This Means War

Tom Hardy and Chris Pine play two best friends who also happen to be spies. Both fall for the same woman (Reese Witherspoon) and end of using the full resources of the CIA in order to win her (or at least stop the other one winning her). The love triangle is hardly a new plot device, but the spy element should add a bit of fun and a bit of action. After all, director McG (however bad his track record on the big screen) has some form in the knockabout spy comedy from TV series Chuck.

Watching the film, it has moments and it has potential, but is overall disappointingly flat. On the fun side, there are definitely laugh out loud funny moments - a few of them were even not included in the trailer - a paintball date and a viewing of Klimt paintings stand out as being amongst the funnier moments. However, as far as the action goes, the spy plot kind of feels crammed in round the edges of the film. Only the final car chase feels really satisfying, with earlier sequences feeling rushed, clumsy and poorly cut.

The characters are largely underwritten, but the cast are game. Witherspoon and Pine are old hands at this kind of thing and gamely give it their all and their side of the triangle is probably the one with the most zing. The usually great Tom Hardy suffers the most. This is partly due the character, who is supposed to be the earnest, straightforward one to Pine's more playboy-ish, the Bourne to his Bond if you will. However, it feels a bit more than that and you can't help the nagging sense that maybe, great actor though he is, he is a little bit miscast here. Certainly the bromance with Pine falters when it should fizz.

Overview - 6/10 There have been a lot worse comedies made. This one has genuinely funny moments, but takes a long time to get going and never really totally loses a slightly flat feel.
 

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Tom Cruise is back in the 4th installment of the variable franchise. This time behind the camera is Pixar alumni Brad Bird (Ratatouille, The Incredibles) making his live action debut. Joining Cruise on the team in front of the camera are Paula Patton and Jeremy Renner, with Simon Pegg also returning with a more beefed-up role from part 3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's  Michael Nyqvist takes on the standard Euro-villain duties.

A mission to steal files from the Kremlin goes badly wrong and leaves Cruise's IMS team framed with blowing up part of the Kremlin, disowned by their own government and in a battle to clear their names, stop a nuclear war and avoid being arrested (or worse by the Russians). Which as plots go is fairly standard. The villain, too, is pretty unremarkable - a crazy genius who thinks that nuclear war will trigger the next steps in mankind's evolution, or some such. So far, so bad Bond knock-off.

But Mission Impossible has never been about plausible plots, but more about excitement and action. And here, Bird, bringing touches of Pixar's inventiveness, really makes the film work. Most of the action set pieces deliver and some even feel a little fresh and innovative. Highlights include a foot chase through a sandstorm and the final showdown in an automated car park. The MI staples - self-destructing messages and latex masks - are referenced, but mainly for comic effect and not allowed to dominate the film. In fact there is a good deal of humour throughout, which blends well with the action.

Cruise does the kind of job you would expect of him (although, dare I suggest it, he is starting to get a wee bit old for this - definitely too old for the hoodie look he tries to get away with). Should he ever decide to hang up the franchise, then Renner (who is definite plus for the film) would be well placed to take it on, or at least he would be were he not already taking on the Bourne franchise later this year.

Overall - 7/10 Probably the second best of the franchise - might not be totally original, but the action works well and its an entertaining popcorn movie and, to be honest, that's all anyone can expect from Mission Impossible.