23 May 2025.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING **1/2
Tom Cruise has been a Hollywood fixture since his huge hit in 1983 at age 21 in the rollicking “Risky Business”. Today, at 62, he has been consistently at the top of his profession for more than 40 years. That is the mettle of the man. He has been in more than 70 films in these years, from the iconic 1986 “Top Gun”, which made him a world star at 24, to such varied and unforgettable films as “Rain Man”, “Born on the Fourth of July”, “Jerry Maguire”, “Magnolia” and “The last Samurai”, working with such top directors as Spielberg, Kubrick, De Palma, Stone and Pollack. Plus co-starring with such giants as Paul Newman, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson and Gene Hackman. The man is a non-stop creator of memorable cinema!
And then of course, there is his huge blockbuster franchise, “Mission Impossible” in which he has been producer and famously done his own daredevil stunts, and the lesser but also exciting “Jack Reacher” series.
Because of his personal life, in which he has been true to the controversial Scientology religion (or cult), he has had bad press, and has not been fully credited for being the fine, versatile actor he is. Despite more than a hundred awards, including several Golden Globes, a BAFTA and many Oscar nominations, he has never won the golden man. But the Cannes film festival has given him huge openings for his last “Top Gun” and this latest “Mission”.
All this, dear cinephiles, to balance the fact that this eighth “Mission Impossible” is too complicated, too long and simply not as satisfying as the previous ones, though once again directed by Christopher McQuarrie. The wild stunts are there, the loyal team is together again and the world is saved once more, from an elusive AI menace this time, but it somehow feels muddled and hollow.
Too bad, for Cruise deserves a better finale in this lucrative and entertaining franchise.
Let’s see what he comes up with next… Maybe another strong drama like “The Color of Money” or “A Few Good Men”. He’s not done yet!
Click here to view Cruise training for one of his stunts.
LA VENUE DE L’AVENIR (Colours of Time) **** (vo French, with English subtitles)
This is one enchanting moment of cinema. It’s a wonderfully human film, juxtaposing two completely different eras, the modern day and the late 19th century. Smoothly edited and sumptuously filmed by the great French scenarist and director Cédric Klapisch (“Un air de famille”, “L’Auberge espagnole”, “En corps”, etc….), it tells the tale of a group of strangers who are brought together in an inheritance meeting and told they are all descendants of one woman, Adèle, who back at the end of the 1890s owned a property in Normandy that must now be settled.
Thus starts this adventure of four people picked to delve further into the matter. As they dig into the past while in the old, derelict house in Normandy, they slowly realise they are truly family, and we as audience begin to discover the fascinating story of Adèle, who decided to move to Paris in 1895 to find her long lost mother (portrayed by a very moving Sara Giraudeau).
Klapisch, who has always been passionate about politics, environment and family, creates here a mixture of today’s typical characters, the dizzying melodrama of Adèle’s life, and the greats of the arts and thriving culture of the 19th century, especially zeroing in on the Impressionists and the salons of those years. He gifts us with magnificent moments of a dinner at the glorious Train Bleu, an encounter at Monet’s Giverny, and the birth of the first Impressionist painting. And he surprises us with many well-known actors of the French film industry in cameo roles.
It’s a delight for the eye and the soul. Not to be missed!
Superb **** Very Good *** Good ** Mediocre * Miserable – no stars
By Neptune
Neptune Ravar Ingwersen reviews film extensively for publications in Switzerland. She views 4 to 8 films a week and her aim is to sort the wheat from the chaff for readers.
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
