Below is a list of my favorite movies of 2018 (list subject to change): TOP FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2018
1. "Solo: A Star Wars Movie" - This STAR WARS movie set ten years before the Original Trilogy told the story of the early years of Han Solo as a smuggler and criminal. Directed by Ron Howard, Alden Ehrenreich starred in the title role.
2. "Incredibles 2" - The direct sequel to the 2004 hit Disney animated film follows the Parr family as they try to restore public's trust in superheroes, while balancing their family life. They also find themselves combating a new foe who seeks to turn the populace against all superheroes. Directed by Brad Bird, Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter and Samuel L. Jackson provided the voices.
3. "BlacKkKlansman" - Spike Lee directed and co-wrote this Oscar winning adaptation of former police officer Ron Stallworth's 2014 memoirs about his infiltration and exposure of a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in Colorado Springs. The movie starred Golden Globe nominee John David Washington and Oscar nominee Adam Driver.
4. "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" - In this sequel to the 2016 hit film, agizoologist Newt Scamander helps his former teacher Albus Dumbledore search for the powerful Obscurus Credence Barebone in 1927 Paris before escaped wizard Gellert Grindelwald can find the latter. Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller and Johnny Depp starred.
5. "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" - In this sixth film in the "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE"franchise, Ethan Hunt and his IMF team are ordered to track down stolen plutonium, while being monitored by a CIA agent after a mission goes awry. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the movie starred Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt.
6. "Vice" - Oscar nominees Christian Bale and Amy Adams starred in this Oscar nominated biopic about former U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney. Directed by Adam McKay, the movie co-starred Steve Carrell and Oscar nominee Sam Rockwell.
7. "Aquaman" - Jason Momoa starred in this film adaptation of the D.C. Comics hero Aquaman and his bid to assume the throne of Atlantis. Directed by James Wan, the film co-starred Amber Heard and Patrick Wilson.
8. "Black Panther" - Chadwick Boseman starred in this adaptation of the Marvel Comics hero Black Panther aka King T'Challa of Wakanda about the title character's efforts to maintain his position as Wakanda's king, while dealing with a vengeful relation. Directed and co-written by Ryan Coogler, the movie co-starred Michael B. Jordan and Lupita Nyong'o.
9. "Ant-Man & the Wasp" - While serving out the last days of his house arrest, Scott Lang aka Ant-Man is recruited by Hope van Dyne aka the Wasp and her father, Dr. Hank Pym to help them retrieve Dr. Janet van Dyne from the Quantum realm. Directed by Peyton Reed, Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly starred.
10. "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" - When Isla Nublar's dormant volcano becomes active, Owen Grady and Claire Dearing mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event, which proves to be a scam kick-started by a greedy corporate executive. Directed by J.A. Bayona, the movie starred Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.
"MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT" (2018) Review
Ever since I was a kid, I have always been a fan of the "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE" franchise . . . with one exception. I was a fan of the 1966-1973 television series, which I had viewed faithfully as a kid. I saw one episode of the 1989-1990 television sequel, but I failed to become a fan. But my enjoyment of the franchise kick started once more with the release of the 1996 film of the same title and I have never looked back.
As many know, the 1996 film, which starred Tom Cruise as IMF Agent Ethan Hunt led to five more films. The latest, "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT", was released in theaters during the summer of 2018. Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, this sixth entry in the movie franchise focused on Ethan and his team's hunt for stolen plutonium. The material had been stolen by a group of terrorists called the Apostles, the remnants from terrorist Solomon Lane's organization called the Syndicate, from "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION". When Ethan and his team - Luther Stickell and Benji Dunn - failed to get their hands on plutonium early in the film, CIA Director Erica Sloane instructs Special Activities Division operative August Walker to shadow and observe Hunt and the others as they attempt to retrieve the plutonium. Thanks to a nuclear weapons expert they had captured named Nils Delbruuk, the team learns that an extremist named John Lark might be behind the Apostles. And in order to get to Lark and the plutonium, Ethan's team might have to kidnap an imprisoned Solomon Lane and deliver him to London without MI-6 agent Ilsa Faust interfering with their plans.
Many film critics raved over "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT" after it first hit the theaters. In fact, some are regarding it as the best installment in the franchise and one of the greatest action films of all time. Do I agree? I honestly do not know. The movie had a few flaws that makes me hesitate to regard it in this manner. One, it featured the return of Solomon Lane. Seeing him in this film, led me to believe there was one too many villains in this film. I honestly wish that Ethan Hunt had scragged Lane at the end of "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT". And to make matters worse, he was still alive by the end of the film. I also had a problem with Vanessa Kirby's character, an arms dealer named Alanna Mitsopolis aka the White Witch. Apparently, Lark wanted to purchase from her the cores for the plutonium. When Ethan impersonated Lark, she was the one who had demanded that Lane be snatched from a French intelligence convoy that was conveying him to another prison. After this scenario played out, Ms. Mitsopolis had disappeared from the narrative, until it was revealed in the end that she had made a deal with MI-6 to arrange for them to get their hands on Lane. And you know what? This whole scenario involving both Ms. Mitsopolis and Lane seemed a bit convoluted and unnecessary. In fact, I could have done without the presence of either of them. And how on earth did Lane end up in France, when he was arrested in London? Surely as a former MI-6But who knows? Perhaps a re-watch of the film will lead me to change my mind.
However, the above complaints are not signs that I did not enjoy the film. Trust me, I still managed to enjoy "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT". Very much. I agree with many of those critics who praised the film for just about every aspect of it. Yes, I had some squabbles with McQuarrie's plot. But I must admit that I enjoyed other aspects of it. For a minute, I had assumed that once again, Ethan would find himself disavowed by the agency and the C.I.A. Instead, McQuarrie added an interesting element in which the C.I.A. assigned an operative to keep an eye on the activities of Hunt and his team. And the character of August Walker proved to be a breath of fresh air as his arrogant and aggressive persona provided an extra conflict for Hunt to deal with, as they pursue the Syndicate and the missing plutonium. Another addition that spiced up the plot and included a touch of pathos was Ethan's reunion with his ex-wife Julia Meade in Kashmir, where Lane planned to detonate two nuclear weapons and where she and her new husband were representing Doctors Without Borders.
Naturally, I cannot discuss a film like "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT" without pointing out the action sequences. Yes, the movie had plenty of action scenes. But there were a few that stood out for me. One of them featured Ethan and Walker's arrival in Paris via a parachute jump. Okay, that kind of entry struck me as unnecessary and rather clichéd. But I also found it rather entertaining and a perfect way to convey Walker's arrogance and Ethan's impatience with the former. Other exciting action sequences that I found particularly memorable were a brutal fight between a thug mistaken as John Lark and Ethan and Walker inside the bathroom of a Parisian nightclub; and a high-speed chase through the streets of Paris. But for me, the best action scene proved to be the last one which found the IMF team (and surprisingly Julia) racing against time to save Benji from Lane and stop Lark's team from setting off two nuclear weapons over the Siachen Glacier. Needless to say, this action sequence involved Luthor and Julia trying to disable one weapon; Ilsa engaged in a brutal fight against Lane, while attempting to save Benji and disable the second weapon; and Ethan engaged in a wild helicopter chase in order to get his hands on the weapons' detonators, which ends near the edge of a cliff. For me, this entire action sequence was the movie's pièce de résistance.
"MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT" marked the sixth time that Tom Cruise portrayed IMF Agent Ethan Hunt. My first instinct is to wonder when Cruise will stop portraying the character, especially as a man of action. But while watching the film, I had completely forgotten about my doubts and simply enjoyed the film . . . and his performance. Watching Cruise portray Hunt over a period of twenty-two years is like witnessing the aging of fine wine. Thanks to the actor's superb performance, his Ethan Hunt has grown less cocky over the years (to a certain extent), more subtle and definitely more mature. This was especially apparent with Ethan's interactions with the aggressive August Walker.
A fine cast supported Cruise in this film. Like Cruise, Ving Rhames as IMF computer tech/hacker Luther Stickell has been with the franchise since the beginning. And he was marvelous as usual as the pragmatic Luther Sticknell. I especially enjoyed the poignant performance he gave in one scene that featured Luther's own reunion with Julia Meade. Simon Pegg was funny as ever as the slightly skittish Benji Dunn, whose skills as a field agent seemed to grow with each movie. Michelle Monaghan returned to portray Ethan's ex-wife, Julia. I enjoyed her role a lot better in this film. The actress finally had a chance to portray Julia as a breathing individual, instead of some feminine ideal.
Three actors from "ROGUE NATION" returned to appear in this film. Rebecca Ferguson gave an excellent performance in her second outing as former MI6 agent Ilsa Faust, who is determined to return Solomon Lane back in the hands of her agency. Sean Harris reprised his role as former MI6 agent-turned-terrorist, Solomon Lane. I admit that I wanted the franchise to focus on a new Big Bad, but I cannot deny that Harris' performance was as creepy as it was in the fifth film. I enjoyed Alec Baldwin's portrayal of Alan Hunley, the former CIA Director who later became the new IMF Secretary, in this film than I did in "ROGUE NATION". Once his character ceased to be Ethan's antagonist, Baldwin was able to skillfully portray him as intelligent and practical man, instead of a buffoon.
And yes . . . "FALLOUT" featured some new kids on the block. Many critics were very impressed by Vanessa Kirby's portrayal of black market arms dealer, Alanna Mitsopolis. I found her performance very entertaining, but I was not that dazzled. Wes Bentley gave a solid performance as Julia's new husband, Erik. I only wish that the screenplay had explored his character a bit more. I was impressed by Angela Bassett's performance as the pragmatic and ruthless Erika Sloane, the C.I.A. Director who had replaced Hunley. I especially enjoyed her scenes with both Baldwin and Henry Cavill that allowed her to convey the extent of Sloane's paranoia. But the real surprise turned out to be Cavill, who gave a superb performance as August Walker, the C.I.A. assassin, who had been assigned by Sloane to monitor Ethan's team, following their loss of the plutonium cores. What I admired about Cavill's performance is how he managed to skillfully convey not only Walker's penchant for aggressiveness, but also the character's cool manner and rampant arrogance. His Walker was a real prick and it was no wonder that he drove Ethan up the wall.
Despite a few problems I had with the movie, I really enjoyed it. In fact, I can honestly say that "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT" is my second favorite film in the franchise. No wonder the critics loved it. And I can thank a superb cast led by Tom Cruise, and Christopher McQuarrie for his first-rate screenplay and excellent direction.
"JACK REACHER" (2012) Review
British author Lee Childs (aka Jim Grant) wrote a series of novels featuring a former U.S. Army Military police officer turned drifter, who is occassionally hired to investigate difficult cases. One of those turned out to be the 2005 novel, "One Shot", which was recently adapted as a motion picture that stars Tom Cruise.
When writer/director Christopher McQuarrie decided to adapt "One Shot" as a movie, one of the first things he did was change the story's title and location. The story became "JACK REACHER" and the setting was changed from a small Indiana city to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Like the novel, "JACK REACHER" began with the death of five random people by a sniper firing from a parking garage. Police detective Emerson finds evidence pointing a a former Army sharpshooter named James Barr, who was immediately arrested. Instead of confessing to the crime, Barr asked the police and District Attorney Alex Rodin to get drifter and former Army police Jack Reacher to help him. Reacher finally contacted Barr's attorney, Rodin's daughter, Helen Rodin. Reacher believed that Barr was guilty, because the latter had originally went on a killing spree during his last tour in Iraq, but got off on a technicality due to his victims being guilty of the gang rape of several Iraqi women. But Reacher's investigation of the crime scene, along with an encounter with local thugs hired to scare him off, made him realized that Barr had been framed and that the killing spree was merely a cover up for a specific victim.
In the end, "JACK REACHER" proved to be a first-rate action thriller that I enjoyed very much. I would never consider the movie to be one of the best starring Tom Cruise. The basic narrative for "JACK REACHER" did not strike me as particularly original. I have come across similar action or mystery tales in which a series of killings hid one particular murder. But I must admit this particular story presented it in a particularly original way - especially with such a non-conformist like Reacher serving as investigator. There were other aspects of the movie that impressed me. One, I found the opening sequence featuring the sniper's killing of the five people not only gruesome, but also nail biting. The tension in this particular sequence seemed ten-fold, when it looked as if one of the sniper's victims might end up being a young child. Once Reacher realized that either Detective Emerson or District Attorney Rodin may be working for the man behind the shootings, the reek of law enforcement reeked throughout the film's second half, increasing the movie's tension ten fold. The movie also benefited from a first-rate, three-way car chase through the streets of Pittsburgh; with the police chasing Reacher for the murder of a young woman, and Reacher chasing two of the bad guys. The chase sequence also emphasized Caleb Deschanel's colorful photography of Pittsburgh, a city that has struck me as quite charming during the past two decades.
There were a few aspects of "JACK REACHER" that troubled me. I wish that McQuarrie's script had allowed Cruise's Jack Reacher and Rosamund Pike's Helen Rodin to consummate the sexual tension between them . . . at least once. I did not require the movie to end with them as a newly established couple. But I figured that one night between the sheets would not have hurt. Honestly! I found myself inwardly screaming "Get a room!" every time it looked as if they were about to lock lips. But the bigger problem for me turned out to be the main villain - a former Soviet prisoner-turned-Russian mobster known as the Zec. Do not get me wrong. I believe that director-actor Werner Herzog gave an exceptionally chilly performance as the mobster. But . . . I could not help but wonder if author Lee Childs and later, MacQuarrie tried too hard to portray him as some kind of cold monster, willing to do anything to survive . . . even chew off his fingers while in prison, in order to prevent himself from succumbing to gangrene. The Zec even forces one minion to either chew off a finger or face death for the latter's mishandling of Reacher. I would have been impressed if it were not for the fact that the willingness to do anything to survive . . . or self-preservation is something of which just about every human being is capable. It is simply human nature. And in the end, I was not that impressed by the Zec. Also, I could have sworn that the Zec and his men were carrying out a contract on behalf of someone else. I certainly got that impression in his first scene, which I eventually found rather misleading.
However, I was impressed by the film's cast. I have already commented on Werner Herzog's portrayal of the mobster called the Zec. Australian actor Jai Courtney gave an equally chilling performance as Charlie, the Zec's main henchman and the shooter who kill those five people, in cold blood, in the opening scene. Robert Duvall made an entertaining addition to the cast as a former USMC veteran, who operated a gun shop frequented by the main suspect and the real killer. The year 2012 seemed to be the one for British actor David Oyelowo. He started out the year in "RED TAILS" (okay, not much of a start), but he finished out the year with an appearance in "LINCOLN" and a major role in this film. And I was very impressed by his portrayal of Detective Emerson. One, Oyelowo seemed to have a pretty good grasp of an American accent. And two, I found his portrayal of the police detective to be deliciously complex and murky. I could also say the same for Richard Jenkins, who gave a slightly twisted and sardonic portrayal as District Attorney Rodin. It seemed a pity that his appearances in the film seemed slightly limited.
It occurred to me that I have not seen Rosamund Pike in a major film production in quite a while. I do recall that she had appeared as Sam Worthington's leading lady in "WRATH OF THE TITANS". But I would rather forget about that particular film. Thankfully, she was much more memorable as Helen Rodin, the feisty defense attorney who hired Reacher. She possessed a solid American accent and more importantly, I enjoyed the way Pike infused both professionalism and emotion into her character. And her screen chemistry with Tom Cruise reeked with sexuality. Although I would not consider "JACK REACHER" to be among Cruise's top films, I must admit that I think his role as the eccentric former Army investigator might prove to be one of his better roles. I really enjoyed Cruise's performance as Reacher. Not only did he maintain the character's eccentricity, but he also projected a subtle weariness that made me understand the character's disappointment with society at large. He also infused a good deal of subtle humor that struck me as both entertaining and off-kilter. But more importantly, Cruise did a great job in projecting the character's unstoppable force, without having to be the same height (6'5") as the literary Reacher.
Like I said, I would not view "JACK REACHER" as one of the most memorable action movies I have ever seen. But I certainly would not regard it as mediocre. It possessed a solid story, written and directed by Christopher MacQuarrie. The movie also benefited from first-rate performances by a cast led by Tom Cruise in the title character.
