Movie Reviews on Metro Morning
Mission Impossible III, Hoot and
On A Clear Day
by Jesse Wente
Compared to the previous two Mission Impossible movies, this is clearly the best one. Cruise hand-picked writer and director JJ Abrams to make the movie. Abrams is the guy behind the hit T.V. shows Lost and Alias, and is adept at finding the personal story in action settings. This is what he does here.
Cruise reprises his role as super agent Ethan Hunt, who, has actually retired from active field duty. He's dragged beck in when an arms dealer, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, kills his prize pupil. But it's only when his fiancé is kidnapped that it becomes personal. He assembles a team, made up of Ving Rhames, Jonathon Rhys Meyers and Maggie Q, and heads out to find the weapon that the arms dealer is after.
The movie is filled with things blowing up, and lots of action, divided by personal moments. From the shocking opening scene - one of the best in recent memory, Abrams lends the movie a realism and immediacy that wasn't present in the more over-blown first two films.
However, the movie still seems caught between the gadget driven fantasy of James Bond, and the gritty feel of the Bourne movies. In fact, as a franchise, this is a movie that feels like the '90s, and not today.
Where the movie succeeds is in casting - not only does it have Philip Seymour Hoffman playing a diabolical villain, but there's also Laurence Fishburne, Keri Russell, and best of all, Simon Pegg - who some may remember as Shaun, in the brilliant British zomedy, Shaun of the Dead.
In many ways, this is what summer movies should be - fast, and fun, but I was never able to shake the sense that I'd seen it all before. I think this will please those in need of a little escapism, but I don't think anyone will be waiting for number 4.
Hoot is the latest movie from Walden Media, the folks behind The Chronicles of Narnia, who are a movie studio with Christian sensibilities. They are also one of the few remaining producers of old fashioned family movies.
Hoot is based on the novel by Carl Hiaasen. It's about a young man, Roy, played by Logan Lerman, who moves from Montana to Florida with his family. The new kid at school, he has a run in with a bully, and doesn't quite fit in.
However, he makes friends with a tough soccer player, played by Brie Larson, who, along with her step-brother, are trying to save some burrowing owls from being killed by a development for a pancake house. Together, they try and stop the construction.
Hoot reminds me of the live action Disney movies of the '70s. This is a genuine family movie - it has a message, clearly a pro-environment stance, and has young people as its heroes. While the movie is a bit preachy and sappy, it has enough to keep both kids and adults happy. And casting keeps it moving, from Luke Wilson as a bumbling cop, to Tim Blake Nelson as an even mnore bumbling foreman, even Robert Wagner as the clueless mayor.
As well, the movie is co-produced by Jimmy Buffet, who also provides the music and plays the sympathetic surfing science teacher.
Hoot is a dying breed - a live action family movie that doesn't involve stupid parents or talking animals. Hopefully, there are more to come.
On a Clear Day is the latest British comedy import, and the latest proof that Hollywood isn't the only place capable of making cookie cutter movies.
Peter Mullan stars as Frank, who just got laid off from the ship yard. Frank is still haunted by an accident that took the life of one of his sons years ago, and the memory and guilt over that has caused him to become distant with his surviving, grown son, and his family. So, Frank fills his days by swimming.
In need of a goal, Frank decides to swim the English Channel. He gets help from a motley crew, including several of his former co-workers as well as the Chinese cook from down the street. Through his swimming, Frank confronts his past, and reconciles his future.
On a Clear Day is The Full Monty, but in water. Generic on every level, the movie never rises above its commercial aspirations, and falls flat at every attempt at humour.
Also, it turns out that watching a guy swim is highly boring. I wanted this movie to be so much better, but in the end, it's a refraction of better movies, that never lives up to the talent involved.
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