was just the tip of the iceberg. ¨

It´s been five years since the third film of the Bourne franchise came out, now Tony Gilroy has been given the responsibility to direct The Bourne Legacy, a film that works as both sort of a spin-off and sequel to the Paul Greengrass franchise. As opposed to the other films this one does not star Matt Damon and wasn´t adapted from Robert Ludlum´s novel either. It just takes some aspects of the previous films and expands it by introducing a new corporation and new characters. Jason Bourne is only named in this film and the events occur at the same time as the events from The Bourne Ultimatum are taking place. I wasn’t too sure about what to expect from this film since Matt Damon was the true star of the franchise, but I knew Jeremy Renner was a great actor. Matt Damon´s career changed completely with this franchise, and he has made a name for himself now in Hollywood. Renner has also been on a hot streak ever since The Hurt Locker starring in some great films like The Town, Mission Impossible, and The Avengers so I did think he would be able to pull it off. My main concern had to do with the new director, Tony Gilroy, who I knew was very familiar with the franchise since he adapted the screenplay from the previous films, but wasn’t sure he could pull off a spin off like this without the main star. Many people hated this film and I understand them, but I enjoyed this spy thriller quite a bit. Gilroy had already proved to be a good director when he was nominated for his work in Michael Clayton. This film may lack some of the great action editing scenes from its predecessor, but it was still a very well made action thriller.

As I mentioned before the story expands from the Jason Bourne universe and this film takes place at a parallel time while the events from The Bourne Ultimatum are taking place since Jason Bourne is referenced throughout the movie as he begins to expose Treadstone. What we learn from The Bourne Legacy is that Treadstone isn’t the only secret ops agency and that there are many more. One of those ops is Outcome, where some subjects are given medication to enhance their abilities. When Treadstone is exposed, the rest of the agencies decide it is in their best interest to sweep things under the rug and therefore begin killing off all their agents. One of the agents from Outcome, Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) manages to survive and begins looking for answers as to why his former bosses want him dead. Col. Eric Byer (Edward Norton) on the other hand is trying to control this crisis situation by eliminating anyone who is familiar with the Outcome program. He is one of the top men from the intelligence community that is after Aaron. Aaron, who is dependant of the special medication in order to survive, enlists the help of one of the doctor´s that has managed to escape from Outcome. Marta (Rachel Weisz) convinces Aaron that she can help him get off the special medication, but they will have to travel to Manila. The only problem is that the intelligence community will do whatever is necessary to eliminate them before they can get too far.

I don’t think The Bourne Legacy is as good as its predecessors, but it isn’t a bad film either. There are a lot of new characters introduced at the beginning of the film and if you are not familiar with the original trilogy then you might get a bit lost since they kind of take a while to introduce the new premise. The film also seems to be building up to another sequel where we might have Jason Bourne introduced back to the equation, but the film does also work on its own. It’s hard to avoid comparisons since both films take place in the same universe, but I do believe it does a good enough job to stand up a little below the previous films. I honestly had a very fun time with the film and enjoyed the Renner/Weisz duo. The story also takes place in different parts of the globe kind of like in the same way the other films did. The action scenes were entertaining so I do believe this was a worthy film and wasn’t a disgrace to the original trilogy like many upset fans are saying it was. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I can understand how some people may be upset, but I did have a fun time with this film and enjoyed it so I´m giving it a thumbs up.

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My Review: The Avengers (9/10)

¨Maybe your army will come, maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you! Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn sure we'll avenge it!¨

Along with many others, The Avengers was one of my most anticipated films of 2012, and I can honestly say that it didn’t disappoint me one bit. It was even better than what I had anticipated and every single person in the theater seemed to have had the time of their lives. There were plenty of laugh out loud moments where everyone just cheered and the movie never ceased to entertain. The Avengers is one of the best superhero movies ever made, and I would say only The Dark Knight surpasses it, although comparing these two movies isn’t fair because this film is much lighter and self aware of its premise. The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon (who also wrote the screenplay) is masterfully put together, meshing the incredible special effects and action scenes with the beloved characters and perfect cast. Everyone is really great in this film and it entertains from the very beginning. This is what a popcorn summer movie should be. I was worried so much hype for this film could`ve ruined the film for me, but I was wrong. All the hype only built the momentum for this great action comedy superhero flick. Ever since the first Iron Man came out these films (Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America, and The Incredible Hulk) have been a sort of teaser trailer for this big movie. Those films helped build the characters and build the momentum for what we truly wanted to see: The Avengers. I assume this is how kids actually felt during the early 50`s when they were expecting for the next Marvel comic book issue to come out. This film definitely captured that essence and magic thanks to such a magnificent team of cast and crew.

The movie opens with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) attacking the SHIELD agency directed by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in order to retrieve the cube which would enable him to open a portal to another universe and send an army to destroy earth. Loki is successful and manages to steal the cube and force Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Dr. Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) to join him by taking away their free will. In order to stop Loki, Nick Fury decides it`s time to assemble the team of superheroes which he has kept a close eye on for several years. He sends Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) to get Dr. Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) to call on Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). Fury decides it`s time to get Captain America (Chris Evans) back into the action, and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) comes all the way from Asgard to try to stop his villainous brother from destroying Earth. These superheroes are assembled together, but aren`t ready to work as a team. They have some issues at first and have to learn to work together if they want to stop the evil Loki.

 The premise is pretty simple, but what really makes the film work is the interaction between all these great characters. This film could have relied so heavily on the special effects that it would`ve lost the magic of the great characters created by Stan Lee, but fortunately it decides to focus more on them. The tension they face working together is what really makes the movie work. There are plenty of funny moments as we have these superheroes fighting and mouthing each other. Robert Downey Jr. has showed us he can play the part to perfection, but every actor in this film really had great scenes. One of my greatest fears was that so many actors would not have enough screen time, but somehow everyone manages to be in this film for quite a while. Even minor characters such as Black Widow and Hawkeye get great exposure. Another thing I feared before The Avengers was that I thought Loki was one of the weakest villains of all the Marvel movies, but he is really great and dark in this film. He proved to be a great rival. But without a doubt, the best thing and most surprising for me was Mark Ruffalo`s performance as The Hulk, he really owned the movie and he had the best and funniest scenes in the entire film. Pairing him with Downey Jr. was really the best thing the producers could have done. Hulk is perhaps the best character in this film and the one I was least expecting to enjoy. Everyone in the theater was truly satisfied with the film and especially with the Incredible Hulk. He was amazing and so was the movie for that matter.  

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My Review: Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol (7/10)

¨Mission accomplished¨

The fourth installment of the Mission Impossible franchise has finally arrived after five long years. It`s been so long that I really don`t remember much of what happened in the latest mission, but it isn’t that important because these movies stand on their own. The first Mission Impossible film came out way back in 1996 and now fifteen years later the mission continues with Tom Cruise as the lead character once again, although this time they brought in a new director: Brad Bird. Bird is known mostly for his direction in animated films such as The Incredibles and Ratatouille, but he proves with Ghost Protocol that he can make an entertaining action film as well. There are some really great choreographed action scenes in this film with good visual effects. The story is entertaining, although cartoonish at times. One thing is for sure, you won`t be bored with this latest installment because there is plenty of action going around. I still don`t think the film is as brilliant as many people are saying it is. It works as a summer popcorn movie, but it isn`t much more than that. It definitely won`t be memorable or even rank among my favorite films of the year, but I still enjoyed this action film. One of the problems I had with this movie was the pace of the film; the story is really long and at some points I felt it was dragging a bit. The final action scene was a little over the top as well and it felt like it would never end. There were also some corny moments in the dialogue from the screenplay which was written by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, but the film worked thanks to some entertaining actions scenes, and Tom Cruise proves he`s an action star as well.

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is back in action once again with yet another mission that seems impossible, but this time he will have to work with a different team and without the help of the IMF division because it has been disavowed by the American President after a mission goes wrong in Russia and relations between both countries seem to hang by a very thin thread. At the beginning of the movie Ethan is in a prison in Moscow and has to be rescued by other IMF field agents, Benji (Simon Pegg) and Jane (Paula Patton). Once they free Ethan, the three team up for an important mission in Russia where they are ordered to infiltrate the Kremlin archives, but something goes wrong when someone else steals the files they`re looking for and alerts the Russian police that Ethan is inside the building. Ethan manages to escape, but right after he does the entire building blows up and Ethan is the prime suspect, although in order to not stir up the public the Russian government claims the explosion was due to a gas leak accident. This is where the relations between the US and Russia government reaches its boiling point and Ethan must find the person behind the betrayal before a nuclear war begins. The search takes them from one location to the next so we get to see Ethan and his team climbing the world`s tallest building in Dubai first and later ending up in Bombay. IMF intelligence analyst, William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), joins the team and embarks in this mission impossible.

There are plenty of thrills and emotional moments during the movie, but despite the fact that it`s entertaining I still felt like there were some dull moments that could`ve been cut out from this over two hour long film. Tom Cruise is back doing what he does best; it`s always good to see him in these action roles (despite the fact that he has a peculiar form of running) and he was great in the Dubai scene. Jeremy Renner was also a great addition; he`s been on a real role ever since the Hurt Locker. Simon Pegg provides the comedy needed in these action films to break down the tension, and Paula Patton was much more than just eye candy; she could kick some butt. I also liked to see Michael Nyqvist in the villain role after his work in the Swedish Millennium trilogy. Mission Impossible had everything it needed to succeed: action stars, great action scenes, and some comedic relief, but I still felt like something was missing. I don`t think this is the best film of the franchise, but it`s still worth the watch. You will be entertained, just don`t expect it to be one of best action films of the year. I had a lot more fun with Fast Five than I did with Ghost Protocol. I`m glad however that Tom Cruise is back making some entertaining movies and doing what he does best.

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