Impossible missions call for impossible solutions - ***

Rogue Nation succeeds at delighting Tom Cruise fans and the fans of the Mission Impossible franchise by sticking to the formula that has more or less cemented the brand that is called Mission Impossible.  At this point in cinematic history the character Ethan Hunt is probably up there with characters like James Bond and Jason Bourne, characters that have set a solid image in the minds of the movie going public.

Ethan Hunt  is out to prove the existence of  The Syndicate, a new group of  operatives on the verge of creating their own brand of terrorism.  But this mission is hampered by the IMF (Impossible Mission Force) being disbanded by the CIA, thus giving Ethan no government back-up.  The story moves with the help of his former team members and an insider of the Syndicate by the name of Ilsa Faust.

Accepting that Ethan Hunt can not die, however strong his grip is hanging from a plane taking off and accepting that he can absolutely imitate anyone by just putting on a full headed mask, one must get over an almost incredible plot that seems too diabolical to fully enjoy this film.  Once you get over that,  you need to decide if the action sequences were enough to even create a level of excitement that drives you to the edge of your seat. Sadly, it didn't do it for me.  But that's just me.  Surely, one must appreciate the big action sets they have created for our enjoyment, an almost impossible airplane scene in Russia,  a three-way chase on the battens of an Opera in London to an exciting motorcycle chase on the streets of Casablanca.

I liked a couple of things in this film.  One, I like how they were almost overdressed for action but then the characters looked really good because they were dressed well.  Tom Cruise looks incredible for his age and he is known for doing his own stunts so his manic energy drives the film to the end.  Second,  I like that the only female in the cast was not 'objectified' like a Bond girl, on the contrary hers was a vital element that moved the story forward.

This is a must-see for every Tom Cruise fan.  But if you are just a normal guy trying to write a weekly blog of whatever movie is available then you might want look at something else and watch this film on its second week when you do not have anything else to watch.

Southpaw knocks you down with heavy drama upper cut - ****

The time is ripe for a movie like this to come along.  Not since Million Dollar Baby has there been a movie that celebrates the spirit that overcome physical capacities, whose strength is drawn from love in its purest form.

Billy Hope is fighting for custody of his daughter Leila after she was taken by child welfare due to Billy's incapacity to be a father. He's a boxer who lost everything when he could not cope well with his wife's death.

It was a little difficult watching this film.  It's difficult to watch someone ruin his life and it is even more difficult to watch him ruin someone else. It hits you blow by blow like a boxing match and you're just waiting for the bell to ring, hoping some sort of miracle would happen.

The story may not be entirely uncommon, but the real strength of this film are the performances of Rachel McAdams, Forest Whitaker and Jake Gyllenhaal.  Rachel's performance as the wife Maureen is short but her character lingers all throughout the film.  Forest delivers the most riveting performance here, as the coach who saw Hope in Hope.  Jake's complete performance as an incomplete person draws you in his clinch but begs you to not let go.

The movie made some bad decisions by trudging along a familiar route. Treatment of some scenes were clichéd, predictable and unbelievably contemptible.  Watching it breaks the dramatic flow of the movie and became a little bit distracting. If you can look beyond that flaw, and appreciate the movie for its message of love and endure through all the pain that Billy Hope had gone through then you come out of the theatre feeling grateful.

'My Girl' meets 'Gone Girl' - ***

Based on a Young Adult book by John Green, this film is banking on the same success as the other movie based from the book of the same author, The Fault In Our Stars.  While it is unfair to compare, the movie feels like My Girl meets Gone Girl.

Quentin and his high school friends set to look for Margo, the love of his life.  Margo did not come home, and was considered lost after three days from the night that she and Quentin set out on an evening caper to exact revenge on Margo's friends.  This triggered the trip from Orlando to New York, based on a hunch that Margo wanted to be found.

The problem when books are translated into film is that a lot of details may have been left out because of the limits of film making and its running time.  I feel that some sort of injustice had been done when characters turned out different from their original book counterpart.  But since I did not read the book I am left to assume that Margo is a manipulative, trickster who led Quentin on and that parents do not care at all that their daughter is lost nor are they concerned when suddenly their son took the car and drove away a thousand miles from Orlando.

This film is really more about friendship than it is about love.  It is a coming of age film which may not be so different from the coming of age films during our time.  I am reminded of  The Breakfast Club, and Zapped which is really all about taking risks and coming out of our shells.  The lead actor Nat Wolff, as Quentin he drove the gang safely to New York, but whose sensitive performance brought us along as he discovers that life is an adventure.

Ant-man packs the comic punch - ***1/2

This movie is Peyton Reed's highest rated film so far and it could Paul Rudd's surprise entry to the blockbuster hero genre. With his unique shrinking power,  Ant-man's strength shouldn't be overlooked and the film's comedic sense most certainly can not be ignored.

Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) finds a kindred soul in Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and abdicates his war time Ant-man suit giving Scott a chance to prove himself worthy of being called a hero by his own daughter played by Abby Ryder Fortson.  The task is to avert the sale of the technology behind the Ant-man suit thus preventing it from falling into the wrong hands.

Such dynamic camera work here from the character shrinking and then coming back to his normal size, the film takes us with it by way sound and the changing of the proportions of the images. It packs just enough action and special effects to thrill the audience but what sets this film apart from the other Marvel movies is its funny moments. A lot of which can be owed to the acting prowess of  Rudd , Douglas and the supports.  The comedic plane of this film is an ensemble act.

This does not look as big as The Avengers, nor any one of the Iron Man films, in fact at some point it has a texture of a movie made for TV.  Initially Paul Rudd seemed like an unlikely choice but his Scott Lang disregards that notion and proves himself as a reliable actor whatever role you give him. This film fails at capturing the audience emotionally and the attempts to do it just seems like some patches of lull in the story.

Be that as it may,  I was entertained.  I was surprised to find myself laughing aloud in action film, it turns out this is the Marvel movies funniest film to date. Its full of action and full of laughs.

Miniotic could be another name for idiotic - **

Milking the popularity of the minons from the movie Despicable Me, Universal Pictures and Illumnation Entertainment combined forces to come up with a money maker that disregards what value (or lack thereof) it may instill the kids that will watch their movie.

In the movie Despicable Me, the minions, as an entity becomes the very delightful side kick to the lead character Gru, a villain with a soft spot for kids. They provided much of the funny parts in the film, with their adorable little voices and funny antics. Watching the two Despicable Me movies did not at all make me wonder where the minions came from.  Sure, I remember wondering what kind of creatures they were, were they aliens or some creatures from the earth.  But I did not think it was important to know

Apparently some people thought it could be a good idea to make a main feature from the minions and reveal their origin and a part of their history pre-Gru. And thus this movie came about.

It turned out the minions have been roaming the earth since per-history , they are a race that is collectively in need of  master villain to lead them.  Now this is where I thought the movie fell flat, to present the origin some specie, I would expect to see how they came about. Creatures could not just exist out of thin air.  As far as the minions are concerned they were already there and they are in need of a master.  And this whole movie was about their search, and of course we all know who they ended up serving.

In this movie you see a whole lot of villains, and the main villain of all is Scarlet Overkill.  She was quite a sensation during the time because she was the only woman in the whole motley crew and she was fabulous and ruthless at the same time. Many people wanted to be her henchman, every body vied for the part but with some stroke of luck the minions came out victorious.  The conflict ensues because of a botched mission and the rest is just chaos from there.

Several things I did not like about this film, the main part of it is the worship of villains.  It glorifies them and puts them up like royalty. It sends a wrong message to the kids.  And the attempt to send this message is not even amusing, you see villains going after each other, you see cities being destroyed you see chaos without anything to back you up for heroism nor human values.  It is just simply a movie for the mindless and heartless.