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Posts tagged Simon Pegg.
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“Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” fans rejoice! The 2nd and presumably final draft of “The World’s End”, the last entry in Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright’s “Ice Cream Trilogy” is done!
Pegg himself just tweeted the picture of the script with this little nugget: “I know we took our sweet time but as soon as I get back from outer space, we can finish this thing once and for all”. Presumably he’s talking about wrapping up “Star Trek 2” before starting production on “The World’s End”.
It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen a full-fledged offering from the trio, though the break gave us some excellent flicks such as “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World”, “Star Trek” and “Attack The Block”. Wright has comic book adaptation in the works, hoping to bring Ant-Man to the big screen, but depending on how eager the folks at Marvel are to get that one up and running we could see production for “The World’s End” by late 2012.
Movie Review - Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol
Before every Tom Cruise movie I watch, I have to make a conscious effort to shove all of my personal knowledge of his life aside and remind myself that he’s a great actor with an incredibly solid track record. Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol could have easily been another vehicle for Cruise’s star power designed to rake in cash for the holidays. This is where I’ll stop talking about him, because the 4th entry into the prolific Mission Impossible series succeeds thanks to a stellar supporting cast, emphasis on teamwork and jaw-dropping action.
The film begins with a quick sequence featuring an unknown agent narrowly escaping a group of gunman before being stopped dead in his tracks by a female assassin. This introduction provides a bit of back story for Jane (Paula Patton) and her tech-wiz teammate Benji (played by an always hilarious Simon Pegg). The main and only familiar character from the previous entries in the series is Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), who is patiently waiting in a high security Russian prison to be rescued. Jane and Benji bust Hunt out of jail only to find that they’ve been selected for a top secret mission that involves infiltrating the Kremlin with limited resources. During the mission they encounter a renegade entity that derails their game plan and frames the United States for carrying out a terrorist attack on mother Russia. While the Russians are freaking out about the U.S. attacking them, the plans to launch a nuclear missile across the globe are stolen from under their noses. Hunt and his team are abandoned by their superiors and suddenly find themselves wanted as international criminals. It all moves at a breakneck pace and as a result, a lot of the character development and back stories are explained in a matter of minutes with ham-fisted dialogue. While this can be disorientating and confusing on its own, the problem is even further promulgated by the assumption that the audience has seen the first 3 films. If you haven’t caught any of the previous movies you may be left in the dark wondering who the hell they’re talking about and why they’re so conflicted or sad about it, which significantly undermines any intended emotional impact.
While the nuclear intrigue spy story of Ghost Protocol isn’t anything new it hardly matters, especially when the action is so damn good. The unique locales and gorgeous shots of Russia, Dubai and Mumbai provide the perfect backdrop to some of the slickest and impressive action sequences I’ve ever seen. The portion featuring the Burj Khalifa (the world’s tallest building) is a stunner that will have audiences sweating in their seats. The masterful camera movement and editing seals the deal, and you’ll feel like you’re hanging on for dear life as Ethan scales the massive tower. I was also particularly impressed by the final showdown between Hunt and the main baddie of the film, which takes place in a constantly moving parking garage made up of a variety of metal platforms. It’s another excellent example of the phenomenal editing by Paul Hirsch, whose impressive resume features all three of the original Star Wars films. I would highly recommend seeing Ghost Protocol on an Imax screen. You will be blown away by the sound and detail, and it’s clear that they really went the extra mile in optimizing the movie for Imax.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is without a doubt a spectacle film. It’s all about eyegasms and big explosions. With that being said, the cast is excellent, and do the most with a sometimes awkward script. As I noted earlier, the film relies a lot less on Cruise’s star power than previous entries in the series. Teamwork is the name of the game here and it’s refreshing to see a spy film where the various characters play off of each so well instead of a one man army charging in and wreaking havoc. Introducing an entirely new cast as opposed to rehashing the same familiar roles does wonders for the film, and takes a lot of the weight off of Cruise’s shoulders. Jeremy Renner in particular shines as the conflicted Agent Brandt, and may very well be the future of the Mission Impossible series. The villains are memorable as well, with Michael Nyqvist (most well known for his role as Mikael Blomqvist in the original Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series) as the venomous Hendricks, who is obsessed with the idea of society being reborn through nuclear war. I also must mention the beautiful Lea Seydoux (Inglorious Basterds, Midnight in Paris) who sizzles as the diamond-obsessed femme fatal Sabine Moreau. On an interesting side note, she is also the granddaughter of the chairman of Pathé, a great early innovator in film and cinema.
At first I was wary about director Brad Bird taking the wheel for MI4. I absolutely loved his animated features which include The Iron Giant, Ratatouille and The Incredibles, but I was nervous at how a live action project would turn out. Ghost Protocol blew all of my doubts out the window within the first few minutes and beat them mercilessly on the ground by the time the Dubai sequences hit full stride. If you’re looking for eye candy with some great acting and a tried-but-true spy story, put this one on the top of your list.
4.2/5
