cityonfire.com | Movie News & Developments |
- Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) Review
- Michelle Yeoh to return to Hong Kong action films?
- Live. Die. Repeat. Sequel. Edge of Tomorrow.
- Scott Adkins kills (and kills again) in the new ‘Re-Kill’ trailer!
- Call Me King | DVD (Entertainment One)
| Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) Review Posted: 29 Jul 2015 08:52 AM PDT  "Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation" Theatrical Poster Director: Christopher McQuarrie By Paul Bramhall It's been almost 20 years since Tom Cruise remade the Mission: Impossible TV series into his own one man show, with Brian De Palma's 1996 production of the same name. Perhaps no less significantly, 2015 also marks the 10 year anniversary of Cruise's infamous couch jumping incident on The Oprah Winfrey Show. A gesture that reflected his love of Katie Holmes, who at the time he'd been dating for just a month, more significantly his antics saw him portrayed as an annoying idiot by the media, and the public were more than happy to agree. While for some that portrayal will never be shaken, there is one other equally undeniable fact – in those 10 year since, Cruise has continued to put out some of the most original and exciting movies to come out of Hollywood in a long time. War of the Worlds, Jack Reacher, Oblivion, The Edge of Tomorrow, and that's not even counting the other movies in the Mission: Impossible series. Check out his filmography, and you won't find a single superhero flick or reboot in sight, and that's to be admired. Of course though, out of all those movies, it's the Mission: Impossible series that has always been his baby. Cruise has produced all of them, and has done an outstanding job of bringing in a distinctive director for each entry in the series. Brian De Palma helmed the first installment, with legendary Hong Kong director John Woo handling the second, the man behind the Star Trek reboots, J.J.Abrams, taking on the third, and a director renowned for animations like The Iron Giant and The Incredibles, Brad Bird, onboard for the fourth. Out of all of them, it was arguably Bird who had the toughest job. It had been 5 years since Mission: Impossible 3, and with the announcement of a fourth installment, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol was largely treated as the sequel that no one was asking for. Against the odds however, it was the fourth than many people now consider to be the best. Bird took the exaggerated animation aesthetic of his movies like The Incredibles, and applied them to a real time action movie. Best of all, it was agreed between himself and Cruise that they'd do all of if for real, eschewing the green screen effects work that dominate modern action cinema. The result saw Cruise scaling the outside of the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, in what was one of the best and most awe inspiring stunts seen onscreen for far too long. While some people go through a mid-life crisis by buying expensive sports cars, Cruise seems determined to take things in his stride, by becoming some sort of American version of Jackie Chan. 4 years on from M:I – Ghost Protocol, and we now have M:I – Rogue Nation. The fifth installment is directed by frequent Cruise collaborator Christopher McQuarrie. Besides being the scribe behind The Usual Suspects, McQuarrie also wrote the Cruise flicks Edge of Tomorrow and Jack Reacher, the latter of which he directed as well. McQuarrie no doubt has an understanding of what's expected from a Cruise flick, as well as the man himself, so their collaboration on a Mission: Impossible movie was highly anticipated. Anyone who has seen the other M:I flicks will be in familiar territory. Rogue Nation picks up largely were Ghost Protocol left off. The IMF team is in the process of being disbanded and absorbed into the CIA, Cruise ends up on the run from both his allies and the enemy, and in-between there are plenty of action and espionage hijinks. It's a template which was used to great success with Ghost Protocol, so it's forgivable that McQuarrie decides to recycle the structure of it here. I think it's important to point out that there's a certain elephant in the room with Rogue Nation. Just like how Ghost Protocol heavily used the scene of Cruise ascending the Burj Khalifa for the movies promotion, Rogue Nation heavily relies on the scene of Cruise hanging onto the side of a plane as it takes off. It's a crazy stunt which, just like the Burj Khalifa scene previously, was done for real. However, there's a major difference between the two. While the Burj Khalifa stunt from Ghost Protocol has a lot riding on it, and is essential to the plot, in Rogue Nation the plane stunt takes place before the opening titles even roll. It's essentially a James Bond-esque opener, and while it is impressive, it would have been great had it been integrated into a vital part of the story. As it stands though, Tom Cruise hanging onto the side of a plane is essentially just that – Tom Cruise hanging onto the side of a plane, with its connection to the rest of the events that take place superfluous at best. That being said though, there's enough action and espionage contained within Rogue Nation's 130 runtime to keep any fan of the series, or action movies in general, happy. From a fight scene on a suspended platform over an Opera being performed on stage, to a fantastic car chase that then segues into an even better motorbike chase, to a thrilling underwater break in, Cruise is front and center, performing all of the stunts, and even the driving, himself. While the proceedings and characters all feel familiar, Cruise's decision to take the series into more of an action driven direction ensures that none of it becomes tiresome. Also drawing similarities to the James Bond series, the M:I series seem to be creating its own pool of M:I girls. For Rogue Nation, joining the likes of Emmanuelle Beart, Thandie Newton, Maggie Q, and Paula Patton, is Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson, who plays a British agent working in deep cover that ends up teaming up with Cruise. Unlike many Bond girls though, Ferguson is a worthy equal to Cruise, herself getting to throw down several times over the course of the movie, including a one-on-one knife fight in the finale. If any criticism can be drawn towards Rogue Nation, it's that it somewhat lacks the urgency that permeated throughout Ghost Protocol, and the decision to open proceedings with the plane stunt results in the action playing out in the reverse, with the best coming first. To go back to my Jackie Chan comment, in many ways Ghost Protocol can be looked at as Police Story 3: Supercop, while Rogue Nation is First Strike. All of the stunts and action are still there, just not in the most favorable order, and the emotional investment has largely been cast aside as well. Just like Jackie Chan's partner of the whole Police Story series, Maggie Cheung, is completely absent from First Strike, so is Cruises's wife completely absent from Rogue Nation, not even getting a single mention. While the action and espionage has always come first, the small human touches can elevate a story from being functional, to being both engaging and something that we can be invested in. Rogue Nation misses out on those details, but thankfully it still delivers enough visceral thrills and wit to register as a worthy entry to the series. With an average time of 5 years between each entry in the series, if Cruise decides to make another installment and waits until 2020 to do it, he'll then be 58, which would put him at the same age as Jackie Chan when he made Chinese Zodiac. But just like Chan, if he's still willing to put himself out there and take the knocks for the sake of our entertainment, you can count me in. Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 7/10 |
| Michelle Yeoh to return to Hong Kong action films? Posted: 29 Jul 2015 08:50 AM PDT  "Royal Warriors" Japanese DVD Cover Looks like the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel may have re-opened a can of whoopass for Michelle Yeoh (Yes, Madam). While unveiling her wax statue at Madame Tussaud’s, the action legend told reporters she wanted to return to Hong Kong film. Just think: A proper Police Story 3 follow-up with Jackie Chan? We wish! For the last 5 years, Yeoh has been appearing in many unexpected projects around the world; ranging from portraying a politician in Luc Besson’s The Lady (2011) to playing a TV producer in the South Korean production, Final Recipe (2013). We’re crossing our fingers that Yeoh will indeed return to her Hong Kong action roots. Until then, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II: The Green Destiny and Mechanic: Resurrection are right around the corner. Stay tuned! |
| Live. Die. Repeat. Sequel. Edge of Tomorrow. Posted: 29 Jul 2015 12:00 AM PDT  "Edge of Tomorrow" Japanese Theatrical Poster While attending the premiere for Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (read our review), Tom Cruise had this to say about a sequel to Edge of Tomorrow: "I pitched it to Christopher McQuarrie and Doug Liman. We were there one night and I was like, I've got an idea for it," Cruise said, but didn’t reveal plot elements. Cruise did, however, say that he already talked to Emily Blunt about returning. Her response: "give me another year, please." Despite its box office fumble, 2014′s Edge of Tomorrow was praised by both critics and viewers alike. The film involved a military officer (Cruise) who is brought into an alien war against an extraterrestrial enemy who can reset the day and know the future. When this officer is enabled with the same power, he teams up with a Special Forces warrior (Blunt) to try and end the war. Edge of Tomorrow is based on 2004′s All You Need Is Kill, a Japanese novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Upon its Blu-ray & DVD release, Edge of Tomorrow was re-marketed as Live. Die. Repeat. We’ll keep you updated as we hear more about a Edge of Tomorrow sequel. Stay tuned! |
| Scott Adkins kills (and kills again) in the new ‘Re-Kill’ trailer! Posted: 28 Jul 2015 02:23 PM PDT  "Re-Kill" Theatrical Poster With After Dark Films establishing a new working partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2012′s Re-Kill (aka Dead Ahead), the long awaited action/horror film, is finally going to see the light of day in North America. Re-Kill stars martial arts sensation Scott Adkins (Wolf Warrior) Bruce Payne (Passenger 57) and Daniella Alonso (The Collector). It’s written by Michael Hurst (Room 6) and directed by Valeri Milev (Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort). Official Plot: It’s been 5 years since the outbreak that wiped out 85% of the world’s population, but the war between Re-Animates (Re-Ans) and Humans wages on, as most of the major cities are still uninhabitable. Within the few surviving cities, the Re-Ans have been segregated into “zones” and are policed by the R-Division of the QUASI S.W.A.T. Unit who hunt to re-kill the Re-Ans in the hope of quelling a second outbreak. Re-Kill will have a limited theatrical release, nation wide, on October 16th, 2015, followed by a Blu-ray/DVD release. Until then, watch the newest trailer! |
| Call Me King | DVD (Entertainment One) Posted: 28 Jul 2015 01:16 AM PDT  Call Me King | DVD (Entertainment One) RELEASE DATE: September 8, 2015 Entertainment One presents the DVD for Call Me King, an upcoming action movie written and directed by R.L. Scott. Call Me King stars Bai Ling (The Crow), Amin Joseph (The Expendables), Chris Mulkey (Boardwalk Empire), Alimi Ballard (Numbers), Lester Speight (Transformers), Robert Miano (Donnie Brasco), Bill Cobbs (Oz: The great and Powerful), Del Zamora (True Blood), Gabrielle Dennis (The Game) and Monyque Thompson Scott (Lie to Me). | Watch the trailer. Pre-order Call Me King from Amazon.com today! |
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