Ep. 25 - Missions Impossibles! Part 5

This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:01] J.J.: Happy New Year, J.J. We are back.

[0:07] Olaf: Happy New Year, Olaf. It is great to be back.

[0:10] J.J.: Yeah, it was a nice holiday break for us.

[0:13] Olaf: But it's good to be back here in the theater to drop a brand new episode for the new year.

[0:18] J.J.: Brand new episode. So let's jump back into the movie theater, where we're going to talk about Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 and Final Reckoning Part Nothing.

[0:47] Olaf: Ready to go. Ready to put this franchise to bed.

[0:51] J.J.: I feel like this is going to take a lot here. Both of these movies were very lengthy in run time.

[0:57] Olaf: They were the longest in the franchise.

[0:59] J.J.: They were.

[1:00] Olaf: Dead Reckoning was the longest until Final Reckoning.

[1:04] J.J.: Which clocked in at almost like 2 hours and 47 minutes or something was that last one.

[1:09] Olaf: Yeah, it was 2 hours and 49 minutes to be exact.

[1:13] J.J.: Without feeling negative about it because both of these movies were really good. There were moments where that 2 hours and 47 minutes felt very much like 2 hours and 47 minutes.

[1:25] Olaf: Really? You thought so?

[1:26] J.J.: I did. In the last movie, I felt the length of it. There were moments where I was like, OK, it wasn't I wasn't bored in any way. It was just kind of like moving along some paces.

[1:37] Olaf: We'll get to that in a second. I don't want to jump ahead. I've never really had any issue with the pacing of these movies, at least not since MI3, where it was just like, yeah, we're going to go at this at quite a pace. And there's going to be very little downtime.

[1:55] J.J.: And so I've never really had that issue. So sitting in either of these movies, I never really had a feeling of, oh, how long is this?

[2:04] Olaf: Well, I didn't feel that way about Dead Reckoning Part One or just Dead Reckoning as it ended up becoming. Now, I thought you're not really a big fan of the Reckoning movies, are you?

[2:19] J.J.: Well, here's the thing. I feel like it was suffering from the weight of the success of Fallout, because as you and I have both talked about already, Fallout is the best one of the series. It's an amazing movie on every level.

[2:36] Olaf: Even if Dead Reckoning was a little bit better than I felt it was and I thoroughly enjoyed it, it's still having to compete with such an amazing movie like Fallout was. So it's not like I'm not a fan, because I did really enjoy Dead Reckoning. I really did. I thought it was done very well, especially being shot during COVID and all of that.

[2:56] J.J.: They had a lot of stuff they were dealing with from a production standpoint.

[2:59] Olaf: Which, honestly, you can't tell.

[3:01] J.J.: Not at all. This movie picks up where Fallout left off in terms of action, in terms of pace, in terms of story. I thought it was done really well. I don't want to jump into it too quickly yet, because I know that we have some things we want to cover. Some opening facts.

[3:18] Olaf: First off, we're going to talk about Dead Reckoning Part 1, because the original plan was they were going to film Part 1 and Part 2 back-to-back. But then, because of COVID, because of Top Gun Maverick and other scheduling issues, they ended up having to push it. And then, at some point in the process of putting together Final Reckoning, they changed Dead Reckoning Part 2 to Final Reckoning instead.

[3:45] J.J.: But yeah, so Dead Reckoning Part 1. Rotten Tomatoes score, 96%.

[3:53] Olaf: That's really high.

[3:55] J.J.: That is very high.

[3:57] Olaf: That's extremely high.

[3:58] J.J.: And the audience score is 94%.

[4:01] Olaf: Excellent score, which is kind of surprising only because, as far as the box office goes, Dead Reckoning did not do well.

[4:12] J.J.: Compared to the budget.

[4:14] Olaf: Compared to the budget. So, does this movie suffer, then, from Mission Impossible fatigue?

[4:20] J.J.: I don't think so.

[4:21] Olaf: You don't? Okay.

[4:22] J.J.: No. I feel like that might have something to do with it, along with, and I've got this written down, I feel like the plot overall is a little thin.

[4:31] Olaf: Well, as we know, they don't really make these movies starting with a plot. They start with action scenes, and then they build the plot from there.

[4:42] J.J.: Around the stunts. There are times where the actors are filming scenes, and they have no idea what's the context, what's happening, because they haven't written any of that stuff yet.

[4:55] Olaf: Right.

[4:57] J.J.: So this came out 2023. At the time, this was the longest Mission Impossible movie at 2 hours and 43 minutes. Director Christopher McQuarrie returns as basically the king of Mission Impossible at this point. This was composed by Lorne Balfe, or Balfie. He did Black Widow, Gran Turismo, Dungeons & Dragons, and a bunch of other movies. He was one of the few composers to return to the franchise.

[5:25] Olaf: And then we've got our cast, which is a fairly big cast at this point. We have Tom Cruise, we have Ving Rhames, the only two to be in every single Mission Impossible movie. We have Simon Pegg, who's been there ever since MI3. Rebecca Ferguson is back as Ilsa Faust, my favorite. Vanessa Kirby, she's back as the White Widow.

[5:49] J.J.: Henry Czerny?

[5:51] Olaf: Yeah, Henry Czerny.

[5:52] J.J.: Yes. Kittredge is back!

[5:55] Olaf: We have not seen him since the first movie.

[5:57] J.J.: Yeah, what a great addition to bring back to this franchise.

[6:01] Olaf: And they bring him back in a way that makes sense. Clearly, he's never stopped working for, even though we haven't seen him in 25 years, almost 30 years. He's still been there, working his way up. It was great to see him.

[6:13] J.J.: And that is all the returning cast members to the franchise. Then, we have all kinds of new people joining in. We've got Hayley Atwell as Grace.

[6:24] Olaf: No, I like Hayley Atwell a lot. I wasn't a huge fan of her character when we introduced her. I think she's good, she holds up, she handles herself very well against Tom Cruise, against the things she's being asked to do. I just wasn't a huge fan of her character overall.

[6:43] J.J.: When you think about Rebecca Ferguson as the female counterpart up to this point.

[6:47] Olaf: She's just the best.

[6:48] J.J.: Yeah, she's the best. Then, now forgive me, I'm probably going to say his name incorrectly. Esai Morales?

[6:56] Olaf: Oh, Esai.

[6:57] J.J.: Esai Morales. He plays Gabriel, which is our antagonist for this movie and the next movie. As far as Mission Impossible villains go, he's a little low on that ranking for me.

[7:12] Olaf: He's above MI4.

[7:14] J.J.: He's above Michael Lindquist.

[7:16] Olaf: I would put them about the same.

[7:19] J.J.: About the same?

[7:20] Olaf: He's slightly above. Only because he gets two chances, I guess. Then, we have Pom Klementieff as Paris. She's playing the femme fatale muscle for Gabriel. Honestly, she's great. I have always liked her anyway. It's such a fun departure to see her play something completely opposite of Mantis.

[7:41] J.J.: Yes.

[7:42] Olaf: She does a great job. She reminds me of other femme fatale villains who don't say a lot.

[7:47] J.J.: Yeah.

[7:48] Olaf: They use their actions to speak louder.

[7:52] J.J.: Anytime you see her, you can see what she's wanting to do just strictly based off of what she's doing with her face.

[7:57] Olaf: Yeah. Then, we have Shea Wingham playing Briggs and his partner Dagas, played by Greg Tarzan Davis.

[8:06] J.J.: Yes.

[8:07] Olaf: Then, Cary Elwes is making an appearance in this movie.

[8:12] J.J.: He is.

[8:13] Olaf: As Denlinger or Denlinger. I don't remember which.

[8:15] J.J.: I thought it was just Dillinger, but I can't remember.

[8:19] Olaf: The Harry Sersney callback as Kittredge, to me, is my favorite sort of casting of this movie. Then, it would be Paris played by Pom right after that.

[8:30] J.J.: Yeah. Esai Morales as Gabriel is the quote-unquote bad guy even though the AI is really what they're really fighting, which to me is— I mean, even my notes, I'm like, really? Okay. I guess this is where we're at in this franchise.

[8:44] Olaf: It's like—

[8:45] J.J.: Well, this is where we're at in the world.

[8:47] Olaf: In life, in the world.

[8:48] J.J.: So, having said that, then I can understand. Ethan Hunt has battled all of these villains and done all of these things and saved the world so many different ways and so many different times. Why not have him battle the ultimate antagonist in something that's hard to control?

[9:06] Olaf: As we'll see later on when we talk about it, I mean, the Entity comes up with really clever ways to antagonize Ethan and to be an obstacle.

[9:16] J.J.: Right. Now, interestingly enough, Esai Morales was not the original choice for the villain. It was supposed to be Nicholas Holt who plays Lex Luthor in the Superman movie, the James Gunn Superman movie. He was supposed to be the villain, but he couldn't do it due to scheduling conflicts.

[9:33] Olaf: So, they had to rework the whole idea of the villain because clearly Nicholas Holt is light years younger than Esai Morales, which creates a whole other dynamic.

[9:42] J.J.: I would have had to assume then that Nicholas Holt was going to be some kind of like cyber hacker kind of tech wizard.

[9:50] Olaf: Right, not connected to Ethan's past like Esai, like Gabriel is connected to Ethan's past and sort of a focal point of why Ethan is in IMF and all of these things that have happened in his life.

[10:01] J.J.: And even though it's kind of brief and shoehorned, I do like that Esai's Gabriel is connected to his past.

[10:10] Olaf: I agree. And unfortunately, due to logistics of the next movie we're going to talk about, they never really flush out the true connection.

[10:20] J.J.: I don't know if it was necessary. There was a lot. There's so much more going on.

[10:24] Olaf: That was true.

[10:25] J.J.: A little more important. So, this was the most expensive film of Tom Cruise's career and the most expensive film ever produced by Paramount as well.

[10:34] Olaf: And that was only surpassed by the sequel, Final Reckoning, and that budget was estimated around $300 million.

[10:44] J.J.: Oh, yeah. No, the Final Reckoning budget was insane. Some other fun facts. Filming started in Venice on the same day that northern Italy locked down for COVID-19.

[10:56] Olaf: That's crazy to me because that's, what, February of 2020.

[11:01] J.J.: Yeah. Well, production tried to get ahead of it, so they hastily moved to Rome but only got shut down again.

[11:10] Olaf: So, it had a rough run at the box office, as we've talked about, due to Barbie and Oppenheimer coming out the next week.

[11:17] J.J.: Was it the next week? Really? I thought, for some reason, I thought they came out in July. It came out in, oh, okay, wow, I didn't realize that.

[11:25] Olaf: And, apparently, IMAX Theaters had said, hey, guys, why don't you move your release time earlier? But, for whatever reason, they were like, no, we're staying with our release date, even though Barbie and Oppenheimer was coming out the next week.

[11:42] J.J.: So, it was just going to hurt them splitting the screens for all these other films.

[11:49] Olaf: You almost wish that Mission Impossible had come out at the beginning of May to give it a whole month to just cash in, I think, a little bit more.

[11:56] J.J.: Yeah. I liked Dead Reckoning. I really did. It was interesting that the whole intro, like, what do you go, like 25, 26 minutes before you even get the credits?

[12:07] Olaf: It's around 23 minutes.

[12:10] J.J.: I forgot. I mean, there was so much going on. I was like, maybe they're not going to do, maybe they're not going to light the match, and we're not going to get the opening credits. Because I really did like all of that opening.

[12:51] J.J.: Benji and Ethan and Luther. Yeah, they make a great team. Collaborating, working together. They're at the airport and, you know, we're sort of getting introduced to all these things. We're getting really introduced to everybody. We're getting introduced to Gabriel. We're getting introduced to Grace. Because the movie, you know, it moves. It has to. It has to move. We get to see Tom brush off his sleight of hand in this. That is a callback to MI1. And I love how all of the movies have always done a really good job of making callbacks to older films and including all of them together. It's always been fun.

[13:40] Olaf: I agree. And I feel like that's a McHugh thing. I just feel like he's been really good about the sleight of hand thing, where if you know the series, then you know, okay. That's something he does. That's something he does. Yeah. And he really does it like with the key. Like that's not camera tricked. There's no camera tricks. He's really doing it. But apparently this time around, they had to reshoot a lot. They had to take after take after take because it just wasn't right or he just wasn't getting it. And he apparently Tom was getting quite frustrated over the whole thing. But hey, it looks great on screen. No camera tricks. He's really doing that. And that whole airport sequence, very exciting.

And it's what I love about the series is we're coming in knowing here's our mission. Here's what we have to do. And even that in itself might be a little convoluted or a little impossible as you will. But then they always find a way to ratchet up the tension by adding something else.

[15:10] J.J.: Right. And this time around, they're trying to get this key and with the buyer and the seller. And now we have Haley Atwell as the thief and he's now has to do that. But then Simon Pegg gets pulled off and he's found a bomb. And now he and Luther are doing that while Luther is doing this with Ethan. And it's so for me, it's almost like a sleight of hand magic trick where we're going. We don't have a lot to say script wise. The plot's a little thin. So we're going to throw all of these things at you to heighten up the stakes.

[15:41] Olaf: Yeah, but it's great. Right. We got to get the key. We got to get the bomb. These things are all going to play out. You just have to stay with us because even we are still trying to figure out as we're writing. But I don't behind the camera point. Did I feel like they don't know what they're doing? It doesn't feel like it, but this is where I'm slightly hypercritical and I'll admit that I'm slightly hypercritical in the sense that the more you watch, I call that just another day on a. Wow. On a on a rewatch and on another rewatch, I know what you go, OK, I can see where they're just there. They got guys behind the camera writing out scenes while while Benji's defusing a bomb and while Tom Cruise's sleight of hand with a key.

We're trying to figure out where we're going to go next. I'm such a huge fan of story and I feel like I'm a guardian of storytelling and a good story. And it's very important to me. I can't really get into a movie if the story is bad and I've just never had an issue with these movies.

[16:54] J.J.: That's okay. So do you feel like we're talking history? Twenty-five years. Yeah, because three and then four and then five and then six, they've all been able to keep that story strong and keep everything evenly balanced that you can. You're giving yourself you're giving the movies a pass like seven a pass. I can't say that that's not a factor because maybe it is. I mean, when I watch the individual movie, I'm in that movie. I'm not thinking about the other movies. I'm paying attention to what they're saying and what story they're telling. And for Dead Reckoning and Final Reckoning, the story. Yeah. Is it as good as Fallout? No, Fallout's the best. But I don't know, I just I'd never I never have had a moment even on rewatching where I'm like, what is what are they doing?

[17:59] Olaf: So I'll admit that it was a combination for me with with seven, which then bleeds into eight. It's a combination of the A.I. being the ultimate baddie coupled with Gabriel's character. I love Isai Morales, right? Who doesn't love Isai Morales? A guy is and I thought he was good in this. Is he he was he the best villain that we've had? No. But did he do a great job with what he had? He was calm, collected. He was a good foil. He was very sociopathic. He was very psychopathic. He was both.

[18:33] J.J.: I agree. I think it was just a combination of these things where I'm like, this is OK. OK. OK. And then we don't we get Ilsa at the beginning. We don't have enough Ilsa because I know they're trying to introduce Haley Atwell, which I like Haley. Well, they're they're trying to introduce Haley Atwell, obviously. But ultimately, it was Rebecca Ferguson. She has said that doing Mission Impossible movies has its moments, but ultimately it's pretty boring. Right. And she had all these other projects that she wanted to do. That's why she left the franchise. And that's why she's not in it as much, because she she had things that she wants to accomplish.

[19:16] Olaf: You mentioned Rome. They had very limited time. This is a really good I do. I did like this car chase sequence. This car chase is great. So they're in Rome. Haley Atwell's Grace has been detained and Ethan Hunt's character shows up to essentially break her out. And the bad guys also are there and they're trying to get them and they end up being handcuffed together. And now they're now they've got to get away. Prior to that, prior to that, she escapes in the police car. He goes after her in the motorcycle. Then they crash. So he gets his motorcycle checked, checked off the list. Now the challenge is, is that they're handcuffed. So how do we how do we do this? And at first they're having her do the driving.

[20:03] J.J.: Yeah, that sequence was so fun. And and with Paris, you know, after them in her like monster tactical vehicle, just crushing everything on the street in front of her. That was so fun. And then we get to like a halfway point of the car chase. This is where we really see more of Briggs and Degas, who are after Ethan to bring him in. They're working. They're working for Kittredge. Right. They're CIA. And there's this moment of levity here where they're in the alleyway with a bunch of really nice sports cars. And like out of nowhere, this was a yellow Fiat. Yeah, tiny yellow Fiat is apparently a safe vehicle that is just they have he has an app on his phone to find this thing. Right. So what I love is, is that it it shows this.

And this was a fun moment because it's hard not to realize Ethan Hunt has been doing this for almost 30 years. He is older. Yeah. So he gets into this Fiat. He has a little issues with, you know, trying to get the car. He's and he's even like, I'm sorry, like they make these things. So yeah, like coming up with excuses, trying to start the car. Haley Atwell is just like, it's OK. She's like, no, no, it's OK. Like, but hurry up and get us out of here. She's like, get us out. I don't want to be here. I don't want to be handcuffed to you.

[21:31] Olaf: They had such a great back and forth during. Yeah. And so I will say this. So as much as I clearly prefer Ilse over Grace, it's hard to deny the chemistry that Grace and Ethan do have, you know, in their moments. You know, even now I can still look at it as, yes, great chemistry, but at no point was I like, oh, these two. Right. No, no, no, no. Because that's not the point. Because I'm like Ilse. But then not long after that. Sure. Ilse dies. Right. And so gutted. Grace leaves him handcuffed to the steering wheel. He escapes. And then all of a sudden the whole team is able to find him in Rome. Does he like lojack? Does he got a GPS on his body? Like, how are they finding him in the middle of Rome?

There's certain issues where we just have to go with it. Right. There is a moment prior to that where when Grace is detained and she had the key, but then she drops it off in the guy's suit pocket on the airplane, knowing that she's going to meet him up like things like that, where we just have to go with it and hope that I thought that was really smart.

[22:39] J.J.: It was. But I mean, it's like and then you're going to meet up with him at a party like, OK, sure. And so then there's this also this one where she knows where she's going because she is trying to make a sale. Right. So but she's going to meet up with the guy later to get the key. She tells the guy where to go because she knows that if she has the key on her, the bad guys are just going to take it from her. I just feel there was a less complicated way to do that. And it's not that because it's complicated, but then they just sort of brush by that plot point. And we're like, that's not important. And it is not. Well, I didn't think it was because I was like, oh, good idea. And OK, I moved on.

[23:14] Olaf: Right. Right. Well, you have to move on because, you know, you don't have any choice. You charm this guy, make him think he's got a hot date in Rome. You this dude had no shot. And that's the other thing to at least pick a dude that makes sense. No offense to the guy, but please. Well, it was like Dunlow. Exactly. The first movie he's getting hit on. Exactly. Dunlow. Look what happens. You had no shot. So the whole team magically finds Ethan roaming the streets of Rome. And I'm pretty sure they have a way of tracking. Right. So but we don't know why, but we don't know why. But Ilsa has now joined the team because she just feels like she needs to help. This is the first time we see her after Ethan finds her and says, you're dead. Don't come back. Stay away. And then she just sort of shows up because she feels like she needs.

[24:09] J.J.: Well, she loves Ethan. Well, of course I know. I'm just I mean, I get it. This guy. Stay with me. Stay. Don't go anywhere. You need to be. You should have stayed away. I don't want you to die. Well, she wanted to be with her boo. And OK, so here's without belaboring this A.I. business, because you're right. They end up at the club. We get Vanessa Kirby. She's back. She's back. Widow. She's great as the white widow. I love that she her motivations are way more flushed out and make more sense in this movie than.

[24:43] J.J.: Here's my again with the plot, Gabriel is outlining the A.I. is all around them in the club and he's like... They don't know at that moment.

[24:54] Olaf: Right. Well, but do they not? Doesn't he say, this is it?

[24:57] J.J.: Well, eventually he reveals it to them. Okay. And then he says, one of these two is gonna die.

[25:04] Olaf: Yeah. Just sit there, man. Don't go anywhere. Just sit there and let Ethan do what he needs to do.

[25:10] J.J.: But no. Grace takes off. Ilsa takes off. If they just sat there, they were gonna die there too. I mean, I think...

[25:16] Olaf: Gabriel is out the door. They could have fought these, whoever these goons were that were there. Please. They could have fought them off.

[25:23] J.J.: Look. Ethan would have gone after Gabriel. Did I want Ilsa to die? Absolutely not. Did I see it coming? Well, of course. Everybody does.

[25:31] Olaf: As it got more and more intense? Yes. Well, you knew they were gonna kill... they're not gonna kill Hayley Atwell. Especially since you know they're grooming her to be the next person.

[25:40] J.J.: And even McHugh says it. He goes, we had to get rid of Ilsa because Ethan has been happy for a little bit. But his whole world is focused on the loss that he has.

[25:52] Olaf: Yeah. All the things. And so losing Ilsa has to happen.

[25:56] J.J.: So I understand the motivation behind it. Well, losing Ilsa has to happen because Rebecca Ferguson is not coming.

[26:05] Olaf: Well, and she's out the door. I'm just saying, it seems... and I thought the sword fight was great. The fight that she had with Gabriel was good.

[26:11] J.J.: I feel like she could have easily taken him. I feel like the only way he won is because he's lucky. He's good, but from what we've seen from her historically...

[26:23] Olaf: Sure. I mean, I thought as far as what we got to see in the fight. Because, you know, there was a lot. We would jump to Hayley Atwell. We would jump to Tom Cruise and his fight in the alleyway.

[26:36] J.J.: Or even before that, him just running and the entity impersonating Benji.

[26:43] Olaf: Right. And giving him the wrong direction. The wrong directions. Which I thought was super scary and creepy because that stuff happens now.

[26:53] J.J.: Now, yeah, no, you're right. I thought the fight that we saw on camera. I thought it was great and believable.

[27:00] Olaf: It was a really good fight.

[27:01] J.J.: No, absolutely. I'm not questioning the believability of it. I just feel like she could have taken him.

[27:06] Olaf: Well, yeah, because we love Elsa and we don't want her to die. But anyway, obviously, Elsa dying kicks things even forward now. Because now Grace has become the person that needs to be part of this plan on the train.

[27:19] J.J.: Yeah, and that brings us to the climax.

[27:23] Olaf: Right. Which is taking place on the Orient Express.

[27:27] J.J.: Yes, which I think is very cool. Yeah, I've always wanted to ride it. And, you know, maybe one day, who knows? But I'm also not rich. So but this leads us to the big stunt of the movie.

[27:40] Olaf: Right. What they've been marketing like crazy.

[27:43] J.J.: Right. Which we could watch on YouTube and they shot first already. Yeah. And it's it's is it the coolest giant stunt he's ever done? No, I don't think so.

[27:53] Olaf: No, but when you think about what he had to do to do it. I'm not belittling this stunt at all. I'm just saying as far as like the big stunts he's done leading up to this, it's hard to beat Fallout.

[28:06] J.J.: No, I agree. He's flying a helicopter with six weeks training on Fallout.

[28:09] Olaf: Yeah. But you watch this stunt, even the behind the scenes of it. And it's incredible. It's amazing. Super cool. And the fact that he did that jump six times.

[28:20] J.J.: Yeah, I think he did it like six times to get it right. So my issue is like I've been saying this whole time is. That I hate this movie. I've been saying it the whole time.

[28:27] Olaf: All of the all of the setup to get to the jump. Yeah. Just seems very just thrown together.

[28:38] J.J.: I don't know. I thought that was hilarious. Yeah. It was classic Benji giving him directions that don't line up with where he's actually at.

[28:48] Olaf: Look, Benji, I'm going to. And then Benji's like, I'm going to get in the passenger seat and let this car drive by itself, which I think is hilarious. They're fighting an A.I. entity and he's going to trust the car to drive him. But that's fine.

[28:59] J.J.: What I really liked was Ethan Hunt's like Benji, I can't do this. And then Benji kind of has a little breakdown.

[29:07] Olaf: Oh, yeah. Loses his temper and just kind of gives it to Ethan. And that was that was great.

[29:14] J.J.: And then the look on Ethan's face is just like, OK, OK, I don't I don't know how I'm going to do this. But I'll figure it out.

[29:26] Olaf: Right. But what I do love about the train sequence is that you get Vanessa. Vanessa Kirby really gets to do stuff.

[29:31] J.J.: Yeah. She hasn't really been able to do much. She gets to play as Haley Atwell.

[29:36] Olaf: Right. She gets to play Grace. Vanessa Kirby. Right. And so she does a fantastic job.

[29:40] J.J.: I do love that they connect Mission Impossible. The first one, again, with Kittredge and Max and how he hasn't seen her since he was a little girl and all of these things. It's just enough to be like, yeah, that's cool. I like I like I can appreciate those things.

[29:55] Olaf: And something else I really liked about Kittredge and connecting Mission Impossible one that we kind of skipped over was when Tom and Kittredge meet face to face earlier in the film. They reframe everything very similar to how their face off was in the first Mission Impossible at the restaurant.

[30:07] J.J.: Yeah. With the low shot cameras going back and forth. And Kittredge even says, I can see you're very upset.

[30:24] Olaf: Yeah. The delivery, the cadence, the pacing of all of that. That was great.

[30:29] J.J.: No, I agree. You're right. That whole scene there is very cool. And even they use that in the trailer too. And you're like, well, this is cool.

[30:35] Olaf: So we had we had the big stunts. It's super cool. It's very impressive. And you get to ride along with it. And then we have all the action and the fighting on the train that leads to the eventual train crashing, which they really did.

[30:51] J.J.: They crashed a locomotive. And it's very impressive. And where they were able to put cameras, you could tell that because they were working on Maverick and how they were able to place cameras on the jets. You could see how they were implementing that with the train engine as they drove it off of a cliff.

[31:11] Olaf: We saw some really cool stuff. This movie, is it Fallout? No. Do you leave feeling a little shortchanged? I guess because you're riding high from Fallout.

[31:22] J.J.: Right. So this doesn't reach that peak. So I guess you could be a little disappointed. When I look at this movie as a whole, as by itself, I enjoyed it.

[31:34] Olaf: Yeah. No, I definitely left the theater excited. One, because we thought we were going to get the next movie the following year.

[31:42] J.J.: We don't have to wait a year, which is OK. Because when it does end, you've been sitting there for over two and a half hours. But you're like, oh, this is it?

[31:51] Olaf: Yeah. We'll say that at the end of this movie, I did not want it to end. I was like, well, let's keep going. I never felt like anything dragged in this movie.

[32:01] J.J.: Yeah. And at the time, this was part one.

[32:04] Olaf: Right. Exactly. I'm already excited because I know I'm getting more Mission Impossible. Which, at the end of all of these movies, I'm always like, oh, let there be another one.

[32:17] J.J.: Right. So when they finally say, hey, it's now called Final Reckoning, I was bummed. Because I'm like, so this is it? This is the last one?

[32:27] Olaf: And it makes sense because Tom Cruise can't keep making these movies forever. Not if he wants to do other projects before he can't. Because these are so time consuming.

[32:41] J.J.: Yeah, absolutely. When they said that they were going to change the title, they were going to drop part one, part two, I went, OK, I wonder why. Is it because they didn't feel like the first did as well or whatever?

[32:54] Olaf: To me, I feel like it's because they ended up having to wait another year. At this point, as we move into Final Reckoning, which is what we're about to do, they did have to retool the plot, some of the story, because they waited a whole other year now.

[33:11] J.J.: Now it's coming out two years later. And he's even changed. Father Time has sort of caught up with Tom Cruise to an extent. The difference in appearance, even though the movie takes place two months later, you're like, oh.

[33:28] Olaf: Very noticeable.

[33:29] J.J.: So let's jump into Final Reckoning. Rotten Tomatoes score is 80%, so it's a bit lower.

[33:37] Olaf: The audience score is 88%. Solid numbers.

[33:43] J.J.: I think that's still considered fresh or whatever they say. And this is now the longest, most expensive Mission Impossible movie in the franchise, at two hours, 49 minutes, and an estimated $300 million budget.

[33:59] Olaf: Well, they're clearly swinging for the fences here. If this is the last one, they're like, we've got nothing to lose here.

[34:05] J.J.: Yeah. So now we get to the cast. The cast is pretty much the same. No big changes. Everybody's pretty much coming over from the original.

[34:10] Olaf: We don't have Rebecca Ferguson because she died. And then we also don't have Vanessa Kirby's character because she would have had nothing to do.

[34:23] J.J.: I know. You're right. She wouldn't have. I would have liked to have seen her just to maybe tie some stuff up, but maybe it's not necessary.

[34:32] Olaf: Yeah, I just – I think about it. As much as I love her and that character, I'm just like, she had no point to be there.

[34:42] J.J.: We do get one returning character from the franchise in this – well, actually, I'm sorry. We get two returning characters, but we get Angela Bassett back.

[34:52] Olaf: She was not in the previous one in real life because of COVID restrictions and scheduling. But in the movie, there's like a little Easter egg that her photo is up in the back and that she is now the president of the United States.

[35:08] J.J.: Which I thought was cool. I mean, we've always talked about in previous films, why doesn't Lawrence Fishburne come back? Why isn't Anthony Hopkins back? Why is he the one person? And for them to bring back Angela Bassett I thought was cool because they couldn't bring back Alec Baldwin because he's dead.

[35:23] Olaf: So there was originally an idea to have Alec Baldwin return. It's like a dream sequence thing. Ethan Hunt's talking to him, walking along the Berlin Wall, talking about everything. And then it ends with him at Alec Baldwin's grave.

[35:39] J.J.: Oh, okay. No, I think having Angela Bassett back as the president was a nice touch.

[35:44] Olaf: Yeah. We get two new additions. Hannah Waddingham. Love her. She's been in so much stuff, but most recently her big claim to fame is from Ted Lasso.

[35:54] J.J.: Yeah. And then we get Tramiel Tillman from Severance.

[35:59] Olaf: Loved his character in this movie. He is of the new additions to this franchise, the crown jewel.

[36:07] J.J.: Yeah. I will say I was getting a little bit of his character from Severance in this movie, the way he was handling himself.

[36:16] Olaf: The way he was delivering it. But I really enjoyed both of them in it. And they're very small roles.

[36:22] J.J.: Yeah. Hannah Waddingham did great. I would have loved for her not to have to cover up her British accent.

[36:28] Olaf: I don't know if that means she was clearly –

[36:30] J.J.: Well, she's the American captain of an American aircraft carrier.

[36:36] Olaf: I get it. She did a great job.

[36:39] J.J.: Yeah. It was nice to see her. And then we get a big return. Rolf Saxon, who played William Dunlow in the very first Mission Impossible.

[36:51] Olaf: What I love is when they announced that he was coming back, it wasn't low-key, but they didn't show – you don't see any promo footage, any promo photos of him. Did they announce?

[37:02] J.J.: Oh, yeah.

[37:04] J.J.: He's coming back. So I don't think I knew that he was coming back. Oh, yeah, which I knew he was coming back. I was like, what a great surprise. So you telling me that they're announcing it and ruining the surprise, it seems really stupid to me.

[37:18] Olaf: Oh, I'm sorry. Like what is this, the Terminator franchise? That's why when I was watching the movie, I was like at some point they're gonna have to bring him in, and then when they're like we have to go to the Antarctic, I was like, there it is. Like I knew when they were, I was like, this is it, but it didn't matter because when he comes in, it's great. He is fantastic.

[37:36] J.J.: Yeah, he's given so much to do, so much to do, and he does it so perfectly because you go back to the first movie and you're like poor guy, it's somewhat of a throwaway character. He doesn't do much. He doesn't say anything in this movie. Maybe says his name in the first movie.

[37:52] Olaf: Yeah, and then like William Dunlop.

[37:55] J.J.: Yeah, that's really about it. And for him to be able to come back and just perform the crap out of this role, yeah, fantastic.

[38:16] Olaf: Well, according to Rolf Saxon, when McQuarrie approached him to be in the movie, he thought it was a joke.

[38:24] J.J.: Yeah, he thought he was just being pranked, and then when McQuarrie told him all about it, he's like, oh, yes, please.

[38:34] Olaf: I know, it's so great. He even thanks Ethan Hunt later when they meet face-to-face for the first time, the life he has that he loves he wouldn't have had without him.

[38:46] J.J.: Some fun facts about this movie: Tom Cruise becomes a Guinness World Record title holder for the second time with the most burning parachute jumps by an individual by performing the stunt 16 times. The first Guinness World Record was for being an actor with the most consecutive hundred million dollar grossing movies, starting with Jack Reacher and ending with Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning.

[39:14] Olaf: Little fun. In the 90s, he was racking up those types of numbers in the 90s consecutively, too.

[39:22] J.J.: So it's interesting that, yeah, you know, so what did you think of this movie? I know you weren't a huge fan of Dead Reckoning, and then we go into Final Reckoning. Did it improve for you? Did it get worse for you?

[39:37] Olaf: I wouldn't use worse. It just suffers from the weight of the success of what it's trying to do. It's trying to do so much in this movie. There's so much going on.

[39:48] J.J.: Positively, I love that they connect Mission Impossible 3. They give the rabbit's foot meaning; it doesn't become just this MacGuffin. It becomes, oh, little did you know that that was honestly a master stroke.

[40:03] Olaf: I agree. Finally solve the mystery of what the rabbit's foot from Mission Impossible 3 was.

[40:10] J.J.: I thought I completely agree with you. I think because of the delay, the whole AI plot had to be reworked completely. Now the AI is like, oh, after world domination, Gabriel is somewhat of an afterthought because he's still intricate to the plot.

[40:29] Olaf: I felt like the entity was always after world. Well, no, because no, Gabriel was like steering the ship, and now Tom Cruise is now the entity.

[40:37] J.J.: Now trust Tom Cruise because now Tom Cruise goes into the thing and, well, the whole first hour of the movie is very clunky. It's very uneven. Luther's dying now. We don't have any explanation there, but now Luther's dying.

[41:01] Olaf: He's in, he's like underneath a bridge in London with a nurse and an IV attached to him. I mean, he's going on leaves near the end of Dead Reckoning.

[41:13] J.J.: Yeah, because what we find out later is he's having to come up with a device that can destroy the entity, right? We get that payoff.

[41:24] Olaf: Yeah, it is a little sudden about, oh, he seems to be dying and everything, and I will agree that the movie really jumps around at the beginning because they have so much to do, and they have to get every...

[41:38] J.J.: They have to get the band back together.

[41:40] Olaf: Well, and that's the other thing. When they get the band back together and it's the three of them, Luther, Benji, and Ethan underneath the bridge, and like yes, Luther's explaining this device I've created to create the dialogue.

[41:53] J.J.: There seemed very hokey and clunky. It was almost reminiscent of Mission Impossible one where they're in the safe house in Prague talking about coffee machines and Nespresso and, you know, all this other stuff. I was like, I don't know.

[42:05] Olaf: I thought it had a nice moment of showing the bond between these three as well as, you know, the seriousness of what's happening and that Luther is dying.

[42:16] J.J.: Yes, for me, what would have been nice if they had referenced something that we had already seen in the past. They're talking about foosball tables, and I never seen these guys play foosball. Like give me something I can use here.

[42:28] Olaf: Oh, you know, sometimes it's fun to use your imagination and go, oh, yeah, time to...

[42:36] J.J.: There are things that happen on camera.

[42:38] Olaf: It's like these guys don't have time to play foosball.

[42:45] J.J.: Oh my gosh. I will say obviously going into this, you know, Luther's not gonna make it past the scenes that he's in.

[42:47] Olaf: I know at least one person was going to die.

[42:49] J.J.: Right, the movie does a pretty good job of really hammering home this is it. This is the last one, and you're like, oh man.

[42:55] Olaf: So you're watching this with all this stuff going on and just knowing that this is gonna be your last one.

[43:04] J.J.: But I will say that when the movie ends, I'm like, how is this the final movie? Because the way it ends, I'm like, well, they can keep going.

[43:15] Olaf: Right. Let me ask you this. Were you, based on the trailer, Luther, all of that, did you feel like they terminated it when you're like, uh, he's gonna die? Why are you setting it up this way?

[43:28] J.J.: Because for me, I was like he's gonna die as opposed to they could have cut a trailer a different way. If they had terminated it, they would have just shown him dying.

[43:37] Olaf: Well, but the way he goes out is pretty epic.

[43:40] J.J.: Yeah, I was left to my own devices just like you to discern, knowing how much we love movies and the tropes and the clichés that, oh, yeah, okay, Luther's gonna be the one who does.

[43:50] Olaf: So I would have been more shocked and like, whoa, wasn't any less impactful for me.

[43:57] J.J.: So what makes it so impactful is the way it happens. He knows he's going out. He's gonna go out on his own terms, and he drops the Phineas Freak line. That's fantastic for Mission Impossible.

[44:10] Olaf: I did love that. Still gets that moment with Ethan, and yeah, that was a great moment, too.

[44:15] J.J.: Yeah, because Luther is gonna go out on his own terms, and really at this point, and he goes out saving Ethan's life as well as countless others, right?

[44:27] Olaf: And they exhausted his character. He was very limited in six and seven. If even if they hadn't given us clues in the trailer for you and I to piece it together, I think you and I and maybe others would be like, oh, Luther's the one to die.

[44:45] J.J.: Mm-hmm. The only question I had was, is Ethan going to die? There was a moment where I thought, yeah, it could happen.

[44:53] Olaf: I never had a moment where I'm like the bad guys are going to win because I've just been with this franchise for so long that I know no matter what, Ethan will save the day. I just didn't know if he was gonna walk away from it.

[45:08] J.J.: And I honestly never knew that until the very end, until he walked away, literally walked away.

[45:14] Olaf: I don't know if I ever was sitting in the theater going, oh man, I don't think he's gonna make it.

[45:20] J.J.: Uh, yeah, I wasn't ever concerned for his life. I thought other people might not make it, like Paris, which would have kind of bummed me out because she's great.

[45:26] Olaf: Yeah, and Benji, I really thought, but once Luther died, I was like, then I don't... I mean, that would be the ultimate shock if Benji did.

[45:38] J.J.: Yeah, I think if people were going to die, it was gonna be Luther and Ethan that made the most sense for the story. And considering how much the movie keeps reminding you that this is the final one because I don't know how many times they reference the word final or last one.

[45:56] Olaf: Yeah, I need you to trust me one last time.

[46:01] J.J.: Yeah, and it's like, okay, I get it, you're gonna die. What bums me out, I guess, is that there were certain things that they address in seven, the past, this girlfriend that Gabriel kills to push Ethan and IMF.

[46:16] Olaf: They make such a big deal about that.

[46:22] J.J.: They really made that big a deal out of it. They didn't make it, it's like it's like a whole reason why he joins IMF. It's like the whole reason why Gabriel is in his life that it's, to me, that's a huge plot point that if you're gonna make a big deal about.

[46:36] Olaf: Sure, but in seven, other than showing a quick clip about it and Cruz...

[46:41] J.J.: But if you're going to, you're going to then say this is the reason why I do what I do.

[46:47] Olaf: Yeah, and then not even flush it out.

[46:50] J.J.: Well, they do that with Benji and with Luther too when they're telling Haley.

[46:56] Olaf: I was the other thing to write about joining is like, you know, we all did things that we're trying to get away.

[47:02] J.J.: Yeah, we made the choice.

[47:05] Olaf: Yeah, all of a sudden it was making the choice.

[47:09] J.J.: And that was, I just, I didn't have a problem with that. To me, it was never like, oh my god, I need to know more about that. I was like, well, it's just sort of like cool.

[47:12] Olaf: They had to obviously pivot.

[47:17] J.J.: They had to pivot, and I understand. Like that there, it was, I never, I don't remember watching that movie going, wow, they're really hammering home this past thing.

[47:25] Olaf: They keep showing this scene where Gabriel looks right at him, and then he shoots this girl like twice.

[47:30] J.J.: Here's the other thing. They give this actress keep credit. They give her a credit. How dare they?

[47:37] Olaf: Oh, I'm just saying, you're all, you're not getting a credit like that unless you're actually gonna flush your character out.

[47:42] J.J.: They planned on doing it, and they didn't, and that was like, that was the thing for me. I'm like, I would have been nice for them to do that, but they had to do so much more.

[47:50] Olaf: It was almost insurmountable to me. The scene underwater is amazing.

[47:55] J.J.: Oh, yeah, it's super cool.

[48:01] Olaf: It took it, but it's like 45 minutes. I'm like, it's super cool. It's super long.

[48:06] J.J.: It's very long.

[48:06] Olaf: Yeah, the pacing of the film slows down there as exciting as it is.

[48:13] J.J.: It does slow down, but you know, it's hard to move quickly in water.

[48:18] Olaf: Wow, oh man, that's...

[48:24] J.J.: It's hard to move quickly in water.

[48:26] Olaf: I don't know.

[48:26] J.J.: Oh boy. So you have a big torch for this movie.

[48:34] Olaf: Well, no, it's...

[48:34] J.J.: The movie's still good, and I had so much fun watching it, and it had a handful of emotional moments, and I was invested, and I was in, and it was great, and it was very tense, and that excitement of not knowing if Ethan Hunt's gonna live or die all the way until the very end, that was super exciting.

[48:47] Olaf: What would I place it above Dead Reckoning? No, I would say that it definitely...

[48:54] J.J.: It's a slide downward scale from Fallout to Dead Reckoning to Final, but now that they're out and I can watch Dead Reckoning and Final Reckoning together, to me, that's one whole story.

[49:09] Olaf: Right now I'm getting to see one whole movie, right? And it's great. It would have been interesting to see if they had been able to stick with what they really wanted to do.

[49:19] J.J.: It would have been interesting. Now, obviously, I can't think like that. I've got to watch what we've got.

[49:25] J.J.: Welcome back to the show! We're diving into the final part of our Mission Impossible series today.

[49:55] Olaf: That's right! We’ve covered a lot of ground, and now we’re wrapping it up with the latest films.

[50:25] J.J.: We’re going to discuss "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1" and "Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning."

[50:30] Olaf: It’s been quite the ride, hasn’t it? These films have really pushed the envelope.

[50:35] J.J.: Absolutely! The stunts, the plots, the twists—it's all been so thrilling.

[50:45] Olaf: And let’s not forget the incredible cast. Tom Cruise really brings Ethan Hunt to life.

[50:55] J.J.: He does! And the supporting characters have been fantastic too.

[51:05] Olaf: Right! Each film has introduced new faces that add depth to the story.

[51:15] J.J.: Speaking of depth, let’s talk about the themes that run through these films.

[51:25] Olaf: Yes! There’s a lot about loyalty, sacrifice, and the moral dilemmas of espionage.

[51:35] J.J.: And the action sequences are just mind-blowing. The creativity behind them is impressive.

[51:45] Olaf: For sure! The way they blend practical effects with CGI is seamless.

[51:55] J.J.: It really elevates the viewing experience. You feel like you’re right there with them.

[52:05] Olaf: Exactly! And the cinematography is stunning. Each location feels like a character itself.

[52:15] J.J.: Let’s not forget the music! The score really heightens the tension.

[52:25] Olaf: It does! The iconic theme is instantly recognizable and adds to the excitement.

[52:35] J.J.: So, what are your thoughts on "Dead Reckoning Part 1"?

[52:45] Olaf: I thought it was a fantastic addition to the franchise. The stakes felt higher than ever.

[52:55] J.J.: I agree! The plot twists kept me on the edge of my seat.

[53:05] Olaf: And the character development was really strong. We see more of Ethan’s vulnerabilities.

[53:15] J.J.: Yes! It adds a layer of complexity to his character that we haven’t seen before.

[53:25] Olaf: And the action sequences were just insane! The motorcycle chase was a standout for me.

[53:35] J.J.: That was epic! The way they filmed it made it feel so real.

[53:45] Olaf: And the final showdown was intense. I can’t wait to see how it all wraps up in the next film.

[53:55] J.J.: Same here! Now, let’s talk about "The Final Reckoning." What did you think?

[54:05] Olaf: I thought it was a fitting conclusion to the series. It tied up a lot of loose ends.

[54:15] J.J.: Definitely! The emotional moments really hit home.

[54:25] Olaf: And the callbacks to earlier films were a nice touch. It felt like a celebration of the franchise.

[54:35] J.J.: I loved that! It made me nostalgic for the earlier movies.

[54:45] Olaf: And the stakes were incredibly high. You really felt the tension throughout.

[54:55] J.J.: It was a rollercoaster ride from start to finish.

[55:05] Olaf: I think they did a great job of balancing action with character moments.

[55:15] J.J.: Agreed! It’s a tough balance to strike, but they nailed it.

[55:25] Olaf: So, what’s your final takeaway from the Mission Impossible series?

[55:35] J.J.: I think it’s a testament to how a franchise can evolve while staying true to its roots.

[55:45] Olaf: Absolutely! It’s been a wild ride, and I can’t wait to see what they do next.

[55:55] J.J.: Me too! Thanks for joining us on this journey through the Mission Impossible films.

[56:05] Olaf: And don’t forget to subscribe and follow us on social media for more movie discussions!

[56:15] J.J.: We’ll see you next time for more cinematic adventures!

[56:25] Olaf: Until then, keep watching those movies!

[56:35] J.J.: Bye everyone!

[56:45] Olaf: Bye!