Mission: Impossible - Fallout (Chris McQuarrie)

[Dukefrukem]

Cruise signs

Bird should come back.

[TGM]

Huh, so Chris McQuarrie coming back would mark him the first repeat director for this series.

[Gittes]

I've never seen a bad Cruise performance, but what would you say was his last daring performance? Well, maybe "daring" is the wrong word, given the kind of stunts he's been pulling off lately. So, let's say…when was the last time he really stepped outside of the action star mold and dove into something less familiar, more complicated — a performance of hills and valleys and tears and vulnerability, etc.?

I don't think you necessarily need to go all the way back to Vanilla Sky (2001), which seems to be the last movie he did that had absolutely nothing to do with his action star chops. War of the Worlds (2005) sort of allowed him to utilize those same action-oriented skills, but there were also some very impressive dramatic shadings to that performance. I'm not sure I've seen him in that register since. For a while now, it's mostly been steely eyed determination and go-for-broke spectacles, which, don't get me wrong, have served as the backbone to some of his recent films (along with other standout virtues, like Rebecca Ferguson's turn in the last M:I film, Werner Herzog in Jack Reacher, and Emily Blunt in Edge of Tomorrow).

Actually, Mission Impossible III had the bit in the beginning where he was all teary-eyed and intense as Philip Seymour Hoffman's character tortured him. And there was quiet and interesting stuff in Edge of Tomorrow (one of the great performance-related things in that film is the way Cruise demonstrates he can be cowardly and funny, which was much more impressive than his Tropic Thunder gag). We saw some of that sort of thing in Oblivion, too. But I don't recall any of these movies offering really sustained examples of this other side to his talent. It's been a while since I've seen Cruise really direct his 110% work ethic — in an extended fashion — toward something like vulnerability rather than the exigencies of an action scene.

EDIT: I apparently typed this out way a little too hastily at first; sorry about the initial typos.

[Irish]

So, let's say…when was the last time he really stepped outside of the action star mold and dove into something less familiar, more complicated — a performance of hills and valleys and tears and vulnerability, etc.?

Gotta be Edge of Tomorrow, right? The emotional arc of that movie depends on his performance. The special effects aren't as interesting, and neither are the set pieces. (Both of which will date badly, I suspect.)

I like Cruise despite all the routine stuff he does, and I've liked him more as the years rolled on. Every once and awhile he pulls something out and reminds me that there's still an actor there, and an actor capable of great performance.

[TGM]

I would say Edge of Tomorrow as well. His performance in that movie is incredible, not only in the way his character so naturally molds and progresses into essentially an entirely different person over the course of the film, but the sheer fatigue he's able to convey at that, you really do believe that this is a man who has essentially been awake and re-living this same day for weeks, months, maybe even years at a time with no breaks in between, just constant monotony and trial and error, and you can really see this sheer exhaustion unfold in his mannerisms and in his eyes more and more in a way that's just haunting by the time we get to the end of the movie. Like, holy shit, talk about an underrated performance, he stepped up and went above and beyond in that movie.

[Gittes]

Gotta be Edge of Tomorrow, right?

I would say Edge of Tomorrow as well.

He's certainly really good here. It's actually a faultless performance, in terms of capably meeting the demands of the script and the filmmaking. So, yeah, I can totally see this as a legitimate answer. But it's not really a "sustained example." Despite the vivid range — the cowardice and the fatigue and the romantic affection and the hardscrabble effort — I feel like Cruise comfortably slides back into action hero mode for the second half of the film, and the romance between him and Blunt, while sweetly conveyed, isn't really substantial enough to allow either of the actors to do anything remarkable with it. I think the performance in War of the Worlds was more impressive and a more extensive display of his dramatic talents.

In terms of reference points/high water marks, I was thinking more along the lines of Magnolia or Eyes Wide Shut. Although, I'm not just talking about being deployed in an arthouse capacity. I'm referring to a type of a performance that not only feels — for him — novel, but also one where he really develops some emotional and psychological heft (and where said "heft" figures as the sustained, principal attraction of the performance, rather than as, say, an occasional reprieve from the action). So, yeah, I guess EoT or WoTW may have been the last time Cruise did this sort of thing, or at least came close (i.e., being impressively dramatic in a layered way, and just really emotionally taxed by a role the whole way through). I haven't seen stuff like Rock of Ages or Valkyrie.

By the way, TGM, that's a fine description of his achievement in Edge of Tomorrow. His progression is indeed really impressive. The scene where he really begins acclimating to the battle, set against Christophe Beck's score, is easily one of the most bracing experiences I've had in a movie theatre.

[transmogrifier]

I've always found Cruise somewhat artificial as an actor. You can always see the gears turning.

[Morris Schæffer]

McQuarrie talks MI6. Including how they will top MI5's opening stunt. Hint: Tom Cruise will fall off something!!!

http://www.empireonline.com/people/c...-impossible-6/

[Dukefrukem]

McQuarrie talks MI6. Including how they will top MI5's opening stunt. Hint: Tom Cruise will fall off something!!!

http://www.empireonline.com/people/c...-impossible-6/

That opening stunt was just a gimmick though. They never show how he gets into the plane if I can recall.

[number8]

That opening stunt was just a gimmick though. They never show how he gets into the plane if I can recall.

Yes, they did. Simon Pegg hacked the door and opened it for him. He completed the mission and got out of the plane with the cargo right before the opening credits rolled.

[Dukefrukem]

Meh. MI5 is forgettable. Almost as bad as MI3 the worst in the franchise.

At least I can remember MI2.

[megladon8]

That's crazy talk. MI3 is perhaps the best of the whole series.

Still haven't seen Rogue Nation.

Ghost Protocol was totally bland and unmemorable.

2 is totally bonkers. Certainly memorable but not in an overly positive way.

[Dukefrukem]

I love that you come out of the gates saying MI3 is probably the best in the series and then admit to not seeing MI5.

Bonkers is right!

And Ghost Protocol is beloved by MC, because it the opposite of bland. Specifically the sand storm scene. Oh and everything involving the tallest building int he world.

Bland would be the definition of MI3 along with poorly directed and edited. There's literally a scene where Tom Cruise runs for 120 seconds.

[Lazlo]

Ghost Protocol is great up until they leave Dubai. From there it goes off the rails with the story and characterizations getting wildly inconsistent. Suddenly Cruise is yelling at Patton on earpieces as if she's become completely incompetent overnight.

I think my ranking is:

(Excellent)
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible III

(Solid, not great)
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

(Bad)
Mission: Impossible II

[TGM]

Time to rank some shit:

Mission: Impossible III
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Mission: Impossible II
Mission: Impossible

[Dukefrukem]

1 > 4 > 3 > 5 > 2 (3, 5 and 2 being terrible)

[Morris Schæffer]

1
4
5
2
3

None are even remotely close to terrible.

too bad the plane stunt was the at the start, should have been a mid-part set piece. Unless they had something to top it which they didn't.

[Skitch]

What madness is this?

[Henry Gale]

I have loved every movie in this series at the times they came out.

(I word it like that because I was very young when M:I-2 came out, and I'm sure it doesn't hold up, but I thought it was one of the most awesome movies around back when I was a youngin.)

[megladon8]

I love that you come out of the gates saying MI3 is probably the best in the series and then admit to not seeing MI5.

I don't get what the problem with that is? I've seen 4 of the 5 movies, and 3 is my favorite.

And Ghost Protocol is beloved by MC, because it the opposite of bland. Specifically the sand storm scene. Oh and everything involving the tallest building int he world.

Bland would be the definition of MI3 along with poorly directed and edited. There's literally a scene where Tom Cruise runs for 120 seconds.

My biggest issue with 4 was a very lame villain, with an even worse final confrontation.

I found Hoffman to be frightening and intimidating. The scene on the plane was tense as hell. And the balls they had in what they did with Keri Russell was killer (no pun intended).

I actually had to look up who the villain was in 4 while writing this, that's how little of an impact it had on me.

[Dukefrukem]

I have to look up the entire plot of 3, that's how bland and unmemorable it was. I remember running. I remember a rocket shot at a car.

Words that MC used to describe 4, that you cannot use to describe 3.

"elegant "
"flawless "
"remarkable "
"exciting"
"my favorite director"

[number8]

Nobody should feel this strongly about any of those movies.

[transmogrifier]

Nobody should feel this strongly about any of those movies.

Exactly right. The series is the definition of workmanlike:

Mission: Impossible - 51
Mission: Impossible 2 - 43
Mission: Impossible 3 - 60
Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol - 67
Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation - 58

The next one will be more of the same: , sturdy, interesting set pieces, dull bad guys, half-arsed team dynamics defaulting to Ethan Hunt solo time.

[Morris Schæffer]

I actually had to look up who the villain was in 4 while writing this, that's how little of an impact it had on me.

kurt hendricks aka Cobalt. I think he was better than Hoffman. You mention the scene on the plane, and rightly so, but after that things get foggy. Except for the running, with Owen Davian nowhere in sight.

cobalt put up a better fight, that fight in the car factory really well done.

[Ezee E]

Didn't see five. Liked one a lot. Don't remember a thing about 2-4.