Action

Mission: Impossible

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Mission: Impossible
  • IMDb: link

Mission: ImpossibleAlthough it began a series of increasingly good summer blockbuster over the course of two decades, 1996’s relaunch of the television series of the same name as a theatrical film (which introduced the world to Tom Cruise‘s most successful ongoing character in IMF Agent Ethan Hunt) is problematic at best. Poorly plotted, including a huge fuck you to fans of the original series by turning the television show’s central hero (Peter Graves) into a greedy villain (Jon Voight) selling CIA secrets to the highest bidder, the film hasn’t aged well. Turning Jim Phelps into a villain would be like rebooting Superman into a coldblooded killer. What kind of an asshole would do that?

Opening with the death of an IMF team (Kristin Scott Thomas, Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Emilio Estevez) and Ethan on the run from his former bosses who believe he is responsible, the film climaxes early on with a break-in at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. It’s this sequence, and really only this sequence, that’s worth noting from the otherwise forgettable tale.

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Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
  • IMDb: link

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

While Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol and Mission: Imposible III may have more dramatic weight given the personal motivations that drive each film, director Christopher McQuarrie instead focuses solely on delivering an immensely enjoyable summer popcorn flick that feels like an old Bond film (complete with multiple locations around the globe and a swagger the Daniel Craig films lack) mixed with the sensibilities of Ocean’s Eleven. The result may or may not be the best in the franchise, but it is arguably the most fun film the series has produced.

What makes my enjoyment of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation all the more surprising is I’m not the biggest fan of the plot-framing device McQuarrie chooses to recycle in planting our heroes on the outside of their agency working essentially as rogue agents to save the day for those not smart enough to listen to them (here played by Alec Baldwin). The series tried it once, with Brian De Palma‘s bastardization of the original series, with mixed results. The plot is so common the Bond franchise has used it multiple times (License to Kill, Quantum of Solace, Diamonds Are Forever to name three – none of which would be considered among the series’ best).

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Samurai Jack #20

/ / Comics

Samurai Jack #20Although it has far less of our title character than any other issue of the series, Samurai Jack #20 is a fitting end to IDW’s comic adventures of the time-displaced samurai. Set years in the future, the issue centers not on Jack but a scribe named Mako (in deference to the actor who so brilliantly voiced the Jack’s nemesis in the cartoon) who has spent his life gathering stories of Samurai Jack.

On the eve of Jack’s latest, and largest, assault against Aku, Mako luckily runs into someone that not only has firsthand knowledge of Jack but who can lead him straight to the legendary warrior’s camp not only allowing Mako to hear countless new stories of Jack but also meet the man himself.

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Samurai Jack – Episode III: The First Fight

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Samurai Jack – Episode III: The First Fight
  • wiki: link

Samurai Jack- Episode III: The First Fight

Wrapping up the show’s introductory arc, “Episode III” gives fans their first real taste of what will become the show’s trademark action style as more than two-thirds of the episode are devoted to a single battle between Jack (Phil LaMarr) and the beetle robots of Aku (Mako). “The First Fight” also offers another montage featuring Jack and his new canine archeologist friends laying a trap for Aku’s drones that helps weed out their numbers while still leaving a near-unending number of them for the samurai to deal with personally.

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Samurai Jack – Episode II: The Samurai Called Jack

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Samurai Jack – Episode II: The Samurai Called Jack
  • wiki: link

Samurai Jack - Episode II: The Samurai Called Jack

“Episode II” introduces both the hero and audience to a bizarre dystopian future filled with talking canine archaeologists, aliens and robots of every type, and a worldwide kingdom ruled over by Aku (Mako). Although centuries of Aku’s rule has morphed the world into a technological dictatorship, for our hero no time has passed. Earning the name Jack from some alien teens, and learning the sad history of the world by a trio of talking dogs hoping to hire the swordsman, Samurai Jack‘s (Phil LaMarr) long journey to find his way home begins.

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