I'm still not sure I can unpack "Sorry to Bother You" and give it any justice. For now let's just start with the new Mission Impossible movie.
This is the first Mission Impossible film I've seen in theaters/all the way through, so maybe I had some false expectations going into the theater. I wasn't expecting a spy film to balance itself so imperfectly between non-stop action and intrigue.
My favorite spy flicks are the ones that focus less on the action and more on the tension building and intrigue (see Atomic Blonde, A Most Wanted Man). That way when the action actually happens, it's significant and feels more real.
At the same time, I appreciate spy flicks that ham it up with absurd set pieces and constant action a la the Bond films and John Wick. Even if they're just popcorn flicks, the action editing is usually quality freaking cinema. (I still get an action boner during the home invasion scene that starts the action in John Wick.)
Mission Impossible: Fallout seems like it's trying to be both types of films and executing both poorly. Maybe I'm too harsh a critic, but the action is either edited to be boring as hell, or there's so much of it that 80% of the action is forced to be meh. We're talking about a movie with FIVE different chase scenes (on foot, in car, on motorcycle, in helicopter, and I think a second on foot one) and every one loses its appeal in less than 2 minutes. Maybe I'm just spoiled by John Wick's editing.
The intrigue isn't terrible. I think I learned all the backstory about different characters that I needed to understand all the components in play. But the most inviting bits of intrigue (American interests vs British interests) are ultimately inconsequential. The whodunnit aspect is beyond easy to piece together, and there's only a few genuine twists in the film (the best of which actually makes the film less interesting by existing). I'm just being picky now, but it's hard to keep my willing suspension of disbelief in a spy film that supposedly takes itself seriously, and yet has a main character who is praised for risking millions of lives to save one somewhat insignificant one. That, and when an ally is injured all the good guys stop in the middle of a goddamn firefight to make sure they can kneel down and share some words of support for their friend. They were just being shot at from unknown assailants in the dark at various angles. What kind of cutscene plot armor nonsense is this?
Characters are generally bland too, both villains are boring as hell.
I've no idea why this film has such good ratings. Maybe this is what the franchise is all about and I should have known that ahead of time. But Christ, Mission Impossible: Fallout was just a shittier Americanized Bond movie.
