Peneflix MOVIE REVIEWS BY PENEFLIX
On a recent trip to Dubai, scaling the myriad of internal levels of the Burj Khalifa, (the tallest building in the world) enthralled by the videos of Tom Cruise and the film crew hanging precipitously from cables, on the exterior, from floors 123-130 (there are 163); “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” (2011) was the reason I went to Dubai; Tom Cruise, since “Risky Business”, (1983) exponentially has swelled as an actor; determining, refining his legacy in the movie genre.
Intelligence, prescience, visionary mastery throbs through every fiber of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”; Cruise, an older, weathered “Ethan Hunt” displaying his inimitable nonchalance, intrepid resolve and an enhanced sensitivity, wariness, respect for his female foes and fans; no longer are women and their attributes minimized, secondary to their male counterparts; equality soars in battles, bouts, and brawls adding breathtaking anticipation as to the outcome: Rebecca Ferguson, her third time depicting dauntless “Ilsa Faust” adds a level, of vulnerability to her relationship with Ethan; Haley Atwell, “Grace” replaces chicanery with admirable hardcore intensity and resolution; Vanessa Kirby, again skyrockets as the “White Widow”, in a dual electrifying role, her bottomless skills are multifaceted, flavored with audacious adroitness; Pom Klementieff, “Paris”, silently soars as a gifted assassin. These women are substantive, potent and accountable.
From its inception director/writer Christopher McQuarrie focuses on the penultimate villain, “Gabriel”; Esai Morales dons, with dreadful dexterity, the brilliant, morally depraved, “dark messiah, who sees death as a gift he wants to share with the rest of the world”, assassin for “The Entity”, a euphemism for Artificial Intelligence; daily exposure to its benefits and perniciousness; its possibility of replacing the human mind, “rendering humanity a small phenomenon compared to something far more intelligent”; herein lies the “key” of the quest.
Far greater than the heart seizing, emotionally pulverizing action is the underlying “mission” of protecting mankind from an emotionless, conscienceless “Entity”, that if in errant hands, deigned for destruction.
FOUR & ½ STARS!!!!
Peneflix
