Impossible Missions and Killer Ballerinas
I went to the cinema for another double bill yesterday… Ballerina (also known as From the World of John Wick: Ballerina for some reason) and Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (which is supposedly the final film in the long-running Mission: Impossible franchise, but we live in a climate where franchises never end so… we’ll see).
All joking aside, I had a lot of fun with both films. The John Wick and Mission: Impossible franchises have some of the best action set pieces in modern cinema, and these latest entries are no exception.
Ballerina is choc-full of the bloody but creative carnage that you’ve probably come to expect from a John Wick film at this point, but I also like how it expands further upon the world of this franchise and it’s awesome to see Ana De Armas finally getting to properly build upon the potential that her brief appearance in No Time To Die only hinted at. Granted, I do have a few minor gripes with its story. I feel like some emotional moments could’ve hit a lot harder and I’m not entirely sure how well it fits into the John Wick timeline, but aside from that, I thought it was a total blast. What can I say? I’m a simple man and when I see Ana De Armas engaged in a flamethrower duel, I can forgive some wee niggles here and there. I swear, that scene is easily going to be rank as my personal favourite scenes in any movie this year.
The Final Reckoning also delivers on the goods, although I can understand why most might be put off by its first hour — it’s bogged down by heavy dialogue and constant flashbacks to previous films that almost makes it feel like a Saw sequel, but it more than makes for that in its second half. It’s a Mission: Impossible movie, but even by this franchise’s standards, the action scenes are mesmerising… that diving scene, in particular, is so white-knuckle and watching Tom Cruise actually hanging off of a biplane is exciting but also terrifying at the same time. Christopher McQuarrie is still a capable action director. I just wish the movie made more of an effort to resolve certain things that were hinted at in Dead Reckoning, but are completely glossed over in this entry. Without spoiling anything, it feels like the movie bites off a little more than it can actually chew, so it’s not quite the incredible grand finale that it could’ve been, but it is solid regardless.
I’m glad I finally got to see both of these movies in the cinema, especially The Final Reckoning, which has been out for well over a month at this point. Sadly, yesterday was the last day for Ballerina in my local cinema, and sadly, it doesn’t seem like it’s been doing all too great financially. I’m sure this won’t dent the popularity of the John Wick franchise, but I imagine between Ballerina and Furiosa underperforming (despite both films being very good), studios will become increasingly weary about greenlighting spinoff films. It’s a shame because I’d love to see De Armas return as this character… whether that be in a sequel or in John Wick: Chapter 5 (because let’s face it, that film is definitely happening despite the way Chapter 4 ended)… I just hope Eve Macarro isn’t left by the wayside. Same with the New Avengers. Thunderbolts (with an asterisk) was so good and I worry studios will learn the wrong lessons from these movies not doing well.
Sorry about that. I got a little sidetracked there. I had a great time at the cinema yesterday and that’s all that matters. Now… if you’ll excuse me, I have a concert to get ready for.
