MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING PART ONE Review

When you’re seven films into a franchise and up has been the only way to go for the better part of a decade there are bound to be those who look at a next entry that does the same things the last handful of entries have done, both positive and negative, and decide they’re tired of the schtick and that it’s time for the narrative to change so that the star and his brand may redeem itself at least once more. This is what seems to be happening with Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 (the cockiness of the cliffhanger likely making certain folks more eager to put the franchise in its place) yet this seventh film in the series and the third written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) only continues to improve upon or at least operate at the same level these films always have if not becoming slightly more preposterous by attempting to tackle a more contemporary and relevant issue through its story. Though story is obviously important to the Mission: Impossible films it is not their top priority, and it surprises me that such quandaries around plot semantics are what will seemingly rewrite the cultural narrative around these films that are largely lauded for their stunt work and commitment to their practicality. Personally, if Tom Cruise and McQ want to get a little more outlandish (and there is an admitted silliness here) with their antagonists I’d say they've earned a little wiggle room as they still deliver tenfold when it comes to the aspects people pay to see these excursions on the big screen for.

BLACKBERRY Review

Crackling with an uncontrollable energy from the get-go, Matt Johnson’s embellished (and that’s being kind, it seems) docu-drama telling the origins of the BlackBerry is the latest in a line of movies this year where what was once product placement is now the whole point. We all know the eventual products these movies center around will become a success at one point or another and in different capacities, but BlackBerry isn’t so much about how the product came to be or even the impact of it, but rather the impact on the people behind its creation, success, and downfall and how not only the world, but those lives were forever changed because of it. 

Johnson and co-screenwriter Matthew Miller know audiences don’t necessarily care about the thought process that birthed the smartphone and they correctly assume audiences understand the impact it has had negating any need to try and encapsulate the seismic cultural shift that occurred because of this invention spearheaded by Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) and Doug Frigan (Johnson). Instead, the film then becomes about the corruption of dreamers by the ability to obtain the dream. In the film, Glenn Howerton’s raging, narcissistic, intelligent, but insane and insanely arrogant Jim Ballsillie (pronounce that as you think it should be, not is, for best results) is brought in to conduct the business portion of the equation that engineers like Lazaridis and Frigan were fumbling. Through this partnership we see so many dimensions of what can be gained from aggression as well as what wounds are bore because of it; what heights can be reached from ambition as well as what heights might be missed if there is no drive to accompany it.