The Premise: MI agent Ethan Hunt is on the hunt again. This time, the chase begins in Russia. Someone is hell bent on starting a nuclear war between Russia and the USA. And Hunt and team have to not let that happen. Meanwhile, the Kremlin gets bombed, Hunt gets to spider his way up and down the Bhurj Khalifa in Dubai, and finally the villain of the ensemble is cornered and overpowered in an automated multilevel garage in Mumbai!
The Execution:
The plot moves at a brisk pace and strives to keep you from yawning. And amidst all the speed at which everything happens, you cannot quite help notice that the formula has been assiduously followed. There is:
- The geek sidekick who can open prison doors, hack into servers, terminate or provide access to secure vaults, etc., etc., - all as he sits in a van/car in some dark alley near the place of action.
- The usual slew of spectacular bomb explosions, sophisticated technology gadgets, and a car that takes your breath away.
- A sad sad story of an MI agent who failed on his or her mission. Of course, the MI agent does not know his or her failure was some sort of make-believe - all for the sake of Agent Hunt.
- The trademark set of slick quick dizzying fight sequences
- The extravagant crime that merits an extravagant canvas
- The usual extravagant lengths that Agent Hunt goes to to keep his wife safe.
- The standard set of magnificent shots of at least three monuments/landmarks located in three or four cities.
- Sex. This is a new addition to the scheme of things. Paula Patton takes up the baton for this and let's say she does it with clockwork precision: Her look, her moves, etc., etc., are all in line with the Hollywood Manual of Style for Titillation.
I must admit the ingredients of the formula are deftly mixed with a whole lot of special effects and sophistication. So, one cannot quite complain. But, you know, it's a Tom Cruise movie. You expect more. You expect a twist such as the one in Minority Report. You expect intense passion such as that in Top Gun. You expect earnestness such as in The Firm. You expect some classy drama such as that in A Few Good Men.
But well, all that doesn't show up - not even halfway down this mission.
The Unexpected:
Mumbai! It's a truth universally acknowledged that come what may, traffic jams and Mumbai cannot be separated. Ask any Mumbaiite about this and he or she will spend at least three minutes to explain why theirs is a match made much before heaven! In fact, you can hold a conversation merely on that subject. But somehow, that doesn't seem to have made its way into the script. For you see Tom Cruise and the gang dashing off in cars at speeds specifically NOT meant for the streets of Mumbai!
So, should I or shouldn't I?
Well, if you are ready to:
- Discount the fact that the plot is way too fantastic to ever be true.
- Look away and not at your watch as the screen pulls out one death-defying stunt after another.
- Look at Tom Cruise and ignore all the couches he has jumped and the clockwork precision with which he insists on looking grim for no reason at all.
- Wonder why Anil Kapoor accepted a role so skimpy that even bikinis blush at its length.
- Believe that Simon Pegg reduces himself to being a sidekick.
- Slap Tom Wilkinson for the pretty little he agreed to do.
- Pity Jeremy Renner for the pretty little he had to do.
- Put aside the deja vu that woos you from start to finish.
Then, yes, go rent the DVD!
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