Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol

Mission Accomplished: “Ghost Protocol” Delivers the Thrills

by: Tyson Anderson

Rating: 9/10

Overall:

“Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol” is one of the best action movies I’ve ever seen, due to its spectacular action sequences under the gifted hand of director Brad Bird, as well as avoiding some of the immoral garbage that ruin most movies of its type.

Thumbs Up:

M:I 4 has received almost universal critical praise, and I will add my voice to it! Brad Bird, in his live-action directorial debut, brings a master’s touch to the franchise (he previously directed the animated delights “The Iron Giant”, “The Incredibles”, and “Ratatouille”). The way he pulls the audience into the action sequences is beautifully done. The much-publicized stunt of Tom Cruise scaling the tallest building in the world in Dubai actually lives up to the hype! I felt my breath being taken away as the camera captures the thrilling climb. Other great sequences are an escape from a Moscow prison, a chase through a sandstorm in Dubai, and a spectacular fight in a car garage. This movie literally has wall-to-wall action, and as it came to a close, I just wanted more! It’s like eating a bag of Doritos where you have one chip and then you just can’t stop and when you reach the end of the bag you still want another chip! And then you feel fat. And we should rejoice in fatness.

I also enjoyed most of the acting in the movie. Tom Cruise never ceases to amaze me. Be a hater if you will, but I think there is a secret desire in all of us to jump on Oprah’s couch. Outside of the theater theatrics notwithstanding, this man knows how to make a good movie. 49 years old and he doesn’t look a day above 30. I do think his long hair is gay though. Besides him, I love Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn. He has a larger role in this picture, and I welcome it. I also enjoyed the other members of the team; “Mission Impossible” sets itself apart from other spy movies because of its emphasis on the team, and the interaction between the members is quite fun.

The humor in this movie is spot on, and I found myself laughing almost as much as I was gasping. For the most part, the script and dialogue are engaging and fun, despite the weaknesses of the story itself (more on that later). The gadgets are also fantastic; I had to sit there and wonder to myself how they came up with some of them! I don’t want to give any away so you’ll have to see them for yourself.

My final plus for the film deals with objectional content. Yes they are many fights and much action, but most of it is bloodless; there are also no torture scenes! Also, other than a short scene where a woman begins to seduce a man...ending with a chokehold, there is NO sexual content! But it doesn’t end there: the script isn’t riddled with needless swear words! Only one s-word and a couple other milder profanities. I somehow think that Mr. Bird had a hand in this, seeing as how he previously worked for Pixar.

Thumbs Down:

I only have a few quibbles about this movie; the well-crafted action scenes overshadowed its faults. The first fault deals with its story; I mean come on! A bad guy trying to steal nukes to “cleanse the earth”!? Please....we’ve seen this so many times before. Adding to that, the bad guy is someone you’d see in a 70’s James Bond film! A Swedish-born Russian madman?! That’s the best you could do!? Anywho, even though M:I 4 is a wonderful movie, it could’ve been even better if the screenwriters would’ve put a little more thought into these things. Following Philip Seymour Hoffman’s chilling performance as a sadistic arms dealer in M:I 3, our little Ruskie is quite a disappointment.

My only other critique is Jeremy Renner’s performance as Brandt, supposedly the replacement for Ethan Hunt whenever Mr. Cruise decides to leave the franchise. For some reason, I just wasn’t impressed. He doesn’t seem like a very good actor. But that’s just me.

After All is Said and Done...

“Ghost Protocol” is a fantastic addition to the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, perhaps the best of the series (MI:3 is one of my favorite movies too), and marks a more-than-successful entry into live-action filming for Brad Bird.

Eat Pray Love

“Eat Pray Love” Takes Us Down a Cleverly Crafted but Deceiving Path of Self-Discovery

By: Tyson Anderson

Rating: 6.5/10

Overall:

Despite being well-written and well-acted, “Eat Pray Love” centers on a false theme of trying to “find yourself” by focusing on selfish needs and desires. The movie is based on a memoir written by Elizabeth Gilbert about herself.

Thumbs Up:

I almost wish I could start with the Thumbs Down portion of this movie because that is the stuff I want to focus on (not that I like focusing on negative things). However, I must first acknowledge the movie and how well made it is.

“Eat Pray Love” is not a fairy-tale romance about love at first sight and how everything works out well until the wedding and they lived happily ever after. Personally, I LOVE happy movies! Life is happy, in my opinion, and everyone should do well to focus on the positive aspects of life. That being said, life DOES have its conflicts. “Eat Pray Love” does a fabulous job at realistically presenting these problems. Are marriages always smooth as peanut butter and free of conflicts? No. Is one always going to be traveling around the world seeing the sights?  No. Where can true happiness be found? These questions are asked by Elizabeth Gilbert, who does not make the right decision in dealing with these problems.

I found myself caring for the characters in the movie, all except for Elizabeth Gilbert, which I’ll talk about later. The other characters were still flawed, but at least were trying to work out their problems in the right way. They focused on helping others. There’s Elizabeth’s husband who, when she tries to coldly divorce him, tries as hard as he can to keep her and convince her he’ll be better. Elizabeth’s friends try to knock some sense into her by telling her that problems are not to be run away from, but rather overcome. In India she meets Richard, a Texan, who focuses on helping her find peace. Even her hunk of a Brazilian Bamboo seems to know what life is all about. She just doesn’t get it.

Thumbs Down:

Apparently, after Gilbert’s book came out many women were “inspired” to leave their “dreary” and “boring” lives behind to travel the world and “find themselves” through spiritual re-awakening and whatnot. What a terrible and misguided message to send to people.

Is life about finding oneself? Yes! But the Savior showed us the true path to finding happiness: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” Isn’t that what life’s all about? Forgetting yourself in the service of others? Although “Eat Pray Love” does show the negative results of selfish behavior, it makes running away from life seem so exciting and enticing! You get to go to exotic places! Meet handsome men! Eat great food and not care about getting fat! It’s so SAD to me that women found this inspiring. It’s even sadder that women actually took this to heart and left their husbands for what they believed was a “real” life. A TRUE feminist would realize the awesome power and strength that is in women and use that strength to build others up! My wife Brittney is the biggest strength to me; I learn so much from her every day. Anybody who tries to show “individualism” by running away from problems and turning his or her back on loved ones can only be defined as cowards and pathetic. I speak to men too; although this movie had a woman “protagonist” the same applies to the male species.

Is it fun to go on vacation? Yes. Is it good to question yourself and your status in life? Yes. Is life all about traveling to exotic locations and experiencing thrills and parties and all that comes with those? Heck no. And anybody who thinks so needs to slap themselves in the face and get back to what life truly is about: growing in love and charity for others so that we can become more like our Savior. Sorry if it seems like I’m preaching a little bit but with all that’s going on in the world we do not need a movie that instills in people the desire and need to leave the safety and security of a loving spouse to go meditate in  India and eat food in Italy!! I find myself getting kind of mad as I write this…..maybe I should stop.

After All is Said and Done…

Anywho, the bottom line is that self-discovery is accomplished by focusing on the needs of others and following the example of Christ. Giving in to selfish desires only leads to misery, and although “Eat Pray Love” does show a portion of that, in the end it teaches that life is all about “letting go”…and that includes letting go of the ones most precious. A well-acted and well-written movie…all focused on a terribly destructive theme.

This film is rated PG-13 for brief strong language, some sexual references, and male rear nudity

A Guy's Dream Apartment (Remember, this is for a scholarship, read the previous blog for more info)

We as men like to keep things simple. That in itself is a simple fact. Our minds cannot comprehend too many things at once; what a terrible situation it would be if we found ourselves having to talk to someone while watching the basketball game! It just doesn’t work out.

          This is why I consider this Regency Apartment to be my dream house as a guy. Heaven forbid it should actually have a description of the apartment! That would be abominable! My brain would explode from the overdose of information and thus end my quest for simplicity. And thank heavens it doesn’t give me the square footage! I mean, how big does an apartment need to be to fit a couch and a Wii? Hats off to Regency for leaving THAT useless information off! It certainly spared me the trouble of using my brain to imagine the size of the apartment.

          And now my favorite part: there’s no price on the apartment! It’s free!! I love not having to work to get anything I want! There’s a reason why “free” rhymes with “glee”. That’s right- I’m a poet. So the fact that I don’t have to pay for anything really tickles my love handles.

          All that I need to know about the apartment is its address and what’s listed on those featured amenities. We got a pool for washing dishes and clothes (See! I’m hygienic-I keep my stuff clean!), a weight room (I lift every day…), a grill patio (gotta have my grill!), and it’s beautifully landscaped…perfect to play hide-and-seek and 007!

          So all in all this is absolutely my dream apartment; I don’t have to think about anything! It’s perfect for a guy like me. Now I get to tell my wife that I’ve got everything taken care of. Thanks Regency! Here’s the link: http://www.vacancy.com/utah/provo-apartments/regency-apartments

         

Scholarship Post

So right after this post I'm going to put up a short essay about why I think a certain apartment complex is my "dream apartment".  This does not reflect the true feelings of my heart, but is for a scholarship that I found online. The scholarship people said that it could only be done on a blog...and well...this is the only blog that I have! The website said to be creative in the way I wrote the essay, so you might find a wee bit of sarcasm in it. This has nothing to do with movies...but hey I'm a student and I need money!

My Top Ten Favorite Action/Adventure/Epic Movies

1.    The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (favorite movies period)

2.    Indiana Jones Trilogy (trilogy means not the 4^th one…)

3.    Mask of Zorro (Did I tell you that I am Zorro?)

4.    Gladiator (edited….. “Are you not entertained?!”)

5.    Braveheart (also edited…. “FREEDOM!!!”)

6.    Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (yes most of these movies involve people with swords…)

7.    Mission Impossible 3

8.    Casino Royale

9.    Back to the Future Trilogy (“88 miles an hour!!”)

10.     Batman Begins/The Dark Knight

Honorable Mention: The Bourne Trilogy, The Incredibles

Non-Movie Review Posts

Once in a while, you’ll find me posting things other than my movie reviews. These posts might include lists of my “favorites” (could be movies, directors, writers, etc), or movie news, or little trivia nuggets about movies. The purpose of the latter topic will be mainly to show off my vast knowledge of movies and the useless facts that are stored in my head. Praise for me is welcome. Enjoy!

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

“On Stranger Tides” Plunders the Spot for Best “Pirates” Sequel

By: Tyson Anderson

Rating: 7.5/10

Overall:

This is the day that you’ll always remember as the day that a “Pirates” sequel was almost really good! Savvy?

Thumbs Up:

There are actually many good things that I have to say about the recent adventure of Jack Sparrow in the Caribbean. Although I am not a big fan of fourth movies (I prefer trilogies...after three films you know the studios are losing creative brain cells) “On Stranger Tides” actually improves on its two predecessors “Dead Man’s Chest” and “At World’s End”.

And how does it improve you may ask? Well first and foremost, writers Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio wisely bring the story back to a quest-driven tone as Jack Sparrow, along with others, seek after the fabled Fountain of Youth. This direction is a few steps up from the convoluted storylines that plagued the last two “Pirates” films. Although there were still times I wasn’t completely clear what was going on in this film, most of the time the story was easy to follow. Simple plotlines make for great entertainment in adventure movies. Only if you’re Christopher Nolan can you pull off the complicated while still delivering the goods…ex: “Inception”.

Another way “On Stranger Tides” surpasses the other sequels is that it throttles back on the special effects and uses characters instead of computers to entertain. As much as I enjoyed the Kraken in “Dead Man’s Chest” and the huge whirlpool/ship battle in “At World’s End”, I’d much prefer a good ol’ swordfight between Jack and a Spanish pirate woman! How cool is that!? Her name is Angelica and she’s played by Penelope Cruz, who brings fire and a lot of fun to the Pirates adventure. She’s the perfect match-up for Jack Sparrow, and when the two of them are together on screen it’s a blast to watch! It’s reminiscent of the on-screen chemistry between Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones in “The Mask of Zorro”, one of my favorite movies of all time (He’s young and vigorous…). Also, the interactions between Sparrow and Barbossa are great, making you wish they spent more time together during the movie! All in all, the dialogue between the main characters is quite entertaining.

Despite criticism from other reviewers, I very much enjoyed Ian McShane as Blackbeard. How grateful I am that the writers chose to bring a well-known pirate into the story, instead of relying on little annoying weasels like Lord Cutler Beckett to supply the villainy. Blackbeard is really a bad guy, as seen by the way he mercilessly executes a mutinous member of his crew. Although I would’ve liked to have seen more character development from him (more on that in Thumbs Down), his character was a fun addition and brought some needed menace to the movie.

The best scene in the movie that really put it above the other sequels is the eerie and spellbinding attack of the mermaids. We’ve all seen different interpretations of mermaids, but this has got to be my favorite. They’re like vampire Ariel’s! If any of you have seen the live-action “Peter Pan” movie with Jason Isaacs, the mermaids in it closely resemble these monsters; however, the “Pirates” ones are much more deadly. The scene where they attack the boats of pirates makes for terrifying fun. ♪Part of your world….*vampire shriek*!!♪

Thumbs Down:

Despite the many plusses about the new “Pirates” movie, there are some downfalls to it:

It was missing a really, really good action scene. One thing about Gore Verbinski (director of the first three) was that he could come up with some pretty sweet action sequences. I loved the swordfights in all 3 movies because they were extended and had some great choreography. The fights in this movie are pretty good, but the terrible lighting shadows the choreography and the length of the duels are just not satisfying enough. The final fight at the end is especially disappointing; if I watch a movie about Pirates then I expect to see some swash-bucklin’!

As much as I enjoyed the Blackbeard character, there were just some things missing about his background. Why in the world does his sword have supernatural powers? Where did the zombies on his boat come from? Where did he come from? Why is he so evil? I like having my bad-guys to be more than one-dimensional goons.

I’m a huge fan of Hans Zimmer and his score of the third “Pirates” ranks up there in my favorite soundtracks. However, I did not notice anything special about his score for this movie. It reminded me of John Williams’ score of the last Indy movie: a re-hash of all the old themes with nothing new to offer. Of course the old themes are great, but come on! Give me something new to chew on! Shame on you, dear Hans.

And last but not least, a comment or two about objectionable content. This is the first Disney movie to ever contain a reference to any sort of sexual content in its MPAA rating (this film includes “sensuality and innuendo”). Honestly, I didn’t find too much sensuality and innuendo in the movie; my main gripe was with the mermaids. Why do they have to be topless?! Yes of course their chests are barely obscured by their long flowing hair, but there are definitely some “almost!” moments. I didn’t appreciate that very much. At least Ariel had a bikini top! Stick with your original interpretation, Disney.

After All is Said and Done…:

This is my list the “Pirates” series from favorite to least:

1. Curse of the Black Pearl (9/10)  2. On Stranger Tides (7.5/10) 3. At World’s End (7/10) 4. Dead Man’s Chest (6-6.5/10)...depending on my mood.

Any debaters? Bring it on!

This film is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action/violence, some frightening images, sensuality and innuendo