Mission: Impossible is arguably the most consistent movie franchise going. Sporting some of the most incredible practical stunt work in movie history, the franchise has jumped from strength to strength and has only grown in quality and scale. With the sixth film arriving in cinemas next week, I thought I’d take this opportunity to look back and review the franchise so far.
Pixar haven’t had the best track record for sequels. Cars 2 was dreadful, Monsters University lacked suffered in comparison to the original, and Finding Dory was nothing to write home about. Only the Toy Story sequels have managed to do that rare thing of improve on the original. Having loved The Incredibles, I was really, really hoping that this sequel would manage to at least match it. What a shame then to report that The Incredibles 2 doesn’t quite live up to the freshness of the original.
If you’ve seen the poster for this film, then you already know it’s going to be ridiculous. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is back, in my mind the best A-List star to make B-List films, and this time he’s climbing a burning skyscraper to save his family and uncover a plot to destroy the building.
Loosely telling the true story of Tami Oldham, a 23 year old who got lost at sea for 41 days, ‘Adrift’ presents a fairly well made film that is let down by romance clichés.
The opening words “inspired by real events” are utterly baffling and simultaneously heartwarming. This plot actually happened! The story follows five friends who have been playing Tag (or Tig) since they were 9. Four of them team up to try and catch Jerry (Jeremy Renner) who has never been tagged. Like I said, I can’t believe this actually happened, but I’m glad it did because it provided a good 100 minutes of entertainment.
Capping off Josh Brolin's triumphant summer at the box office, 'Sicario 2: Soldado' sees the return of Matt Graver (a CIA agent played by Brolin) and hitman Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro) as they team up to fight the Mexican drug cartels who have begun transporting terrorists across the border. I only watched the first film (made in 2015) a few weeks ago, but I must say I was a huge fan. It was dark, intensely brooding and morally ambiguous. What a joy to say that I felt this one managed to maintain that level of intensity.
Following Hollywood’s new trend of rebooting classic movie franchises rather than coming up with some original ideas, Oceans 8 sees Sandra Bullock gather a team to rob the MET Gala of a diamond necklace worth $150 million. Despite some glitzy visuals, this Oceans franchise reboot fails to shine.
Danny Elfman has defined the sound of Tim Burton’s films for over 30 years. His quirky scores for all but three of Burton’s films have helped him create a distinctly unique style. An accomplished singer-songwriter and composer for many other films, Danny Elfman is one of the most prolific composers in Hollywood. Danny Elfman grew … Continue reading What’s the score with Danny Elfman?
The unthinkable has happened. According to most box office reporters, Solo has become the first Star Wars Film to officially flop. Despite not being a huge super-fan of the franchise, I can’t deny I do enjoy most of the films and am deeply shocked that a Star Wars film hasn’t broken the box office. More surprising, however, was that the box office survived the new trilogy (Phantom Menace etc.) and instead fell apart on Solo, a film which I found to be thoroughly enjoyable.
Following on from 2015’s great reboot on the classic Jurassic Park franchise, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom delivers some fantastic set pieces, but is ultimately let down by a bland and boring script.
Daniel Robinson: From Reel to Real 