by Josh Sewell
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
(Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence and action, bloody images, and brief language. Opens in theaters on May 23.)
When it comes to blockbuster franchises, the Mission: Impossible series is one of the most successful in Hollywood history. Since the original hit theaters back in 1996, there has only been one real stinker – 2000’s Mission: Impossible II. Aside from that misstep, the adventures of unstoppable secret agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) chugged along fine until 2023’s Dead Reckoning – Part One.
That one bogged down the usually exciting team antics in a ponderous story about AI and killed off one of the series’ most interesting characters, ending in an anticlimactic cliffhanger. The film’s creative team (namely Cruise and writer-director Christopher McQuarrie) apparently thought it had issues too, considering the lackluster box office caused them to drop “Part One” from the title and approach the current installment as an Avengers: Endgame-style sequel rather than a true second half of an epic-length film.
As such, the newly titled The Final Reckoning, supposedly the last installment of the franchise (I’ll believe it when I see it), spends a huge chunk of its almost three-hour running time connecting current plot threads to previous flicks in some of the most awkward, ham-fisted ways possible. The first hour is an extremely rough sit, especially since McQuarrie (returning for his fourth time behind the camera) could’ve easily cut most of it and skipped straight to the far more entertaining second act.
Once all the table-setting is out of the way, The Final Reckoning feels a lot more like previous entries, particularly Fallout. The story picks up two months after the events of Dead Reckoning, with a dangerous AI program known as “the Entity” close to seizing control of the planet’s nuclear weapons and enigmatic villain Gabriel (Esai Morales) intent on giving Ethan Hunt a front row seat to the apocalypse. As always, it’s up to Hunt and his team (including Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff and others) to save the day.
Weirdly, Cruise spends most of The Final Reckoning separated from his usual crew, leaving Pegg and Atwell to do the heavy lifting when it comes to humor and camaraderie. Cruise, on the other hand, flits around to various setpieces to perform his trademark stunts, interacting with a bunch of recognizable actors who pop up for a scene or two (including Angela Bassett, Hannah Waddingham, Shea Whigham, Henry Czerny, Trammell Tillman and Katy O’Brian).
Fortunately, by the time everyone reunites for the big climax, The Final Reckoning is back to the kind of fun audiences have come to expect from this series. The landing might be rocky, but Mission: Impossible wraps up relatively well (for now, at least).
Grade: B-
Lilo & Stitch
(Rated PG for action, peril and thematic elements. Opens in theaters on May 23.)
Disney’s ongoing strategy of turning their classic animated films into live action/CGI hybrids grew tired a while ago, but last year’s creatively bland Mufasa and the recent Snow White fiasco proves the well is running dry. When I heard 2002’s funny, heartfelt Lilo & Stitch was next in line for a remake, I can’t say I was pumped about it.
However, after a few minutes, I breathed a sigh of relief thanks to the film’s emphasis on characters and relationships instead of soulless visual effects. An updated version wasn’t necessary, but Lilo & Stitch is probably Disney’s best live action remake since 2016’s Pete’s Dragon (which is still my favorite).
Much like the animated original (written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, who would go on to craft DreamWorks’ incredible How to Train Your Dragon series), the weird blend of sci-fi adventure and family drama centers on a lonely Hawaiian girl named Lilo (the adorable Maia Kealoha, making her debut) who adopts an alien fugitive (voiced by Sanders) disguised as a stray dog. After the death of their parents, Lilo and her older sister Nani (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong) are struggling to stay afloat and keep social workers (Tia Carrere and Courtney B. Vance) from splitting them up.
With the chaotic arrival of two aliens-disguised-as-humans (Zach Galifianakis and Billy Magnussen) sent to retrieve Experiment 626 (aka Stitch), Lilo and Nani’s lives are thrown into greater upheaval. Even though the story is almost beat-for-beat the 2002 flick, director Dean Fleischer Camp (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On), along with screenwriters Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes, retain the heart and humor that made the original so special.
The actors are solid across the board (although Galifianakis sports oversized veneers that often make his dialogue tough to understand), while the creature design is excellent without distracting from the human characters. As with all these Disney remakes, there are scenes added in that pad the runtime (the original was 85 minutes, while the new one is 23 minutes longer), but it’s not as egregious as the never-ending Little Mermaid update from a few years ago.
Plus, the minor additions modernize this Lilo & Stitch a bit, providing Nani with a more compelling backstory and greater agency. There haven’t been a lot of kid-friendly options in theaters since A Minecraft Movie a few weeks ago, so I have a feeling this one is going to be a massive hit with families.
Grade: B
(Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence and action, bloody images, and brief language. Opens in theaters on May 23.)
When it comes to blockbuster franchises, the Mission: Impossible series is one of the most successful in Hollywood history. Since the original hit theaters back in 1996, there has only been one real stinker – 2000’s Mission: Impossible II. Aside from that misstep, the adventures of unstoppable secret agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) chugged along fine until 2023’s Dead Reckoning – Part One.
That one bogged down the usually exciting team antics in a ponderous story about AI and killed off one of the series’ most interesting characters, ending in an anticlimactic cliffhanger. The film’s creative team (namely Cruise and writer-director Christopher McQuarrie) apparently thought it had issues too, considering the lackluster box office caused them to drop “Part One” from the title and approach the current installment as an Avengers: Endgame-style sequel rather than a true second half of an epic-length film.
As such, the newly titled The Final Reckoning, supposedly the last installment of the franchise (I’ll believe it when I see it), spends a huge chunk of its almost three-hour running time connecting current plot threads to previous flicks in some of the most awkward, ham-fisted ways possible. The first hour is an extremely rough sit, especially since McQuarrie (returning for his fourth time behind the camera) could’ve easily cut most of it and skipped straight to the far more entertaining second act.
Once all the table-setting is out of the way, The Final Reckoning feels a lot more like previous entries, particularly Fallout. The story picks up two months after the events of Dead Reckoning, with a dangerous AI program known as “the Entity” close to seizing control of the planet’s nuclear weapons and enigmatic villain Gabriel (Esai Morales) intent on giving Ethan Hunt a front row seat to the apocalypse. As always, it’s up to Hunt and his team (including Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff and others) to save the day.
Weirdly, Cruise spends most of The Final Reckoning separated from his usual crew, leaving Pegg and Atwell to do the heavy lifting when it comes to humor and camaraderie. Cruise, on the other hand, flits around to various setpieces to perform his trademark stunts, interacting with a bunch of recognizable actors who pop up for a scene or two (including Angela Bassett, Hannah Waddingham, Shea Whigham, Henry Czerny, Trammell Tillman and Katy O’Brian).
Fortunately, by the time everyone reunites for the big climax, The Final Reckoning is back to the kind of fun audiences have come to expect from this series. The landing might be rocky, but Mission: Impossible wraps up relatively well (for now, at least).
Grade: B-
(Rated PG for action, peril and thematic elements. Opens in theaters on May 23.)
Disney’s ongoing strategy of turning their classic animated films into live action/CGI hybrids grew tired a while ago, but last year’s creatively bland Mufasa and the recent Snow White fiasco proves the well is running dry. When I heard 2002’s funny, heartfelt Lilo & Stitch was next in line for a remake, I can’t say I was pumped about it.
However, after a few minutes, I breathed a sigh of relief thanks to the film’s emphasis on characters and relationships instead of soulless visual effects. An updated version wasn’t necessary, but Lilo & Stitch is probably Disney’s best live action remake since 2016’s Pete’s Dragon (which is still my favorite).
Much like the animated original (written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, who would go on to craft DreamWorks’ incredible How to Train Your Dragon series), the weird blend of sci-fi adventure and family drama centers on a lonely Hawaiian girl named Lilo (the adorable Maia Kealoha, making her debut) who adopts an alien fugitive (voiced by Sanders) disguised as a stray dog. After the death of their parents, Lilo and her older sister Nani (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong) are struggling to stay afloat and keep social workers (Tia Carrere and Courtney B. Vance) from splitting them up.
With the chaotic arrival of two aliens-disguised-as-humans (Zach Galifianakis and Billy Magnussen) sent to retrieve Experiment 626 (aka Stitch), Lilo and Nani’s lives are thrown into greater upheaval. Even though the story is almost beat-for-beat the 2002 flick, director Dean Fleischer Camp (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On), along with screenwriters Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes, retain the heart and humor that made the original so special.
The actors are solid across the board (although Galifianakis sports oversized veneers that often make his dialogue tough to understand), while the creature design is excellent without distracting from the human characters. As with all these Disney remakes, there are scenes added in that pad the runtime (the original was 85 minutes, while the new one is 23 minutes longer), but it’s not as egregious as the never-ending Little Mermaid update from a few years ago.
Plus, the minor additions modernize this Lilo & Stitch a bit, providing Nani with a more compelling backstory and greater agency. There haven’t been a lot of kid-friendly options in theaters since A Minecraft Movie a few weeks ago, so I have a feeling this one is going to be a massive hit with families.
Grade: B
Reach out to Josh Sewell at joshsewell81@gmail.com or on BlueSky @joshsewell.bsky.social
Comments
Post a Comment