Mission: Impossible - The Reckoning Begins - Below the Line Podcast

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
Be inspired to do things differently.
Hey everyone, welcome back to the show.
This is Below the Line podcast brought to you by the nobodies
of Hollywood. I'm Dylan.
And I'm Jesse. And we're asking you to trust US
one last time. Dylan Perez.

(00:34):
Yes, Jesse Ramirez. Your mission, should you choose
to accept, is to follow an EthanHunt through 25 years of
missions, stunts, betrayals, andimpossible choices on today's
episode of Below the Line podcast.
Are you in or are you out? You have a choice.

(00:55):
I accept. Let's get it.
This podcast went all self destruct in five seconds. 54321
Hey, what's up Chad? We're back in.
Welcome to Below the Line podcast episode 24.
That's right, season finale. Who would have thought?

(01:15):
We've made to here. Well, you've already heard the
intro. You have to know what this is
what we're going to be talking about.
Yeah. I hope it was somber enough for
you. If not, I can bring my my tone
to be more somber. Yes.
But I think the people will enjoy that.
You know what? You can be the somber 1 and I'll

(01:36):
be like the high and the high and uppity 1.
That makes sense. That's usually the dynamic in
the friend group anyway. Beautiful.
All right, Chad. Well, you heard it last episode.
It was hinted at. It's been building up for a
while. Nobody caught it, by the way.
Good, but it's been building up for a while.

(01:58):
I finally did it. Just like Top Gun, Dylan put me
on to another spectacle of Tom Cruise, this time being an
entire fucking franchise with eight movies.
Binged them all in a week. Let it be known that I, Jesse,
have not seen this movies at allprior to last week.

(02:20):
So today, ladies and gentlemen and chat, we're talking about
Mission Impossible, the movies. That's ATV show.
Yes, very clearly the movies. But we can't talk about the TV
show real quick. Yeah.
It's only like tangentially like, like just a little bit
related to the first movie. Like there's one reference in

(02:43):
the first movie that ties it to the the TV show, but even then
it's like it's more of an Easteregg.
It's not actually Canon. It's just they just use like a
character that has the same nameand the the actor obviously the
same, but they're not cannot be the same person.
That's the only tie into the TV series.
Other than that, we're going to be talking straight about the

(03:06):
movie series. If it makes you feel any better,
I didn't watch my first Mission Impossible movie until 2011 when
Ghost Protocol was coming out. I had kind of.
I had to go back and watch the first 3 so I wasn't always on
the Mission Impossible train. Right.

(03:29):
See, I remember Mission or when Ghost Protocol came out, that
was 2011. That was high school.
I remember seeing like the posters.
Yeah. Like, oh, that's cool.
Like Tom Cruise in a hoodie, like, all right, yeah.
OK. And then like another, then like
4 years later, another Mission Impossible movie came out.
I'm like, all right, whatever. And then a couple years ago,

(03:49):
recently, another one came out. I'm like, yo, they're still
making these. And then this year another one
came out, but I, I think this one, the one that came out last
year might have been the last one, guys.
So unfortunately, if you were ever looking to get into a
franchise and you're worried that like, you know, it's going

(04:09):
to be too much. Nah, don't worry.
This is only 88 movies, it's like Harry Potter.
Yeah, this isn't the MCU. You don't need to do your
homework. Like Jesse said, it's only
tangentially related to the Mission Impossible TV series
from the 60's. The references made to the show

(04:30):
are so minuscule that it doesn'treally matter at all whether or
not you know the biggest contribution the TV show
actually has to the film series is the score, the iconic theme.
Other than that. Other.
Than that, like you said, we getJim Phelps and the actor, but
that's really about it. There is a clever wink to the TV

(04:55):
show in Dead Reckoning if I'm not mistaken.
Maybe I was reading too much into it, but I think there is
one reference in Dead Reckoning as well.
But apart from those two, you donot need to be familiar with the
show to enjoy these movies. Yep.
All you have to know is that TomCruise is an American legend, an

(05:16):
icon, and he will be severely missed when he's gone.
Because we, you know what? I'm going to bring it up on the
pod. A few episodes ago when we did
the Top Gun episode, you told methat like Tom Cruise is the last
true American superstar. And I thought I understood what
she meant by that. I after watching Top Gun I

(05:38):
thought I understood you. Sort of agreed, but you also
listed some people that you thought, yeah, had a similar
level of star power. Right after watching the the
entirety of the Mission Impossible franchise, I can
just, I'm just going to say likeTom Cruise, wow, what a fucking
what a fucking icon this dude is.

(06:00):
Not only is he a fantastic actor, like he's able to give
you a lot of range in all of hismovies, but even specifically in
Mission Impossible he's able to give you a lot of range because
his character does go through a lot throughout the.
Years. Like, there is a lot of
development of his character, Ethan Hunt.
So not only is he a compelling actor, he's also a fucking crazy

(06:23):
daredevil. Yeah, like some of these stunts
that he does. Like, I thought he was gonna, I
thought I already thought he wasa badass in Top Gun when he was
flying planes and shit, bro. But to see him hanging off of
planes and shit, scaling, jumping off top buildings, free
free climbing a random mountain in your a random what do you

(06:46):
call it? It is a mountain.
It just. It just so happened that it was
a in a desert. Yeah, just like, just just like
free soloing it just because he could.
Yeah, I looked it up like it wasTom Cruise who wanted to do
that. He's like, hey, let me do this
for the film. And then the the the director.
Was it was it was shot really strangely.
Yeah, we'll get we'll get into that later.

(07:07):
We'll get into it. But yeah, I'm.
Just saying that sure. Fact that he did it the the
share fact that he advocated. For it that he advocated for it
and he keeps on like just doing these death defying stunts where
any other lesser actor would have a stunt double or just rely
entirely on CGI effects or whatever.

(07:28):
Not Tom Cruise. No, this man, like he he does
his own stunts. And I mean, I know that that
that is a meme, but like there'sa reason why it became a meme
like this. It is.
It is a little bit, yeah, but anyways.
All right, ladies and gentlemen,if you have not seen any Mission
Impossible movies, what we're about to do is dive into the

(07:51):
whole franchise. Every movie, 1 by 1.
We're going to give a quick little summary.
This is not going to be spoilery.
It's kind of like saying, like, yo, the movie Cars, What happens
in cars? There's a race in it.
That's the plot, that that's howgeneric these summaries are
going to be until we get more indepth.
Yeah. But first, I wanted to ask Dylan

(08:14):
a softball question. OK.
What makes Mission Impossible unique compared to other spy
franchises? Allah, James Bond, Bourne
Legacy, that one British one with the funny actor.
Yeah, I'm glad you asked this question because it's something
that I've actually been thinkingabout a lot.

(08:36):
Because you specifically recommended me this franchise.
Yes, franchise. Yes, that's what I was about to
say. Not too long ago I mentioned on
the show that I was re watching all of the Mission Impossible
movies and I had just made a comment about how much I love
them. Yeah.
And I don't think I feel that way about any of these other spy

(09:00):
franchises, whether they be James Bond, the Bourne franchise
or whatever else your spy franchise of choice may be.
Mission Impossible, I think, stands out for a couple of
reasons, and I think it's very easy to point to the sort of

(09:21):
surface level things that set itapart, which are what you just
talked about, which is the sheerstar power of Tom Cruise, who it
sounds like you agree is the last true movie star left in

(09:42):
Hollywood. 2 is the franchise's dedication to pure cinematic
entertainment through these spectacle driven stunts.
But I think what really sets Mission Impossible apart from
the other spy franchises is thatthis franchise has managed to

(10:07):
start from something seemingly innocuous in the first film, and
it has evolved and it has just continuously evolved like a
living, breathing piece of art. And that's what it is.
I mean, there are mediums of artwhere it's never sort of

(10:31):
stagnant. It's always changing.
And I think Mission Impossible is the one film franchise to
actually embody this. I mean, if you really think
about it, when you consider the other big film franchises, what
other franchise can you point tofrom its first movie and say,

(10:52):
oh, I never would have predictedit turned into this?
Because you can take a look at something like Harry Potter and
the Sorcerer's Stone. JK Rowling wasn't finished with
the books when the first film came out, but by the time
Deathly Hallows Part 2 came out,I don't think the franchise had

(11:13):
sort of strayed so far from its initial identity.
And I don't say that as a bad thing, but what I mean is that
Mission Impossible started as this, this really sort of
restrained, technically masterful espionage spy film,
one that is not comparable to things like Bond, which has

(11:39):
these over the top action sequences and really flashy
gadgets. And then Mission Impossible,
from that first film, it turns into this complete cinematic
spectacle that doesn't just deliver on the action, but it
delivers so much character work,not just with Ethan Hunt.

(12:04):
But about this, what I would almost say is, is tantamount to
a domestic drama. I think a lot of action films,
if you really look at them, are sort of about found family.
And I think Mission Impossible, as this franchise has continued

(12:25):
to evolve over the years, is theone thing we see get stronger
and stronger is the element of the team and a supporting cast.
And it's it's not just anchored by Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt.
It is that the franchise evolvesaesthetically, thematically, on

(12:45):
a story level, on a character level.
It it just has completely transformed into something that
is always changing. It is never static.
And I don't think you can say the same thing about James Bond
or Bourne. I think you're right, and I
think a lot of that has to do with Tom Cruise specifically,

(13:08):
not not just as an actor, but also I think from the second
movie forward he was a producer.So I was actually a producer on
the. First one on the first one too,
yes, OK. Cruise Wagner was a production
company for the first Mission Impossible.
They weren't as heavily involved, right?
Because that was actually the first, the first movie that Tom

(13:30):
Cruise and his production partner had produced.
So they didn't necessarily have all the resources, but he was a
producer for the first movie. OK, I OK.
And I think it like that had a lot to do with like the the way
that the direction that this franchise moved, because it
really it does feel like this isTom Cruise's a personal like

(13:52):
brainchild. But I know it's not, it's not
his IP or anything, but just thefact that he's been involved
with in it since 1996 from the first movie all the way till
now. Like it, It really does feel
like it's his, not his passion project, but like he does, he
does care about like this franchise.
So. Yeah.

(14:13):
So like in every movie, like theproduction value, the the score,
just there's a lot of effort that goes into these movies.
Yeah. Like, it's not like, you know,
Pirates of the Caribbean, like the first three start off really
strong and then like, you start kind of falling off like, like
the like falling off the horse. I think Mission Impossible was

(14:33):
the other way around. Like as each movie went on, it
got stronger and stronger. I went to like the last two
movies where I think is our, our, our arguably arguably the
best movies in the entire franchise.
Even though I have a different movie that's my favorite.
Just the coming accumulation of everything Mission Impossible

(14:53):
and Tom Cruise and what he'd like the journey it took him to
get here. It really does feel that like
there is a lot of care that goesinto these these movies.
I think that's why like, they'reactually like, really fucking
good. Yes, I agree with you.
And I want to echo that sentiment that this feels like a

(15:15):
very personal project for Tom Cruise.
Like you said, it's not necessarily that he owns the IP.
I mean, obviously he doesn't or that he sort of created it.
But I think Tom Cruise has takenthe Mission Impossible franchise
and he has used it and molded itin his sort of image to really

(15:40):
shape how he wants to be seen inHollywood.
I think that's that's why these feel so personal, despite the
fact that yes, these are based on ATV show from the 1960s.
Yeah. I also think just just like from

(16:01):
from the beginning, Tom Thomas been like very involved in most
of his movies, but I think how many other movies has he played
the same character like topical Maverick?
He played, you know, Maverick twice.
Yeah, like other movies like I think he does like a lot of like
one off movies. Jack Reacher, you know, he

(16:23):
played that character twice. Yeah, this one he's played Ethan
Hunt 8 times. Like if that isn't screen
passion, I don't know what does.Chad But anyways, all right,
let's break it down. Let's just get real, like just
dive surface level through all these movies just so Chad knows

(16:44):
what we're talking about when wesay hey in Ghost Protocol or hey
in this. So let's just dive real in real
quick. I'm gonna let Jesse take care of
this because he has much better notes.
I I brought notes. All right, guys, chat.
Listen up. Mission Impossible One came out
in 1996. Here's the quick synopsis.

(17:05):
Ethan Hunt is framed for the death of his team and goes rogue
in order to clear his name. See one sentence summary that
he's. Just pitching the log line.
Yeah, Mission Impossible 2 came out 2000.
Ethan is tasked with stopping a rogue IMF agent who has stolen a
deadly virus known as Chimera. Oh, what's going to happen in

(17:27):
that film? I don't know.
You got to watch a chat. Mission Impossible 3 came out
2006 Ethan, he's now semi retired, is pulled back into
action when an arms deal When anarms dealer threatens his
fiance, he must stop this evildoer from acquiring the
weapon known as the Rabbit's foot.

(17:48):
We never learned what the rabbit's foot is in the movie.
It's it's one of those like little Mac Guffins, but still,
that's the story. Yep, solid movie.
Mission Impossible 4 Ghost Protocol came out in 2011.
This is the one that I saw in high school.
Why? I didn't watch it, but this is
where I became aware that, hey, Mission Impossible.

(18:08):
These are movies. All right, Submarine.
Ethan and his team are disavowedafter the Kremlin is bombed.
Operating without support. They must now prevent a nuclear
war from from from tracking. Oh, no.
They must now prevent nuclear war while also tracking down the
terrorist who was causing said nuclear war.

(18:28):
I'm sorry, Chad, my handwriting,it's kind of shit sometimes when
I'm when I'm watching these movies, I'm not actually like
looking down as when I'm writing, sorry.
No, I get that. Mission Impossible 5 Rogue
Nation came out in 2015. Ethan Hunt faces the Syndicate,
a shadow organization. The IMF is disbanded, so it's up

(18:50):
to Hunt and his team to operate Rogue with no support in order
to stop the Syndicate. Solid movie Mission Impossible
6. Fallout came out 2018.
So just three, three years afterRogue Nation, Ethan and his IMF

(19:12):
team must recover stolen plutonium while facing the
ruthless operative August Walker, played by Superman Henry
Cavill. Yeah.
To protect or to protect? Prevent a global catastrophe.
You see how, like most of these movies, like, they involve some
global catastrophe. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chad. Yeah.
You haven't seen shit yet. There's a common theme here.

(19:34):
There is a common theme, but so far most of them have been like
localized. Like, yeah, there's some world
dangers, but so far everything'sbeen localized.
It just like, you know, happenedin Russia, happened over here,
happened over here. But now we're at Mission
Impossible 7 Dead Reckoning, which came out in 2023, and this
one who a rogue AI threatens global global control.

(19:59):
Ethan Hunt must recover A2 part key racing Gabriel, a ghost from
his past. This movie.
This is where like the stakes have never been as high like
Mission Impossible 7. I said all of these were like
global threats. But 7 is where it's actually
like no this is World War three global threat and finally

(20:24):
Mission Impossible eight. Final Reckoning came out this
year 2025. Plot Summary is 2 months after
the last movie. The threat rises and Ethan Hunt
must find the sunken submarine that has the source code for the
AI in order to kill it and chat.If you're confused by any of

(20:48):
this, feel free to rewind back 2minutes and just listen to me
run through all these summaries again.
I'm promised like these. We're going to get into it.
But I'm just like giving you like the high level.
Like what's the mission in each movie?
The first, like in the first movie, Tom Cruise has his his,

(21:09):
his proven or no, I'm sorry. In the first movie, Tom Cruise
is framed for a thing that he did not do and he has to, you
know, prove his innocence. The second movie, he's got, you
know, stop a deadly virus from spreading.
Third movie, he's got to stop a Mac Guffin from happening

(21:31):
because, you know, we, we never know what we never find out what
the rabbit's foot is in the third movie, but that that's
what it is in the 4th movie. It's like she goes, she goes
sideways. They got like, you know, they
got shut down the IMF, which I am forgetting what it stands
for. Impossible Mission Force.
Thank you. So when you hear me say IMF,

(21:53):
that's that's what I mean. And that's that, that's the,
that's Tom Cruise's or I'm sorry, that's Ethan Hunt's crew.
Yeah, but yeah, in the 4th movie, you know, they get this
this disavowed. So they got, you know, go rogue
and try to save the world through that.
And I think 4 is kind of where they find like their formula

(22:13):
because after four like 567. That's really where they find
their identity. Yeah, like they, they had, they
started hitting their stride because after four, like 5678,
it's just straight fire. Yeah, they just hit the ground
running. Like they know what they're
doing. They know like after Mission
Impossible four, I started looking forward to every movie

(22:35):
has like the intro, it does a call back in a month.
Every movie has has a place likea montage where they have the
the iconics for the Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun, but
they have that theme playing while they show a montage of
something that's happening either in the past or what
what's going to happen in the movie.

(22:57):
And after four, I started looking forward to when it when
they're going to do that 'cause they they don't do it like right
away. No, they don't.
They'll let you know, they'll just throw you in, like they'll
just start the movie, you're watching it, something happens,
and then boom, cue the, cue the title sequence, credits.
Yeah, yeah. And Oh my God, I I fucking loved

(23:19):
whenever the the the theme wouldcome up 'cause that, that would
just like, get me hyped. Cause yeah, you know you're in
for this time. Thank you.
Yes, 'cause I'm gonna be honest.Chat when Dylan, like,
recommended me, recommended this, this, this franchise to
me. I watched the first movie and I
was like this cool, like nothingto write home about.

(23:41):
But it was cool. It was cool seeing a young Tom
Cruise. It didn't leave that big of an
impression on me like Top Gun did, but I thought it was cool.
I was like, all right, this is this is cool.
This, this, this feels like a, like a super spy movie.
Yeah, And then I watched MissionImpossible 2 and I started to
doubt them a little bit. Like, yo, I don't know what this

(24:04):
is. I don't know.
Like Dylan says, this is like the best franchise ever.
I don't know, like you got Tom Cruise long hair.
Don't care. It was.
Not Keno, Yeah. But then we get to Mission
Impossible 3 and that's when they they make the stakes more
personal to Tom Cruise's character, Ethan Hunt.

(24:26):
Because before Mission Impossible 1-2, he's just like
kind of like this lone wolf typeof spy.
He's always, he works on his own, he gets some help.
He's. Kind of A2 dimensional character
in the 1st 2 movies, yeah. It's like he's just like this
cool guy that's about. It.
It's not until that's like the third movie where JJ Abrams like

(24:47):
he humanizes Ethan Hunt and makes him seem like he does.
He makes him seem like, hey, he's a he's a real person.
He actually has people he cares about.
Like there are emotional stakes in the third movie.
And when I watched that one, that became my favorite movie up
until that point, that's where Iwas like, you know what, hold

(25:09):
on. Maybe Dylan was, maybe Dylan was
right. Maybe just this, maybe the maybe
the second one was just a dud. Maybe from here on now it's
going to be a good time. And guess what Chat, it was a
really good fucking time. Ghost protocol that's currently
my favorite movie. Just from the story to the the

(25:29):
stunts done like that. That became my favorite movie.
And like I said, after four, I looked forward to everything
like just every single one, exactly like what's going to
happen next. The movies got longer.
I didn't care. I, I, I was in it, but I'm
curious to hear. So you said you like you got

(25:52):
into it around Ghost Protocol when it came out, but what made
you a fan? Like was it watching like
wanting to see Ghost Protocol and then watching the first 3
movies? Were you a fan by then?
Or was it like after you watchedGhost Protocol?
You're like, all right, I'm a fan now.
It was actually very similar to what you went through.

(26:16):
It was that I saw the promotion for Ghost Protocol, and
obviously we were both in high school at the time.
And it was just kind of a similar situation where that was
kind of the moment that I was made aware that Mission
Impossible was kind of a a big franchise because I had
obviously heard of it before, but I didn't really have a

(26:39):
strong desire to get invested init, right?
I had seen bits and pieces of the first one and Mission
Impossible three prior to Ghost Protocol, but I've never really
sat down to watch them in full. So prior to watching Ghost
Protocol, I figured I should probably watch the first 3

(27:03):
movies and the first one, Same thing.
I liked it. I thought it was a really well
made, restrained spy film. I thought it was a really smart
movie because obviously at that age I wasn't quite as snobby, so

(27:23):
I wasn't looking at all of the technical things that that movie
did really well. The second movie I was basically
just rolling my eyes the whole time.
I I really could not get on the same wavelength as it.
Yeah, John Woo is a director that is known for a very

(27:46):
specific style. And I mentioned this before we
started recording, but even during the first big action
scene with the car chase betweenEthan and Naya, when you have
the whole slow MO bullet ballet and it's like the cars are
dancing, I was just thinking to myself, I don't like this.

(28:09):
I don't like this at all. Yeah.
And then I saw Mission Impossible 3, and from the
minute that movie started, I wasthinking to myself, oh, this
movie has the sauce. Just right away I knew I was
like, there's something different about this movie.
And even though I agree that Ghost Protocol is where they

(28:32):
started to find the formula, they really cemented their
identity. I think you start to see the
sort of seeds in Mission Impossible three.
Yeah, I think, you know, that's really the inception of it all
starts with MI 3. But I think really it was

(28:53):
Mission Impossible 3 and seeing the Fulcrum jump, because I
think up until that point that was the most impressive stunt
that they had done in the franchise.
Chat for reference go to youtube.com Look up Mission
Impossible 3 Chinese skyscraper stunt.
Yes. And I was just kind of in awe of

(29:17):
that whole sequence. Yep.
So then I went to watch. Had my mouth open and air and it
was like holy fuck. Pretty much, yeah.
So then I went to watch Ghost Protocol in theaters and I was,
I, I was just blown away. I had so much fun with the
movie. Everything from the ridiculous

(29:38):
gadgets like the hyper specific hallway scene.
I mean, that gadget has such a specific use and it's only good
for one person's line of sight. Like it's so ridiculous, but
it's also so cool at the same time.
But obviously where Ghost Protocol takes off is the second

(30:02):
act, with Tom Cruise scaling theBurj Khalifa with these like
Spider Man gloves, and one of them fails.
The scene is somehow tense, thrilling, but it also has some
moments of levity in there so the audience isn't too anxious.

(30:24):
Ghost Protocol was when I really, I think, became a fan of
the franchise because to see TomCruise actually scale the
tallest building in the world, even at a young age, I thought
that is not something that is normally done.
Nope. And then obviously by the time
Rogue Nation came out, I was basically in the early stages of

(30:49):
my film snob evolution. So right at that point on, I was
pretty much in for every single movie.
Yeah. Okay, yeah, nice yeah okay, so I
think we should touch on the 1st2 movies cuz I think when we're
not going to spend a lot of timeon these because I think Frank

(31:10):
from MI 3 and forward, that's where we're really going to talk
more in depth. So I think we should just like
get everything out of the way for, you know, Mission
Impossible 1 and 2. Check my notes because what I
want to share with you people, because the I, I'm going to let
you know Chad I when it comes tomemorizing things, I have AI

(31:33):
have a shitty memory. So I take a lot of notes because
I if, if I were just to watch these movies with no notes, I
swear to God, I, I would not know what to tell you what
happened in the second movie or the 1st movie.
And not to say that they're likeforgettable necessarily.
It's just that like I have like the, the, the most recent 6

(31:54):
movies, like those are, those are the ones that like stick in
my head more. So let me get to Mission
Impossible one chat this one, like you said, this one really
did feel like it was like a spy thriller first, action movie
second, which, you know, I thinklike seeing how like this this

(32:14):
franchise evolved. It's like really like
interesting because you see where like the roots that
started. I don't know.
I don't know if the TV show was like that, if it was, you know,
super spy and espionage and lessactiony.
And that's what the first one was kind of basing itself off
of, because I by the third one, yeah, it's still spies and, you

(32:35):
know, it's still gadgets and masks and espionage and all
those other cool shit. But it's a lot of fucking
actions. Like the stunts that, that, that
Ethan Hunt is doing. It's like, all right.
Like are, are, are are you like a spy or are you a fucking
daredevil? Because what the fuck?
Or is he superhuman? Yes, because some of the Tom

(32:58):
Cruise takes a beating throughout these movies.
Oh yeah, like bang, he's committed like, yeah, the first
movie It's you know what I think?
I think that's where I'm going to start or go with like talking
about like the stunts specifically, like in the first
movie. This first movie has the iconic
vault the. Langley.

(33:19):
Yeah, where he's where Tom Cruise is suspended and, you
know, doing super spy shit. And just the the way that scene
is directed, I feel like a snob saying this now, but like the
way that scene is directed is really like just like a master
class of suspense and showing best telling because not a lot

(33:45):
of words are spoken, only just the just the like, you know?
Hey do this and hey do that and.Like it's, it's like the
dialogue is very low in the scene and it's just very quiet,
very suspenseful. You can almost hear just the
sweat drop. And you know that like the risk

(34:08):
is high right here. So like the stakes are high.
And just the way that the the scene is is done, it's like, OK,
how do you make Tom Cruise? How do you make something so you
know, so like it? Because it's not even like, you
know, like a razzle dazzle type of stuff.
It's just him like coming down by being dropped down by like a

(34:31):
rope. I'm being suspended breaking
into the the CIA vault. And the in any other movie, this
would have been either a quick one minute scene or it just
would have been like, like it would have been butchered.
But I did like, 'cause this scene, it's deliberate, it's
slow, it takes a while, like to get through it.

(34:54):
Yeah. And I, I, I don't know, man,
like just the fact that they canmake that, like the fact that
that scene became iconic is whatpeople remember like the first
one for. I think that says a lot to like
just the the storytelling and the the practical effects being
done. Yeah, Tom Cruise dropping into

(35:18):
the Langley vault suspended by The Wire is such an iconic scene
in cinematic history that it hasbeen endlessly parodied by so
many other movies and TV shows, including Shrek and Shrek 2 when
Pinocchio's. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And they break into the fairy godmothers factory.

(35:39):
I mean, that's how iconic this scene is.
But I know Jesse said he doesn'twant to spend a lot of time on
the 1st 2, which I understand tosome degree.
But I will say I don't want to discredit my man Tom Cruise.
I think I think the the dedicated listeners of the show
know that I am a big Tom Cruise fan, but I think a big reason

(36:03):
that that sequence in the first Mission Impossible works is
because of the direction. It's because of Brian De Palma.
I think a lot of people forget that the first Mission
Impossible is directed by Brian De Palma, the same guy who
directed Scarface and Carrie, the original 1, not the terrible
2013 remake. Yeah.

(36:25):
So this movie was directed by a guy who is known for his sort of
like psychological crime thrillers.
And I think that's the that is the single biggest reason the
first Mission Impossible feels very restrained.
Like you said, it's very deliberate, it's very slow.
And I think the reason that scene is so effective in its

(36:48):
suspense is a big reason for that is due to the direction
from Brian Depalma. It obviously Tom Cruise's
performance is extremely helpfulto sell the scene.
But it, I mean, I think you lookat that scene and the way it's
directed, the way it's shot whenTom Cruise first descends into

(37:11):
the vault and you get that shot of the Langley vault from
overhead and you get a look at the floor that that image just
has so much depth. It's almost like an optical
illusion because of the way it'sshot.
And there are so many split diopters in the first Mission
Impossible, which is a Brian Depalma signature.

(37:35):
So that's how you know, And I also think too, the first
Mission Impossible, one of the very few movies that uses Dutch
angles correctly, Dutch angles are just, it's a really simple
camera technique where you take the camera and you just frame it
off kilter. That's called a Dutch angle.

(37:55):
But. A lot of people use Dutch angles
because they think it's just like a cheap way to give a movie
style. In this first Mission Impossible
movie, Brian De Palma, I think, actually uses them.
I don't want to say correctly 'cause that makes it sound like
I know how to use them, but he uses them with intention.
Yeah. So like you said, this is a very

(38:18):
deliberate film. It's a very well directed film.
And I I think for those reasons,I have a a big soft spot for the
first Mission Impossible. It's not my favorite movie in
the franchise and obviously I think it does get lost in the
crowd of how bombastic and intense the later movies become,

(38:40):
but this is still a great movie in my opinion.
And this is this is a non sequitur.
But one thing I really like about the first Mission
Impossible that I noticed when Ire watched all of these movies a
month or so ago, whenever it was, and I know I mentioned it
on one of the episodes. But one thing I really like

(39:03):
about this movie, just almost a nothing stylistic flourish is
that all of the explosions in the movie have this weird
purplish pink hue to them. I don't know why I like that.
It's, it's, it's like a little, it's, it's a nice little visual
treat. Yeah.

(39:23):
But yeah, I have a soft spot forthe first one.
This is absolutely irrelevant tothe quality of these films.
But as we talk about these movies, I'm gonna be ranking Tom
Cruise's hairstyles. This is towards the bottom.
This, this. I generally prefer shorter hair,

(39:43):
not just on myself, but on men in general.
And I say that as a straight man, but but this, this
hairstyle on Tom Cruise, I'm notcrazy about it.
It's just kind of this weird short, semi spiky.
Hairstyle, yeah, doesn't do it for me, Backstreet.

(40:04):
Boys, you know? Yeah.
Exactly. During the era, yeah.
Boy bands, you're right. You know what?
That's all he's missing is the frosted tips.
Honestly, yeah, yeah. Honestly.
Like if you looked at Tom Cruiselike then and yeah, give him the
frosted tips, he could have beenon the boy band.
Yeah, for sure. He really could have, Honestly,
Yeah. Yeah, Mission Impossible one.

(40:26):
I'm just going to round it out with just saying that the movie
was just like the themes. The the the general theme of the
movie was just a lot about like trust and betrayal, you know,
lots of paranoia, double crossesand tense quiet moments.
Like when you say like it, it was like, you know, very not you

(40:46):
didn't see. So it was very restrained.
Restrained, yes, in that like, you know, the action, like the
action is not as grandiose, but it so that lets the the quiet
moments like really settle in. Yeah, and you pointed out a good
example of this is that the direction in the first Mission
Impossible is so strong, so intentional, that a single drop

(41:11):
of sweat has the audience on theedge of their seats because we
all know that if that hits the ground, it's over.
I mean, yeah, Tom Cruise's acting plays a huge part in that
scene, but so much of that is contingent on the direction from
Brian to Palma. It sounds like I'm just really

(41:33):
glazing this dude. But I mean, he he is an all time
great director for a reason. And I think it shows in this
movie, even if it's not my favorite.
Yeah, I, if I had more time, I think I wanted to rewatch the
the first one again just before I came in today because I was
like after watching the final movie, I like I said like if I

(41:56):
didn't take notes, I would have forgot.
I forgot about the 1st 2 movies,like what happened?
Like maybe I should rewatch the first one because I remember it
like not being as over the top as the later movies.
It was a, it was a quieter, you know, more subtle film.
So I think I, I definitely do need to go back.
I think we watch. It honestly definitionally the
first Mission Impossible is whatan espionage film should be.

(42:20):
Yeah, but in Hollywood, espionage basically means
actions. Yeah, it.
Means action with gadgets. Yes, pretty much, yeah.
But yeah, so that was the first movie.
So if you were glazing, you know.
Brian De Palma. Brian De Palma, you're going to
be, you know, tearing down my boy John Woo.
Yeah, but I'm sorry, I'm. I'm with.

(42:41):
I'm going to be with you as a straight man.
Tom Cruise's long hair Don't care.
In the second movie. I don't know.
I feel like the longer his hair gets the worse the film is.
OK. That's you know what?
That's an astute observation. Because yeah, like in that movie

(43:02):
it was like it was like Shaggy because he has long hair, medium
long hairish. In the the last movie, it's kind
of like longer, but in in the second one, it was like, you
know, long hair, don't care. Yeah, he went full on like 2000s
long hair. And what's funny is when I when
I started watching the second one, like I was kind of in like

(43:24):
the opening it has like, you know, Albert Einstein.
I mean, it's not really Albert Einstein.
It's like the the doctor that's.Clearly inspired by.
Yeah, though like some some standard for no, OK, it's not
standard. Some do that looks like Albert
Einstein, but he's not Albert Einstein.
But he is the inventor of the ofthe deadly virus chimera that is

(43:44):
like, you know, like whole central thing for like the
movie. The opening sequence has, you
know, him boarding an airplane, meeting Ethan Hunt, Tom Cruise's
character who's going to bring him into safety.
But then plot twist, turns out that's not Tom Cruise.
It's a different rogue agent who, you know, we go back to

(44:04):
espionage was wearing a fucking mask and you know, the the with
the voice modulator and like hijacks a plane.
Kidnap, kidnap or it doesn't even kidnap steals the chimera
virus and you know, that becomeslike the whole driving positive
movie is getting the virus back from this bad guy who stole it

(44:25):
in the first 5 minutes. So like, you know, in the
opening sequence I was there like I was like, yo, this is,
this is pretty cool. I'm here.
And then the movie happens and Ifor the life of me, I, I can
barely remember what happens throughout the whole movie.
I just remember like the ending,like, you know, like Ethan Hunt

(44:46):
saves the day. There's obviously not.
Obviously there's a, there is a love interest there, but yeah,
she's kind of irrelevant becauseshe never shows up ever again.
No. So I, it feels like it was just
like, like I said, it wasn't until Ghost Protocol where they
really hit their stride right here.
Like they're still working out the kinks because in the first

(45:06):
movie there was no love interest.
Second movie. She's not really a love interest
per SE, but she is like. She's a romantic fan for Yeah
Yeah. And right here is where we start
seeing Tom Cruise really start getting into, you know, his
stunt work because also like theopen, like, and also in the

(45:27):
opening, like after the, you know, the bad guy sequence and
then has like the title card andblah, blah, blah, blah, the
camera like, you know, opens to Tom Cruise free, free, free
climbing, you know, a mountain. And I thought that was pretty
like, yeah, like, I, I was in itlike, that's pretty fucking
cool. Like just Tom Cruise just
climbing a mountain, gets a phone call, picks it up and he's

(45:48):
just climbing. He's like, all right, that
that's pretty bad ass. Come on.
Like the fact that it was a freeclimb, bro.
I would have been scared shitless trying to do like the
the stunts that Tom Cruise does.Bro.
I would have been scared shitless like the free solo
climbing. Nope, Nope, Nope.

(46:08):
Fuck that. It's like BASE jumping,
skydiving. I could do that.
I want to. I want to do that since it's
pretty. Funny.
Cool. I want to skydive so bad.
Those are things I want to do, but free climbing or holding my
breath underwater for 6 minutes is a big fuck no from me.

(46:29):
But OK the second one. Like I just want to run through
all my points. I wrote this this cute little
sound bite right here. OK.
You either think this is the worst movie in the series or you
think it's a fun movie with slowmotion WAVY hair and doves.

(46:50):
You brought up the doves. And I brought the doves.
OK, Yeah, so Mission Impossible 2 is not it.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry to say it's not it.
This is the only. Blemish.
This is my least favorite in thefranchise.
I think it's the only dud. I think John Woo is a director

(47:14):
that is known for a very specific style and it just does
not work here. I don't know if it's at odds
with the movie itself or if it'sjust so self indulgent because
at times it does feel self indulgent.
It just feels too much. Yeah.
The slow motion, the bullet ballet, the the way that he

(47:37):
tries to make everything feel sosort of like poetic and flowy.
This movie is more style over substance.
Yes, yes it is. It's more showcasing like, you
know, like all these, like I, I,I was gonna say innovative, but
not innovative, but just like showcasing all these like
different shots, whereas and like, you know, the whole like

(48:00):
the spy thriller, like that takes a back seat to, you know,
like the spectacle of like the camera work.
Yeah, And I I just don't know how you have a movie with Tom
Cruise, Anthony Hopkins, Thandiwe Newton, Ving Rhames and

(48:24):
Doug Ray Scott, and it turns outlike this because it is just a
very strange movie. You said it perfectly.
It's style over substance. And I think what's interesting
is there are moments in this movie where I think this movie
is so committed to the style. It makes so many specific

(48:45):
choices that it's better than most action movies we see.
But within the context of the Mission Impossible franchise,
it's just not very good. And I mean, this is a movie
that's so ridiculous where Tom Cruise and the villain of this
movie, Ambrose, they're in a motorcycle chase at the end of

(49:09):
the movie, and they meet on a beach, and both of them jump off
their motorcycle. And both of their motorcycles
sort of like crescendo off of a Cliff and they just crash into
each other and explode in midair.
And as Jesse said, there is a scene where characters are
running down a hallway and thereare doves flying around in slow

(49:31):
motion. How poetic.
It's just such a bizarre, bizarre movie that feels
overwhelming because of its commitment to to this this
style. It's just, it's just like, it's
stark contrast to like the firstmovie even just like if we just,
if the only, if the only movies that came out were like the

(49:53):
first three, yeah. Like it would already, you would
already see like, hey, like justfrom the first one.
If the first one was like very understated, this one was like
very overstated. It was very.
There's a lot of just flourish, you know, the doves.
Yeah, slow motion like yeah, it's a lot flourished but yeah,
I I did not particularly like like this movie I.

(50:15):
I'm not gonna. Say I hate it, but I will say I
did not like it. And according to like the
Internet, I I'm not alone in that.
I don't. Hate it either.
It's just so clearly the weakestfilm, yes, in this series.
And I don't think the the Ethan and Naya romance, if that's what
you want to call it, it just didn't work for me.

(50:37):
I didn't buy their chemistry. I didn't buy the relationship.
So I think for those reasons, there weren't a lot of stakes to
the movie, which didn't really help my investment in it.
And we'll get to this later witha separate segment, but Ambrose
is a villain. I think he's just way too over

(50:58):
the top and not in the traditional sense that he's
hammy or chewing up the scenery.I think he's just so over the
top in how he's trying to be this kind of like suave sort of
agent that that's trying to outdo Ethan.
He's so desperate. There's I think there's a lot of

(51:21):
sexual undertones with Ambrose, more than any other villain.
I think there's a lot of sexual motivation to him.
And maybe that's just me. Maybe my mind's in the gutter.
No, I think he, I think he has like a line in the scene where,
you know, they like Naya, his ex-girlfriend.
She she's trying, she's infiltrating his group.

(51:43):
And he knows his crew knows thatshe's trying to infiltrate his
group to steal, you know, the Mcguffin.
Yeah. But he says like, hey, I just
want, I just want a piece of that ass.
Yeah. There's something to that.
There's a lot of like, sexual jealousy, yeah, going on here,
yes. And I think, you know, maybe

(52:03):
that's part of the reason I found it off putting too,
because that stuff can work in amovie.
Obviously there are entire movies dedicated to to sex like
Eyes Wide Shut, you know, which I, I actually quite enjoy, but I
just, I don't think it's done well here.
I think it's just, it's part of the problem with the whole

(52:24):
movie. Like, like you said, everything
has a flourish and I think the the sort of sexuality of this
movie, it just, it's not sexy. Yeah, that's the problem.
It just it comes off as more like.
Yes, well said. And OK, so like the first two
movies, like I said earlier, TomCruise's character Ethan Hunt is

(52:47):
very too, like you said, too dimensional and he's like a lone
wolf, just a guy that works solo.
Sorry. I'm gonna let you wrap up your
thoughts on MI 2, but no, I was gonna jump into 3, so OK, you
wrap it up. Continuing with the hair
ranking, this is very bottom. This is 8th Tom Cruise's hair in
MI 2. This is number 8.

(53:08):
It's bad. All right?
Yeah, so #1. Number one with seven then or 6.
It might be 6. Oh, oh shit.
This is 7 it. Might be 6 interesting.
All right. All right.
Yeah. All right, Chad, It doesn't.
It it takes you know. It it, it it's not until Mission

(53:28):
Impossible three that we finallyget some 3 dimensions, some
sauce, some sauce, some 3 dimension to not just to the
direction, Yeah. But to the character like and
like the direction of the movie.And like, you know, to give like
a a recap what I said earlier, this one is where.

(53:49):
Tom Cruise I. Keep on saying Tom Cruise
character I'm going to stop thatEthan Hunt because he is Ethan
Hunt. Ethan Hunt now has personal.
Stakes. In Mission Impossible 3, whereas
in the first one, you know, he was kind of like kind of a grant
worker. He was like, not a lackey, but
yeah, he wasn't the leader yet. So he was still like, you know,

(54:09):
following orders to to a degree because.
From the very first movie. He's always been like, you know,
a bit of a rogue agent, you know, some might say a bit of a
maverick. Yeah, exactly.
But it's not until the. 3rd movie where?
Now. Like the plot is centered around
or like the stakes are centered around him.

(54:31):
His fiance is kidnapped by the evil dude and now it's like, oh,
like now he has to go find the Mac Guffin, which is the
rabbit's foot to save his fiance.
Like the stakes are low in termsof like, this is not a world end
ending threat, but they are personal.
And that I feel like that hits home so much harder.

(54:54):
You finally get like in this movie, this is where you give
Tom Cruise the opportunity to, you know, act like a human
being, show emotion, show empathy.
And this is this is where I started having fun.
Then this is where we get like the introduction of Julia and
like the Ethan's main love interest throughout, like the

(55:18):
rest of the films. Like Julia is his heart.
And it's just it, it was interesting to see like romance
being done in a spy thriller movie because they try.
I'm not just saying that they tried to do in the second one.
It was more like, like they saidshe like the female fatale.
She was just like the girl that Ethan Hunt or Ambrose was are

(55:42):
going to be in love with in the third movie.
It's like, no. Like.
Ethan Hunt genuinely loves this girl and he genuinely like,
wants to be fair. Who wouldn't be in love with
Michelle? Monahan True, one of the most
underrated. I think.
Beauties in Hollywood, yes, but I wrote down.

(56:03):
This is the moment that Ethan Hunt stopped being a faceless
spy and became a person with something to lose.
And like I said, like this is. Where I.
Started having fun with the franchise like the third movie.
It's it's a this is like you said, this is where the the
seeds start being planted for like what the franchise is going

(56:24):
to become. There's also we start seeing
like more of like this, like, like you said, like this, like
the start of like the team dynamic.
We kind of go from from Ethan Hunt being a lone wolf to now
being like, yeah, at this point,like now he's a team leader.
He is someone who who who leads a mission and has people under
him. So it's like now like he, I

(56:47):
mean, he always had some agency,but now he has more agency to,
you know, actually do what needsto be done to accomplish the
mission. Yes, I think Mission Impossible.
3 is a great movie. I want to open the discussion
about Mission Impossible 3 by defending JJ Abrams because I

(57:09):
think this man gets way too muchhate, probably because of the
whole Star Wars thing. But here's the good thing.
But he gave us loss. I don't give a shit about Star
Wars. So I think what he did here with
Mission Impossible 3, Damn mic drop right there.

(57:33):
What JJ Abrams did with mission.Impossible Three, I think, was
excellent work. You have to give him his credit
here. Yeah, this movie, I said it
earlier, it has the sauce. You can tell from the opening
sequence of this film where Ethan has to go on the search

(57:54):
and rescue mission. This movie has the sauce with
its direction, with its cinematography, with the action.
But two, this movie looks betterthan so many modern films.
I just feel like the the cinematography has a level of

(58:16):
texture and depth that I just don't see from a lot of Movies
Now. Now, it's not as good as
something like The Batman or Dune or, you know, even
something like maybe La La Land,but those are obviously
different movies. But I think this is a good
looking movie and people don't talk about it enough because

(58:36):
they do. They just have this this weird
hate boner because of JJ Abrams in the the Star Wars movies.
Bro when I watched this as or yeah no as.
I was watching this movie. I I was like, who directed this?
Because I was actually, I was having so much fun.
I'm like, all right, who, who who let the man in the kitchen?

(58:58):
Who's responsible for all this sauce?
Yeah. And then I saw it with JJ
Abrams. I'm like, I've heard this thing
before. Where Where have I seen it?
Looked at his wiki, saw what he did.
I'm like, oh, OK, cool. Like this was solid Mission
Impossible. 3. Honestly, like he.
If it wasn't for JJ. Abrams like where he took it.

(59:18):
I don't know if, like, the franchise would have like
continued down the path that it went on because, yeah, this
movie, this movie's too fucking cool, man.
It. Has the fucking.
Sauce, I see your point and I think the the mere.
Fact that the movie made you pause to ask the question who

(59:38):
directed this is proof that thismovie has a clear style and a
voice. Yeah.
And I think that's important. Obviously, I think that's
important if you've listened to any other episode before this
one, right. But this is a good looking movie
and the stunts get more it it it.

(01:00:00):
This is where like it starts. To get more ambitious because
the stunt you know, like the thefulcrum over the.
Skyscraper like. So fucking cool, yes?
Yes, I mean, there's just so much in this movie that I that I
really could get into because I think it looks great, I think.

(01:00:23):
JJ Abrams. Uses shadows in a really stark
and interesting way in this film.
The action is obviously ratcheted up to its highest
intensity thus far in the franchise, and like Jesse said,
this is the first time we get any sort of personal stakes for
Ethan Hunt. This is the first time he

(01:00:45):
becomes a human. And unlike the relationship
between Ethan and Naya, I completely bought the romance
between Ethan and Julia. It felt authentic.
It felt real to me, which I think makes the audience more
invested in the story because you want Ethan to save Julia

(01:01:08):
because you actually believe that he's in love with this
woman. But like you said too, this is
where we really ration. It up.
With the stunts, yeah. And and I know some people with
Mission Impossible. Three with JJ.

(01:01:29):
Abrams They, They complain aboutthe frenetic sort of
cinematography, specifically during the action sequences.
And I do think there are times when that sort of style of
shooting can get a little overbearing.
I think the only time it actually bothers me in this
movie is after Ethan has retrieved the rabbit's foot and

(01:01:52):
it's kind of rolling around the street and he has to sort of
weave, Bob and weave through allthe traffic.
And I think that's sort of like rapid cutting and the the just
the camera moving everywhere. That's the only time that I
thought, oh, this is a little excessive, but I'd still don't
think it's as bad as something like the Bourne films where

(01:02:14):
you're just cutting every two seconds.
So I don't understand the gripesabout JJ Abrams shooting style.
I think this is clearly a a really good looking film.
But the Fulcrum jump, like Jessesaid, go watch it on YouTube.
To to. Really sort of register.

(01:02:36):
How important. This stunt was to the franchise
because this is where the. Seeds are planted.
It may not have been the crystallization of the
franchise's identity, but this is where the foundation is
built. And you see it with the Fulcrum
jump. Because they really sell.

(01:02:59):
How impossible, no pun intended,how impossible this this heist
feels. The mission feels like it might
be too much. Just the sheer physics of the
jump. He has to survive it, and then
he has to land perfectly and getto the right floor and then he

(01:03:22):
has to find his way out. Like, I think this movie does an
excellent job of, of building upthe stakes leading up to this,
this, this massive jump in Shanghai.
And I mean, even the, the, the scene right before between Ethan
and Luther, right before he jumps, that, that final

(01:03:44):
conversation they have before the big stunt.
It's just like, you know, you're, you're leading up to
something and it's just, I don'tknow, man.
This is the movie. Where I think they really.
Started to to figure out that they had something.
Yeah, with this franchise. Now, I agree.

(01:04:04):
And like, there's one complaint.I've seen like online regarding
this movie and it's about the whole rabbit's foot because like
that, that's one, that's the, that's the thing that Ethan Hunt
has to find like this this thingcalled the rabbit's foot, which
is it's never directly stated what it is.
It's kind of implied that it's like some kind of like nuclear

(01:04:26):
or like chemical thing, but it'snever directly stated what it
is. And that's why people call it
like a Mac Guffin. But I, I was OK with it because
it felt like the focus was more on like Ethan Hunt humanizing
him and like his stakes in saving Julia and less so about
the like what the, what actuallyis the rabbit's foot?

(01:04:49):
But chat, I'm going to put a pinright there because I'm going to
come, I'm going to circle back to the rabbit's foot later.
I'm just bringing it up now because I just want to like keep
that in your head that like, youknow, the rabbit foot it, it's
it's a central thing to the. Movie, but it's never.
Explained what it is and it was intentionally left that way by

(01:05:10):
JJ Abrams. Like he was interviewed on Yes.
What was he like? He it was intentionally vague
and like, I'm OK with that because the movie does an
excellent job of just bringing everything else, like doing
everything else so well and like, it doesn't really matter.
What the rabbit's? Foot is and more so like what it

(01:05:33):
represents in the movie. But yeah, like I said, chat.
I'm. Going to circle back to the
rabbit. 'S foot later, where was you
rank? Ethan's Hunt.
Hair in Mission Impossible three.
OK, so. I would say this is pretty,
pretty high up there. I think.

(01:05:53):
I think. This is Ethan, one of Ethan's
best. Clean cut short.
Looks interesting. Yes.
OK, yes. So.
Number 1234, I would say it's. Either 1/5 or.
Two. OK, Damn.
OK, High marks for this one. Yes.
All right. And.

(01:06:14):
Then we get into. Ghost Protocol.
This is where like the first 3 movies, it was just Mission
Impossible, Mission Impossible 2, Mission Impossible 3 after
three, every now we're adding subtitles.
Yeah, now we're getting subtitles.
So yeah, now. We're getting my favorite movie,
Ghost Protocol. Why is it called, Why is it

(01:06:34):
called Ghost Protocol? Because the US government has
to, like, disavow the IMF and, you know, initiate protocol.
Yes. And it's so fucking cool because
in this movie, like, you really do see the element of teamwork.
Like I said, the 1st 2 movies, yeah.
Lone wolf, A2 dimensional Ethan Hunt character movies 3 and 4,

(01:06:55):
We're seeing him now as a team leader, as someone who relies on
his team. Yeah.
And like I we haven't even started talking about like just
the supporting characters. Some of them have been around
since the beginning. Luther Luther has been around
since the beginning. Benji's first appearance was MI
3, but he. Wasn't in the field, right.

(01:07:17):
He, he was like the, the man in the wheelchair or whatever, but
he was the. Man in the man in the back and
then so we we have it was just like those those three that were
mainly like there from the beginning.
Was it 4 where we introduced Ilya?
No, I think it was no, that's inRogue nation.
That's five. OK, so.
But this one? Had Jeremy Renner.

(01:07:38):
No, no. Yes, it did.
No, you're right. You're right.
I'm sorry. This is where I.
Think they were starting to set up.
It was really coming together, Yeah, but I.
Think this is also where they were trying to like still.
Early in the franchise or maybe not early, but midway where they
were kind of like setting up Jeremy Renner to be like another

(01:07:59):
action Co star or whatever cuz he was, I forgot to mention he
was in the third movie, but he comes back again for the 4th
movie and in the fourth movie it's like whatever happened in
the third movie, forget about it.
Julia, Julia who she's not even here.
They talk about her. They talk about her, but like.
The way the third. Movie ends like happy ever after

(01:08:21):
with Julia. Yes to ghost protocol, no.
She died. No.
That's why, you know, Jeremy Renner's character has all this
guilt, you know? Yeah.
So like, you know, they just. Kill Julia off.
Like off screen, it's like, all right, I guess Tom Cruise is
single again, but Ghost? Protocols were like I think.

(01:08:42):
That's where they hit their stride.
Yeah, this is where they figure it out directed.
By Brad Bird. I'm not sure what else he
directed. He directed the Incredibles,
really. And the iron.
Giant, you know what? So he's.
Yeah, I think this is Brad Bird's best.
Live action feature. I don't know what else he's
directed, I mean. I bet if I bet, if I Wikipedia

(01:09:05):
today, I would, I would be like,oh, I've seen that.
I've seen that. I just can't think of it right
now. Yeah, but yeah, like this movie,
this is where like everything was just like so.
And up until this point, I thinkthis is an interesting.
Fact as well is that up until Ghost Protocol, each movie had a
different director. Yeah, that's why I think it's

(01:09:27):
it's so it's such a clear parallel.
To Harry Potter. Because Harry Potter, each movie
had a different director until the fifth one, just like Mission
Impossible. And I think you can make the
argument that the Goblet of Firefilm, even though I think it's
actually one of the weaker movies, that's kind of the

(01:09:48):
watershed moment of the Harry Potter franchise because that's
when Voldemort comes back. That's where we see the first
major death in Cedric and Ghost Protocol, the 4th movie.
This is again, I think it's kindof the watershed moment of the
franchise because not for the same reasons, but because they
they really figure out, like yousaid, the formula like what

(01:10:12):
people want, expect and like about these movies.
Yep, and like this is where. Now we're getting like global
stakes because right now it's hey, they, they, they gotta like
prevent a nuclear war from breaking down or, and you know,

(01:10:32):
this evolves. What I like about this movie is
just it's not just like, you know, Ethan Hunt versus the one
villain, It's Ethan Hunt versus the villain versus like the
Russians who think that Ethan Hunt is the villain, Ethan Hunt
versus, you know, his own government.

(01:10:53):
Like it's not just like in all the movies, it's just we start
to bring in those spy movie. Elements yeah exactly.
So it be like the stakes get. Much higher and now, you know,
betrayals and espionage are likesuper important in this movie.
The the gadgets that are being used use everything like this is

(01:11:14):
where like, you know, they really hit this fucking strike.
Ghost Protocol has I think the best.
Gadgets in the entire franchise.I mean, we have, like I said,
that unbelievable hallway projector that that is so
hilarious yeah, but I love it atthis.
I love it. Yeah.
Like it's all like all these. Movies just like whatever
gadgets they have. Yeah, I, I genuinely do think

(01:11:39):
that, you know, like that's not to sound like a conspiracy
theorist, but I genuinely do think that our government
already has like these badges and gizmos.
So just seeing it on screen, like some people are are
probably going to be like, there's no way like that.
Yeah, I bet we, I bet the US government has some, you know,
eye tracking software that can put up a fake on the wall.
And obviously the. Spider man gloves that Aidan

(01:12:02):
uses to climb the Burj Khalifa. I really like how they make
that. That whirring sound every time
he presses his hand against the glass and then it makes a
different sound when he pulls itoff.
Like these are underrated aspects of.
Film making but. I think it if this is an example

(01:12:23):
of how far sound design can actually take you when he puts
his hand on the glass and the the glove has to like power up
to sort of like make sure that the adhesive is working and then
we get that Yep. And then you know when.
He pulls it off. Like, I don't know why, I just
really like the sound of that. Yeah.

(01:12:44):
And of course, OK chat. To keep up with us, go on
YouTube, look up Ethan Hunt scales the Burj Khalifa, just so
it's just, you know what we're talking about, just so you can
see how fucking cool it looks. But yeah, because, you know,
this is a fucking Mission Impossible movie.
Of course, something has to go wrong.

(01:13:06):
Yeah, one of the gloves malfunctions.
Yeah. So now you have Ethan Hunt's
character scaling the the Burj Khalifa with one functional
glove and you know, like it's very the rest of it he has to
kind of like spider crawl. Up of it like, there's a lot of
like. Vertigo, like just watching like
that scene and like, later on I learned that like, that scene,

(01:13:29):
like that sequence was filmed inIMAX, you know, so you can get
like a wider angle and like, like this is not a, this is not,
yeah, this is not a green screenof Tom Cruise looking over, you
know, like, no, he's up there. He's up there like.
In the movie. They go to like, you know, room.
133 or whatever, take out a glass panel of like the fucking

(01:13:53):
building and then like Tom Cruise's character just looks
down and you can just see the scale of how high they really
are. Like they are really that high.
This is not CGI, no. And then, you know, he turns.
Around and get. Starts climbing and it's it's so
fucking nerve wracking just watching him like attempt this

(01:14:14):
and and knowing that or me knowing.
That. OK, This is a real stunt.
Like, there has to be some safety measures, right?
Spoiler alert, There were. There was, there was, you know,
he had a harness, but, you know,he really did climb it.
Yeah. And.
Obviously, I think. Part of what makes this

(01:14:36):
sequence. So great.
Too is it's not just the glove malfunctioning, but then we get
the sandstorm, which is a whole different wrench in the plan
because it is obviously completely out of Ethan or
anybody's control. So now he's in a race against

(01:14:56):
the clock. He really has to climb climate
now and then come back. He really has to climb, make
sure the deal goes down the way they need it to, and then find a
way back because of course his way down, well, that kind of
goes out the window too literally.
And he uses the most bad ass improv way to get back to the

(01:15:23):
original room that he was in with Benji and the rest of his
team. I think in some ways the, the
way that was shot, like the way they captured Tom Cruise's
momentum trying to bust back into the original room, I'm
like, oh man, this, this whole thing is just, it's, it's just

(01:15:43):
taking my breath away. Yeah, it's like.
So it's so, so cool. So nerve racking.
And then later on you got the sandstorm and you got Tom Cruise
running through the sandstorm. And I, I that sequence is like
pretty fucking cool too. Just him running and dodging and
driving, trying to catch the guythrough a fucking sandstorm

(01:16:05):
Sprint, man. Yes, this is where I start.
Noticing like yo. Like the way he runs, like
that's also a meme. Just like, you know, full on
robot like hands ridges. He's karate chopping the air.
Yup. That's, you know, that's how he
gets like, you know. A lot of speed that way.
He's out cutting through the air.
Yeah, Tom Cruise, I love you, but.

(01:16:26):
Gosh, that is poor running for him.
One guy, there's not even a slight forward lean from the
ankles. Yeah.
But yeah, in this movie, The stakes are.
Super high Ethan Hunt has enemies on all sides, and it's
really his own government doesn't support him.
Yeah, and that. Mean that becomes a thing

(01:16:47):
without like every. Movie, yeah, but also he kind of
brings it on on himself, except for the first movie where he was
framed. But in every movie, Ethan Hunt
always goes rogue. Or he always acts.
On his own, like he'll accept the the when you accept the
mission you have a choice or whatever, he will accept it.
But then he goes rogue and handles it his own way, not

(01:17:09):
going to the proper channels andwhatever.
And it's just, it's always interesting that Despite that,
he's still like their best IMF, AJ, it's not going to fire him
like he's their guy. Just can't control him as much
as they would like to. Yeah.
And I. Also think that, and you

(01:17:30):
mentioned this briefly, but Ghost Protocol is really the
movie where I think we start to drill down the team aspect.
We see glimpses of it in MissionImpossible 3, but like you said,
I think part of the charm of that movie is that it's a very
character driven story for Ethan.
It's the first inkling we have that there's more to him besides

(01:17:54):
being Ethan Hunt, the Super spy.Yeah.
So even though I think. That I do.
Like the team in in Mission Impossible Three, I think here
in Ghost Protocols where we really start to see it come
together in terms of how important it is.
Benji's in the field for the first time and we get to see,

(01:18:16):
you know, Simon Pegg flex his comedic chops because he does.
He has amazing comedic timing. He always has obviously, you
know, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.
So we really start to see it here.
And like you said, the addition of Jeremy Renner.
I think it's a shame that he didn't show up and fall out.

(01:18:37):
Yeah, I understand why he didn't, but it it sucks at the
same time. So a lot of a lot of good, great
things here in Ghost Protocol and just gone to my head.
I would say this is. My favorite too.

(01:18:59):
Nice. Yeah, solid movie.
And you? Know.
Spoiler alert. But you know, if you're, if
you're here Chad, you already knew there was going to be
spoilers, but Julia's not dead. Turns out she was alive.
Turns out, you know, in classic Ethan Hunt fashion, he managed
to save her right at the end. And then because he loves her so

(01:19:21):
much, gives her a new identity and basically has to, you know,
spend like, basically like he hefakes her dead so she can have a
new life without him, Which is funny because the third, the
third movie ended with them getting married.
And then in the 4th movie, like he fakes her dead because, you
know, he can't have anyone closeto him or else like they're
going to use her to get to him again.

(01:19:43):
Which, you know, I understand it, but it was just kind of
funny. And just the way the third movie
ended. And then 4 is like, Oh yeah,
Julia, she died. Oh, plot to it.
She didn't die. And she does have like a little
cameo at the end where like, youknow, Ethan Hunt, like they,
they, they see each other and then like, that's it.
Yeah. I think it's.
It's, you know, as abrupt. As it can be at the beginning

(01:20:07):
of. Ghost Protocol to be hit with
the news that Julia's dead. I think it's effective and
ultimately I think it's. Important for the overall.
Development of Ethan Hunt as a character for the rest of the
franchise. So as much as I loved Julia, I
can see why they did it. Yeah, and I think it it was in

(01:20:30):
the end, it was actually beneficial to Ethan Hunt and how
he grows throughout the rest of the franchise.
Yes, there's also the movie where we kind of get.
Some semblance of serialization with the movies because like the
first two, like they, I mean, I think the second one kind of has

(01:20:51):
like a passing line referencing the first movie.
Yeah. But other than that, like
they're not like they're not like directly calling back the
movies, the 4th one, this is where like, you know, we have
Benji, we have Luther, we know who Julia is Jeremy Renner's
back. So it, it does like some
callbacks to like the previous film.
So I I did like that and the sound bite I have for this movie

(01:21:13):
is Jeremy Renner. Could have taken the.
Torch, but Tom Cruise grabbed itand ran straight up the Burj
Khalifa instead. Yes, he did.
Yes. He did because I I generally do.
Think like they were setting. Up Jeremy Renner's character,
like as either someone who replaces Tom Cruise or just

(01:21:35):
someone who fights alongside him.
And then he never shows up in any other movie because, you
know, he he became Hawkeye afterthat.
But yeah, where would you put ghost protocol?
Ethan Hunt's haircut here. Yes, Ghost protocol hair.
You know, it's kind of longer, but it's not fully long.

(01:21:56):
That said, I do think it is better than the very last
hairstyle we get with Ethan because that one is also kind of
longer. So I would say this is middle of
the pack. Solid 4-5.
Yeah, 4, let's go. 4 All right. All right, All right, Chad,

(01:22:17):
we're halfway. Through yeah, we're halfway
through now. We're going to get into
Impossible 5, Rogue Nation. These subtexts, they're also
like, come on, they're kind of cool too.
Ghost Protocol, Rogue Nation, Fallout Dead.
Come on, they just nail it. Great subtitles.

(01:22:39):
They start nailing. It with the subtitles.
And again, just through refreshing your memory chat,
this is where Ethan Hunt faces the Syndicate like a shadow
organization made-up of rogue agents who they defected from
the governments and now they're operating under 11, ghost or not
ghost, but one man. But the Syndicate is a shadow

(01:23:01):
organization that most governments like.
They don't think it's real, so they think that it's so the US
government thinks that Ethan Hunt is paranoid for even
thinking the Syndicate is a realthing, which so like that's,
that's the story, that's the plot.
Ethan Hunt versus the syndicate.How do they do?
I think they did pretty pretty. Fucking good.

(01:23:22):
Like this is also like another good movie.
Oh man. This is all and this is also.
Where we have the. The introduction of Argue,
arguably the best female fatale in the entire franchise.
Ilya Faust I I, I think she's. The best female.

(01:23:43):
Character in general in the franchise more.
Than Julia. Yes.
Damn, I thought you were a Julia.
Stan. I am a Julia Stan.
But then I saw. Ilsa and I was like, OK, yeah,
but this? Is the hardest movie in the.

(01:24:04):
Franchise for me to judge because I I loved Ghost Protocol
so much that I was thinking, I don't know how they can pull
this off. I don't know if they can.
Top. Ghost protocol, Yeah.
Like how do you go after how do you go?
After that one where like you and you disavow the IMF and then

(01:24:26):
bring them back, like, how do you go?
How do you? Yeah.
And I think rogue. Nation.
Gosh, this is a great. Movie.
Yeah, I mean. This is such a good movie.
I, I, it's hard to hate this film.
I'm just being redundant. But like, I don't even know
where this would fall in a ranking for me of the Mission

(01:24:47):
Impossible films because it's just so damn good.
Like there's, there's nothing really wrong with it.
I mean we, we open. With.
The sort of big sequence of Tom Cruise hanging off the plane and
then he's kind of getting tossedaround throughout the middle of

(01:25:07):
that sequence. But then the just the cold open
of this movie is brilliant with the reveal of Solomon, the
leader of the syndicate. I mean, it's just, it's it's.
Eerie. It's.
Not scary. Scary's not the right word, but
I think for the first time we wesee someone who is sort of

(01:25:31):
rivaling Ethan someone. Who is actually?
Capable of outsmarting him because up until this point he
has more or less been able to outdo everyone he's come across.
I mean sure, Davian the villain in MI 3 sort of roughs him up,

(01:25:52):
but. You can, sort of.
Kind of excuse that away becauseEthan's trying to save Julia.
He doesn't really care about Davian.
So it's it's, you know, it's. It's.
I don't. Know, I just think the opening
of this movie is really interesting because we also get

(01:26:14):
a A twist on the classic MissionImpossible opening with this
mission, should you choose to accept it.
And then it's revealed that the syndicate has infiltrated them
and the the message is actually from them and then Ethan gets
gassed and it's just it's it's such an effective opening.

(01:26:35):
But then, Oh my goodness, like the first act of this film, the
whole sequence at the Opera House, unbelievable.
I mean, unbelievable. The the amount of dialogue in
this whole sequence is minimal, but everything about it is just
so fucking good. Like it's just staged so

(01:27:00):
perfectly. It's acted perfectly.
Christopher Mcquarrie is puttingcamera in in places where I
didn't even think you could put the camera.
And the editing is so good. It's so tense.
Like I said that there's. No score.
The sound design, everything is reliant on the tension and the

(01:27:21):
character work and the cinematography, the editing and
the sound design and it all just, it's just, it's beautiful.
And I mean, this is like the quintessential spy film, like
even more so than Ghost Protocolbecause you have double
crossing, you have triple crossing, you have double

(01:27:43):
agents, you have a shadow organization, you have Ethan
running from the CIA. And then Luther and Jeremy
Renner's character have a subplot where they're trying to
track Ethan down before the CIA can get to him.
And this was the first movie to introduce Alec Baldwin, who I
also think is really great in these movies.

(01:28:04):
Like these movies are really good at casting to like they're.
Really. Good at casting, but I've been
going on for a while. But I I just want to end with
this. Like, I know everybody can kind
of point to different stunts in Rogue Nation and it's probably
going to be the underwater thingholding his breath for 6

(01:28:26):
minutes. But for me, the the thing that
just gets me every single time about Rogue Nation is the
motorcycle chase. Like you said that motorcycle
chases in Mission Impossible aren't exactly revolutionary,
but I think this one, Oh my gosh, this is the best
motorcycle chase I think I've ever seen in a movie because

(01:28:49):
Christopher Mcquarrie actually fucking understands how
motorcycles work. Too often in movies, when
characters ride motorcycles, thedirector has no clue how to ride
properly. And that's fine.
I'm not saying the director needs to ride, but I think if
you're gonna show it on screen, you need to be somewhat accurate

(01:29:13):
in terms of how you are portraying these vehicles.
And Oh my God, the the cinematography of this
motorcycle chase, placing the camera behind the windscreen,
putting it on Tom Cruise's hip and then putting it like in the
back of the motorcycle near the the rear foot peg.

(01:29:33):
Like it's just, I'm like, Oh my God, like this is so fucking
good. And then just like the
cinematography of the actual controlling of the motorcycle,
the editing, the way it's just, it's just comes together.
It's like, it's like a musical. Like when, when they're, you

(01:29:54):
know, on that on that highway inMorocco, they're taking the
curves. And then you see Tom Cruise like
this, like I said, an actual real example of someone who
knows about motorcycles. Tom Cruise, roll off the
throttle, pull in the clutch, downshift as he goes into the
curb, let go of the clutch, rollon the throttle to accelerate

(01:30:16):
because it's safer to take the curve in a lower gear, even if
you want to increase the speed. Like the way that all happens in
succession, the way it's shot, the way it's edited.
I'm like, Oh my gosh, somebody who knows how to ride a
motorcycle cycle, but it's just like, it's so good.

(01:30:37):
And this movie looks beautiful. I praised Mission Impossible 3.
But I. Think this movie looks great
too. I think it's up there for the
best looking Mission Impossible movie because I think this is
right around the time when technology was advancing to
where you could capture really good images, but before the

(01:31:00):
complete homogenization of of cinematography where everything
just looks flat and Gray. So I think this this came out at
just the right time to where this movie just looks just
gorgeous, right. No, I'm.
I'm gonna agree. I'm.
In in agreement with you. There, I think when I watched

(01:31:23):
this film, while it was not my favorite, I thought damn, this
might be the best like Mission Impossible movie up until this
point. I still like Ghost Ghost
Protocol more, but this one is it like it's like you said it.
It was like the quintessential like spy film.
It had it had everything. It had the double crosses,
espionage, betrayal, action, allthese like stunts.

(01:31:47):
Like there were a lot of stunts in this movie.
There was like the the the underwater scene, the the
motorcycle chase scene, the fucking hanging from a plane.
Yeah. Like this movie, I think like we
were talking about, like, you know, in the third.
Movie. It's where like they started.
Planting the seeds. 4th movie islike where they they found their
formula. 5th movie is where theyfucking nailed it like they hit.

(01:32:10):
Like. They hit everything perfectly.
Like, this is where, like, yeah,this is the Mission Impossible
movie. Yeah.
Because, like, I'm just gonna jump really quickly into 6.
Like because 6 is. Kind of like a continuation of
five. It's basically a direct sequel.
Yeah. And I, I, I think this will be I

(01:32:31):
think. That makes it like a bit weaker.
Of a film, It's not a bad film, but I think just Rogue Nation is
kind of like the peak of MissionImpossible.
What is the first peak of Mission Impossible?
Because I do think it hits another peak later.
But yeah, no, like I I'm in agreement like Rogue nation like
this. Is where?
Everything just falls together perfectly.

(01:32:55):
And like, this is if I had to like, you know, recommend a
Mission Impossible movie, it would probably be this one just
because like this, like if you want to watch like what the
quintessential Mission Impossible movie is Rogue
Nation. Yeah, I think you said it.
You hit the. Nail on the head.
Even if you don't think. It's the best.

(01:33:17):
I think this is the Mission Impossible movie, yes.
Like in terms of just what the franchise does, what it's about,
what it prioritizes, Yes, it hasevery single thing in this
movie. And just one more time before we
get into Fallout. Rebecca Ferguson.
I want to marry her, yes. How do you rank the the the

(01:33:45):
rogue nation haircut? This one's.
Pretty low for me. This one's pretty low.
I'm actually going to, I'm goingto go ahead and amend the.
List I'm going to say. Mission Impossible 2 is the
worst. It's 8:00.
I'm going to go ahead and solidify Mission Impossible.

(01:34:08):
One as. 7, actually. OK, yes.
And I'm going to say Rogue Nation.
Probably 6. Damn.
All right. I'm going to go ahead and keep
Ghost. Protocol at 4:00.
And I'm going to say, as of right now, I'm going to put MI
three at 2. OK.

(01:34:29):
Yeah. Interesting.
Yeah. All right, we'll chat.
That's where we're at with the haircuts.
And now Mission Impossible 6, Fallout, like you said, this
one, this one, I was gonna say it felt, but it kind of was like
it was a direct sequel to Rogue Rogue Nation because the the
villain in Rogue Nation was Solomon, and now in Fallout it's

(01:34:54):
still Solomon. Yeah, same villain, just the
Syndicate isn't quite. As far reaching, Yeah, well,
it's not even the syndicate now.It's, it's, it's the, the, the
remnant, yeah. Exactly.
Now they're called the the apostles.
Yeah, exactly. That's yeah, it's like this,
this one, this movie. Was a bit weaker.
The point is the. Figurehead is the same, which is

(01:35:16):
why I say it's a direct. Sequel and also because the
apostles are, like you said, theremnants or the offshoot of the
syndicate. So like it carries over a lot of
plot elements and it also bringsin a lot of the same characters,
the most important being ILS Faust.
Yes, thank God, yes. And like if I and if I said what

(01:35:39):
was, I think I said either. I think Ghost Protocol or like
like the earlier films where it kind of felt like it was a
civilization of the franchise. This one definitely felt like
that because, like, not only is it a direct sequel to a rogue
nation, it also ties back in into Mission Impossible 3,
because I think Julia is also inthis movie.
Yeah. She's in the final thirty 30-40

(01:36:00):
minutes maybe. Yeah, She.
She. Has like she does.
She has like some role in the inthe movie.
So it's kind of like this movie tries to tie like the whole
franchise all together. And this one has like the iconic
Henry Cavill arms. Reload, Bro.
I saw like, I had already seen that meme, like just like as

(01:36:22):
just in isolation, just Henry Cavill, you know, just doing
like the yeah, with his arms. I'm like, all right, that's
pretty fucking cool. And then I heard, like, the back
story of like, what happened is like he was getting hit a lot of
his biceps. So his biceps were sore.
So he just did that, you know, to like, like, shake him out.
Yeah, shake him out. And one time it was caught on
camera. Director was like, eh, Henry,

(01:36:45):
what was that? Henry Cowell was like, oh shit,
that Oh, my bad. I did the no, no, no, do it
again. Yeah.
And so they kept that and, you know, in, in like.
This. Movie was like the most not
gruesome, but like definitely the most violent with the with
the fight scenes like there werea lot of like hand to hand hand
to hand. This is the most gritty, Yeah.

(01:37:09):
Mission Impossible film, yes, and I also.
Think it's just it's non-stop, like it's one action scene after
the other. Which is like so fucking cool
because I think I had a. Complaint about John Wick 3 and
that it was just like one huge action set piece I think this
one did it better yeah. I do think that Fallout

(01:37:29):
personally, it's it's it's not, I mean it's it's not a weak
film, but in comparison to all the other ones, like come on,
you have fallout right before dead reckoning and final
reckoning. It's like, come on, like if I
had to rank Fallout, it would probably be more like on the
bottom half. And that's say it's a bad movie,

(01:37:52):
but the other movies are so muchbetter.
So I. Really enjoy fallout.
I think it does. So many things.
Well, like you said, there are alot of movies that I think you
can point to and say those are just one big action set piece,

(01:38:12):
but I think the pacing here in Fallout is extremely effective
to. The point to where?
It never feels like it's too much or it's never, it never
sort of overstays its welcome tothe point where it's numbing to
the audience. Because I think that's the issue
that I have with John Wick 3 is it's just one thing after the

(01:38:33):
other. And it's just at some point I
just kind of check out. But I don't.
I never did that in in Mission Impossible Fallout.
Yeah, there was like an element of substance in this movie and
what I. Also do like about this film is
Ethan's Ethan Hunt's morality comes into question because now

(01:38:54):
it's it's like the fate of the world and all like because the
the the main, the main thing that they the main mission is
preventing like this plutonium from getting to the wrong hands.
So in order to accomplish that, Ethan Hunt has to infiltrate
like the the apostles and blend in with them in order.

(01:39:16):
And in order to blend in with them, he has to make some
morally questionable choices in order to not blow his cover.
And throughout this whole movie,like everyone thinks he's
paranoid, like chasing these apostles or whatever.
Like they think that he's going to betray by his government
because, you know, given his past actions, how he normally
goes rogue in every movie. This movie is no different.

(01:39:38):
He goes rogue again, which is why we're not.
It's not why, but in this movie he's assigned A watcher, IE
Henry. Cowell's character.
To just monitor Ethan Hunt to make sure he didn't do anything
wrong. And Henry Cavill fucking nailed
this role Like, but he played his character's name was August

(01:39:58):
Walker. Oh my God, was he?
Was he such a fucking prick LikeHenry Cavill?
Nailed it perfectly like this dude.
Was. Insufferable.
So arrogant, like he had a reason to be like he like he
could fight he he could fuck youup.
But it's just also like the the stunt I want to highlight from

(01:40:23):
this movie chat YouTube Mission Impossible, Fallout, Halo jump.
Yeah, that's that's that's that's that's the stunt I want
to talk about because. That's where.
That's Tom Cruise and Harry Cavill jumping out of a plane.
You know, sky like skydiving 25,000 feet in the air and it's

(01:40:44):
just I don't know if. Actually like cuz.
In the movie, there's a thunderstorm going on.
I don't know if that actually happened or if they're just
like, Nah, that's that's that was like, damn, but Thunder is
happening and you. Know Ethan Hunt's?
Like, you know, maybe you shouldwait, blah blah blah.
August Walker's like, move the fuck out of my way.

(01:41:04):
Pushes him and just like, jumps and so, you know, and who's the
little bitch that passes out? Fucking August Walker.
He gets struck by lightning. So like so obviously Ethan,
Ethan, Ethan jumps, it gets hit by lightning, The only one that
goes unconscious is August Walker.
So then you have Ethan Hunt trying to save August Walker,

(01:41:28):
free falling through the air. And it's just once, like they do
land, the smugness of August Walker being like, hey, why
didn't your parachute work? Yeah, when it was hit.
When when Ethan Hunt had to sacrifice?
His parachute and give. It to him because his because
our Walker's parachute was malfunctioning.

(01:41:49):
So you know Ethan Hunt gave him his and the audacity of this
man. Do you know, after he gets after
he regains conscious, he's like,hey, what was your parachute?
But but I think he nailed that character perfectly.
And then, you know, turns out August Walker, you know, being

(01:42:11):
complacent and you are followinglike, you know, staying on.
Track with, you know, the whole.Espionage and double crosses.
Oh wow, who would have guessed? August Walker to double cross
Ethan Hunt. Oh wow, he was actually working
with Solomon. Oh, wow.
Like this movie, it, like you said, it does a lot.
It's just action after action after action.
But it does feel like there is still some substance in this

(01:42:32):
movie. Yeah, I think Walker is a great.
Foil to Ethan Hunt because Walker is characterized as a man
who will do anything to make sure that the mission gets done.
Whereas like you said, I think abig part of this story is
calling into question Ethan's morality and how he tries to to

(01:42:59):
balance wanting to preserve. The life.
Of his teammates while also trying to shoulder this
responsibility of saving the world and how those two things
come into conflict with each other.
Whereas Walker is the sort of direct opposite of that.

(01:43:21):
He is willing to do whatever. It takes to.
Ensure that the mission gets done.
He doesn't care if he loses colleagues or team members,
whatever. As long as the mission gets
done, that's all that matters tohim.
And yeah, I mean, Walker being the twist villain, I think it's
effective. I think the.

(01:43:42):
Twist villains are tough to pull.
Off because too often I think itfeels like it kind of comes out
of nowhere because you have to suddenly sort of get the
audience to believe that this person is all of a sudden.
Evil but. I think the reason this is so

(01:44:02):
effective is because Walker is an antagonistic force throughout
the entire movie, even when we're led to believe that he is
working with Ethan. He's like you said, just look at
the moment after the Halo jump. Like he's very smug.
He's he's just kind of a Dick. Yeah.
So I think that's the reason thetwist is actually effective.

(01:44:23):
And. For me, I would actually say the
sequence that stands out is to me.
I mean, obviously the Halo jump is, is incredible.
I'm not. Don't tell me it's another
motorcycle chase scene. No, I'm not trying to take
anything away from. That, But to me it's the final
helicopter chase. It's not quite as cool as
watching Tom Cruise fly an F18 and pull 9 GS, but I found the

(01:44:51):
helicopter chase scene to actually be quite disorienting.
Yeah, You mentioned that during the Burj Khalifa climb that
there was a sense of sort of like Vertigo.
Yeah, Vertigo. Just that that sense of, you
know. Oh.
I am. Way too high and I don't like
this. I didn't have that feeling, but

(01:45:13):
during the helicopter scene and fallout, I wouldn't say I had
Vertigo, but I was. I definitely had this feeling
of, oh, this is a little chaotic.
Like I would not want to be in this situation, right.
Yeah, No, I agree. Yeah, like the stunts in this
movie. Like I said, it's.

(01:45:33):
Like the Halo, the ones that stand out with like the Halo
jump the motorcycle chasing throughout Paris and like the
final helicopter stunt also was in this movie where I found out.
I had mentioned this earlier, but this is the movie where Tom
Cruise broke his ankle. Yeah.
Jumping from rooftops. Yep.
And. The level of commitment of this

(01:45:55):
man is still like bitching. Out and being like ow, he kept
it, he kept it pushing and like when you watch that movie when
you get the shot Yup, like when you watch this movie and you
you, you, you. See like that scene where he.
Jumps off like off the building.They kept the cut.
They they, they kept that cut where he broke his ankle.
Like. That scene, I mean, they don't

(01:46:16):
show him breaking his ankle. Like he just keeps he he he
breaks his ankle but still keepson running off the camera to,
you know, get that scene. That's the scene they kept in
the they keep in the movie. So just, like, just to show you
like, the level of commitment ofTom fucking Cruise, like, didn't
break character, broke his fucking angle and just kept on
like, pushing him. Like, man, Yeah, like,

(01:46:40):
obviously. Tom.
Cruise is a legend. Yes, like the.
Song by I have for. This movie.
Is this movie? Is not action.
It's kinetic poetry. OK, OK, there you go.
And like you said, like. I feel like that perfectly
encapsulates. What this movie is just non-stop
actually kinetic poetry? Yeah, because it is.

(01:47:03):
It's very. Gritty.
It's very. Scrappy.
I think this is the. Best hand to hand combat we get?
Yeah, the entire series. Not just the bathroom scene, but
the final fight between Walker and Ethan.
It's very like, it's just very like Bare knuckle Brawl like in
the Thick of It type action. And I think this is also where

(01:47:24):
we start to see Ethan Hunt as more like in the.
In in MI 3 Ghost Protocol the end a bit in Rogue Nation, but I
think in Rogue Nation is where we see a transition.
He was a team leader and now fallout we're starting to see
like, you know, a weathered and older Ethan Hunt.
He's kind of like starts to become more of a mentor in like

(01:47:47):
in in like this movie, just likethe way he starts mentoring like
the the people around him, whether it's Benji, like, you
know, out in the field, like helping him like get better at
it or like later on. Ilya not No, he didn't really
mentor Ilya Foss, but he trusts her more, he trusts her more,

(01:48:09):
and he becomes more of a. Like.
He's more he he, he's more seasoned at this point.
And I do like that. Like we see like we see like the
character of Ethan Hunt aging and like actually getting older
and wiser but still pulling off these death defying stunts.
Yeah, yeah. Where would you put the Fallout

(01:48:29):
haircut? Fallout haircut.
It's number one. Oh shit.
Really. Yeah.
Yeah. Damn.
Them mouths. Forget the rest, ladies and.
Gentlemen, fallout number. One haircut.
Yeah, interesting. But yeah, this movie, it's a
really good movie, but I think it's about to be outclassed by

(01:48:51):
the the two that follow it, which is what I I told Dylan.
I think the. Last two movies are the most
ambitious out of all the the whole movies because the last
two movies are A2 parter and notjust any 2 parter a three hour

(01:49:12):
long each two power. This is a six hour epic odyssey.
It really is. Yeah.
And like the level like like in this world we mentioned.
Earlier, Tom Cruise. 'S care and passion for this
project because you can make a three hour long movie and it
could be just like, you know, itcould be like and like Mission

(01:49:32):
Impossible 2, you know, just style over substance.
But it's not like there's a lot of stuff there.
In fact, one of the critiques ofDead Reckoning is that there was
a lot going on. Some people found it
overwhelming. I didn't I liked it, but let's
get into it. Let's get into the final act of
the Mission Impossible franchise, The Reckoning.

(01:49:55):
Starting off with Dead Reckoning, Mission Impossible
came on 2023 I I loved the. Directions that that they went.
Like. Where did they decided to kind?
Of like end like or yeah, kind of end the franchise.
Like who's the big bad guy now? Fucking AI and not in the

(01:50:19):
abstract AI scary type of way. No, like they do their best to
like ground it and like make theAIA credible threat.
Like it's I think a lot of movies don't know how to like
don't know what AI is or think or they've they make the movie
thinking, portraying AI for whatthey think it is when it's not.

(01:50:40):
This movie like it. It felt like this could be like
a real future just like the way the AI works because like the
the AI is not like on this. Shit it.
Has to like keep on learning andadapting like the AI makes
mistakes and that's like we don't see that a lot in most
movies with AIAI is always perfect or whatever no in this

(01:51:02):
movie The AI is still learning and adapting and what I like is.
I like that. Tom Cruise, like Ethan Hunt, is
like the. Only.
Character who, like, actually believes that the AI is a threat
to everyone. Every other government or party
thinks that they can control it.Ethan Hunt is the only one who's

(01:51:25):
like, no, there is nobody or nothing that can control this
thing. And if anybody gets their hands
on it, it's the end of the world.
Yeah. And I know a lot of these movies
have been kind of like, you know.
Oh. The fear of the.
World is at stake. No, this is where like nuclear
Armageddon, this AI has the capability of hacking into every

(01:51:45):
government and taking over theirdefense missiles and launching
every single nuke from every single country that has them.
That is the stakes of this movie.
And I feel, and I were both of these movies and I feel like
they fucking nail it. Like this, this, this movie had
like a lot of writing on it. Because if you think about it

(01:52:07):
like after Ghost Protocol, everymovie is good.
So it's like, how can you keep on still making a good movie?
Like 'cause sometimes like there's like a dip.
No, there was like, no. Dip.
Even if even if I didn't really care for Fallout, that's much.
It's not a bad movie, but Dead Reckoning and Final Reckoning,
this is where like this is wherethey take everything like

(01:52:31):
they've mastered and crafted andput it together to just one
final showpiece. Like this is like one final swan
song to the franchise. Yeah.
Yeah. So I think The Reckoning.
Movies. Obviously starting with dead.
Reckoning are really interesting.
Like Jesse said, they are extremely ambitious and I think

(01:52:55):
in my opinion they pull it off. Like Jesse said, they they
really take this concept of AI and make it a genuine threat
within the movie. It's not some sort of cheap cop
out the way that a lot of moviestend to view AI when they use it

(01:53:20):
as an antagonist. I think the entity is a genuine,
well defined threat and there are moments in Dead Reckoning
that I think are genuinely terrifying with with the entity.

(01:53:40):
For example, when they are chasing Gabriel through the
streets of Venice and Benji is talking to Ethan through the
earpiece and it's Benji, but youcan slowly hear it distorting
until it's eventually the entitysounding like Benji.
That is a genuinely freaky moment in my opinion.

(01:54:04):
I mean, that is a a moment whereI was like, oh shit, yeah,
'cause we already have that. Like we already have something
where people can like, take yourvoice.
Modulate it, feed it through an AI filter and then be able to
like, you know, make you sit, make make an train an AI to
sound like you and then say things that you would never say.
But like, that's the threat of like what AI could do In this

(01:54:26):
movie. It does it.
It shows you what how it shows you like realistic threats from
the AI. Yeah, it does.
This movie also has like the hardest line.
Ethan Hunt has. Ever said in any movie so hard I
had to write it down and it go it goes?

(01:54:48):
If. Anything happens to either of
them. There is no place or.
Nowhere where you or your God will be safe from me.
There is no place I won't go to kill you.
That is written bro. When he said that oh like to
Gabriel goosebumps. I was like no hold on, pause,

(01:55:09):
rewind it. Let me.
Just the way he. Said it like I'm not even doing
it justice, like chat go watch that scene because the intensity
in his voice and like the way that he's like delivering this
threat so fucking bad ass, bro. Like I was like, yo, like this
is Ethan Hunt. Like he is like because

(01:55:31):
obviously he has killed before and not in these movies, but
this one where this one was where it felt like a little
personal, like a little like this is like, I'm gonna I'm
gonna enjoy killing you type of vibe.
Yeah. And so like we said that, I was
like, yo, that's so fucking hard.
And I want to talk about the. Villain Gabriel, I fucking love

(01:55:52):
this villain. He was like you said in Fallout.
Henry Cavill's character was like a foil to Ethan Hunt
Gabriel. I think also Gabriel works as a
foil to Ethan because whereas Ethan's is more emotional and
reactive in his responses, you know, he's always thinking on

(01:56:13):
his feet, coming up with the plan.
And every mission, every movie, you know, the climax of, you
know, Oh no, you got to press this button, you know, before,
like the bomb blows up. It's always, always, always at
the last minute. Like Tom Cruise's character is
always just barely able to, you know, save the day.

(01:56:33):
And it's the same thing here in Dead Reckoning where he he's
always like thinking by the likejust the the seat of his pants.
He's always like just trying to predict what like what would be
like the most logical thing to do.
And then contrast that with Gabriel.
Just this super calm cold believes that the entity is

(01:56:55):
never wrong. Trust.
Everything you know he. He's he's like the definition of
trust, trusting the process. Like very, like very different
from Ethan Hunt. And I think that's kind of
chilling in the way because his character's just, it feels like
nothing's personal to this guy. Like I'm I'm gonna kill.
You, but it's nothing personal. It's OK.

(01:57:16):
And he'll say it just like that.Like at least in August Walker
like he would say that he he would say where like, you know,
a little bit of smugness, a little bit of spite, you know, a
little bit of of, of a little bit of superiority.
Gabriel, like the villain. No.
Very cold, very calm, very collected and I like that.
It was like. It was different.

(01:57:38):
To see when I got as like a villain, because most of his,
most of Ethan Hunt's villains have been very not emotional,
but like they're they're not as common collected as Gabriel is.
And I I like that. Yeah.
So, Gabriel. I think in dead.

(01:57:58):
Reckoning is an interesting villain because there is a
little bit of a retcon to where this movie implies that Gabriel
and Ethan Hunt have something ofa past.
Yeah, this is where this is the first movie where it it it tries
to. Give Ethan Hunt an origin.
Yeah, an origin story. Because it it basically implies

(01:58:21):
that. Whatever happened between
Gabriel and Ethan is when Ethan was presented with the choice to
join the IMF. So there is a little bit of a
rat con. But I understand what you're
saying, that there's an interesting dynamic between
Gabriel and Ethan because Gabriel is so cold and

(01:58:43):
calculated, whereas Ethan is very sort of reactive.
He's very good at at, like you said, thinking on his feet.
And I think what makes it more interesting and dead reckoning
is the presence of the entity because because Ethan Hunt isn't
just trying to stop Gabriel's plan, he's trying to destroy the

(01:59:08):
entity. And a big part of that is,
again, dealing with real world implications, like how do we
know what's real? What is, what is this AI
actually expecting us to do? And what is the best decision
that we can make to counteract those expectations?

(01:59:30):
Like, you don't even know what the right choice is because
you're doubting your reality because you're living in a
different one now with the entity and Gabriel.
Yeah, like there's in this movie, it's a lot of like what?
Is truth. What is an?
Illusion what, like control versus free will?

(01:59:51):
Because obviously the AI wants to take over.
No, the AI doesn't want to take over the AI.
The AI wants to end humanity as we know it.
And I want to talk about the stunts.
Real quick because this one. The Ghost Protocol.
Like just watching these movies,I'm, I'm like, you know what?

(02:00:12):
What crazy stunt? What is going to be the stunt of
the movie? Like, yeah, like what's going to
be the crazy thing that Tom Cruise does?
Bro. Riding a motorcycle off a
fucking Cliff Chat. Look it up YouTube.
Yep, just he rides a motorcycle off of a Cliff bass jumping into

(02:00:34):
a parachute. Like, yo, like I said, I thought
that was like I had like thoughts like is that green
screen or Siji or whatever. But like just you can't get
that. There's no way you can get that
kind of wind turbulence on your face.
Yeah, the way his, like his faceis flapping in the wind like I,
I, he is really falling. And then I watched like the

(02:00:57):
behind the scenes, like, no, he really did do that.
He really did, you know. Ride a more cycle off like the
edge off the Cliff and you know,BASE jump into a parachute and
man, come on. Like that's just so fucking
cool. And then like like the.
Final, like the final scene where like they're running
through the train, like the train always about to fall off

(02:01:17):
and they have to keep, they haveto ascending each car.
And each car has like some different like little challenge
away like the piano. It's just a lot of like the the,
the stunts that go into these movies.
It's so, like, I don't know, theBurj Khalifa is still my
favorite, but it still impressesme, like, how Tom Cruise tries

(02:01:37):
to, like, break or, like, try todo something more ambitious
than, like, the last stunt or atleast something different.
Like, each movie has, like, its own thing.
It definitely does, yeah. So like.
De reckoning for me, yeah, the fucking bass dropping of a clip
riding a motorcycle and like thetrain sequence, it's like, I

(02:01:59):
don't know what to say, man. It's just it just.
Take my It just takes my fuckingbreath away just seeing how
like. Fucking cool it all is.
Yeah, yeah. And my standby for this movie.
Is 2 decades. Later and this franchise still
manages to. Adapt and evolve.
And be relevant even has this questioning our digital future.

(02:02:23):
I think that's very relevant, yeah.
I think like this movie, it it came.
Out in 2023, so you know. Obviously relevant to our times
and I think it's still going to be relevant as like we move
forward with AI and like as people adapt to two way and use
it. So where does the dead reckoning
haircut fall for you? Dead reckoning haircut.

(02:02:44):
This is going to fall right? At 5.
Damn. OK, I think I know.
OK, then one. Spot left for.
Final Reckoning, Yeah, if I I had one complaint about this
movie is that they kill off my BAE Ilya Faust.
And replaced her with a. Younger woman called Grace and I

(02:03:07):
don't know, like Grace is cool and all but it just felt that
they were trying to give Tom Cruise a younger.
Costar. A younger female fatale.
I don't know. I I understand why like in in
the movie, it makes sense because, you know, there had to
be like some kind of sacrifice, like there had to be some stakes

(02:03:28):
to really sell. Like this film?
Yes. Someone on like the IMF or
someone had to die someone. On Ethan's side, yeah.
And unfortunately, it was. The best character.
Elia Faust Yeah. What I didn't like about this is
not only did they. Kill her off to give Tom Cruise

(02:03:49):
this really ham fisted romance with Hayley Atwell Grace.
But I didn't like that Ethan basically had no reaction to it.
I mean, we didn't linger on her death at all.
We didn't see him mourning her at all.
And I think Ilsa Faust was the one character that made Tom

(02:04:11):
Cruise really question whether or not he can have a life doing
what he does. And and that mutual
understanding between him and Ilsa, I think in a way made them
the perfect match. I know there was never an
explicit romantic moment betweenthese two characters, but I

(02:04:34):
think they actually made the most sense because they had that
mutual understanding and they were both in the same field.
And, you know, I love Luther. I love Benji, don't get me
wrong, But I think Ilsa was Ethan's best ally throughout

(02:04:55):
these movies, and I was really, really upset to see her go.
Yeah, same like when they introduced.
Grace, I was like, Oh. Man, this.
I know where this is going. And then where did it go?
Yup, it's like OK. Wasn't I happy?
About that. But no, neither was I.

(02:05:18):
It was a creative choice. So who am I?
To argue with that all, I'm going to.
Say is I did not like it, me neither.
But yeah, so we get the end of dead reckoning, which felt.
Like the? The movie it did have its own
story, but it was not self-contained.
It obviously kind of like ended on somewhat of a cliffhanger
like obviously the stakes in thefur and dead reckoning it had

(02:05:42):
its own heist. It had its own like you know
goals and stakes that had to be accomplished first.
So it really like the end I think even well, at the time
that the movie came out, they were calling it Mission
Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1.
So it was, it was, it was obvious that it was going to end

(02:06:02):
on some kind of like middle highnote.
And two years later we. Get Mission Impossible.
The final. Reckoning.
Which? Wow.
What a send off. To like the whole entire
franchise, like what this movie,like I said, like after Ghost

(02:06:27):
Protocol, it's like, how are they going to keep on making it
good? And that reckoning is so fucking
good. Like, how are you going to like,
how, how are you going to be able to like to, you know, match
that or top that and, you know, give a conclusion that feels
satisfactory? Like, how are you going to do
that? That's what I was wondering
watching this movie, 'cause thismovie's fucking long.

(02:06:49):
It's three hours. Yeah.
So like, I'm watching. I'm like, all right.
How are they gonna do it? And you know what this film
does? It fucking executes.
Because how's this movie open? It gives you like a quick
summary of everything that went down in Dead Reckoning while
also moving the plot forward. Like this movie did not feel

(02:07:12):
overstuffed or complicated, and just like the pacing that it
went at, it was good. I can't tell you how relieved I.
Am to hear. That you liked.
The. Final Reckoning because the the
reception to this movie was decidedly mixed when it first
came out. Really.
Yes. And I have to be honest with

(02:07:34):
you, I don't think I have ever seen an audience be more wrong
about a movie than they are about the Final Reckoning.
Because the the whole marketing scheme for this movie was the
Tom Cruise scene saying I need you to trust me one more time.
And I think that had a very metatextual element to it to where

(02:07:59):
Tom Cruise, the actor was askingaudiences to trust him one more
time and show up for one last Mission Impossible movie.
You know, because they are framing this like it's the last
movie in the franchise. And in my opinion, I, I think
Tom Cruise, Christopher Mcquarrie delivered the goods.

(02:08:22):
I, I thought this was an amazingsend off to the franchise.
One thing that I really, really liked about this movie was the
tone. I think every Mission Impossible
movie prior to this one has, I don't want to say a light
hearted tone, but it has this kind of fun, thrilling sort of

(02:08:46):
action style to it. Whereas The Final Reckoning,
this movie is somber, like it's serious.
You know it moves and behaves with the weight of, like you
said, a world that is on. The verge of nuclear.

(02:09:09):
Armageddon this movie is is a lot darker.
And more serious. Compared to every other movie in
the franchise. And I think it has this amazing
sense of urgency that the other the other movies just don't like
every interaction Ethan has withall these different people,

(02:09:31):
whether it's on the aircraft carrier or the submarine.
It's like, you know, I can't give you the details of what I
am doing, but it is of the utmost importance that this gets
done. And the the just the willingness
that all of these people show toto put their faith in Ethan, to

(02:09:57):
pull this off, even though thereare a few characters in the film
that are acting as oppositional forces, even apart from Gabriel.
I think that and I think that like that was brilliant because
like it just goes to show like the.
Paranoia. Of like there are people who are
genuinely afraid of the entity, so much so that they that that

(02:10:19):
overrode. Their rational.
Thought and they they acted as you said, like as as roadblocks
to to Ethan Hunt's mission, bothwith him, like the people around
him, like, you know, like the submarine where like one guy
trusts like yeah. And also like, you know, back
home like to like the the government, like the US.
Government. The Secretary of Defense and the

(02:10:40):
general like they wanted to takecontrol of the.
Entity because of course you know, there's there's that kind
of like military Jangoism where they think we we can do it.
Yeah, but no one else can Exactly.
So it's like this movie. It's where.
Everything it does, it's like itreally did it this.

(02:11:00):
This does feel like. A swan song to like the whole
franchise because not only does is it like AI mean not only is
it a sequel to like a direct sequel to dead Reckoning, but it
also has like callbacks. It it does a lot of callbacks to
like all the movies throughout like the history.
It's so much so that they get back the character, fuck, what's

(02:11:24):
his name, Don Low. Don Low.
He was a character that he was only she showed briefly in
Mission Impossible 1. He had a very minor role in that
movie and that was it. He only showed up in Mission
Impossible. 130 years later, he's back again.
You know, relevant to the story because there's a reason why

(02:11:44):
they meet him again in Final Reckoning.
And he has like, more like, not agency, but he has more screen
time in this movie. Like he he becomes someone like
who is very relevant in like saving the world.
Yeah. And the reason he has such an
instrumental role of it is? A direct consequence of what

(02:12:04):
happens in the first Mission Impossible film.
Yeah. Like it's not all for nothing.
Like we see, I think, the first hour of this movie.
So many people criticize the first hour of this movie.
You're wrong. I'm sorry, but you need all of
that set up in. Order for.
The, the payoff to be effective because like you said, I think

(02:12:29):
it's pretty clear that even though Dead Reckoning left on
this cliffhanger, it very much felt like its own story, at
least in the sense that it had its own stakes, its own mission
and its own objectives. Like we're introducing all of
these characters for the first time, like Grace, like Pom

(02:12:50):
Clementief's character, the French assassin woman.
You know, we're, we're trying toload the bases, so to speak, But
before we can really, you know, bring it all home, I think the
final reckoning still has to laythat groundwork.
And I think the first hour is absolutely necessary.

(02:13:13):
Yeah. And I think the most brilliant
thing that The Final Reckoning does is reveal to the audience.
What the rabbit's? Foot is bro.
That's what I was gonna talk about.
I was gonna say I'm. Gonna throw it to Jesse because.
He brought this up. Yup.
But I would be remiss if I didn't mention it.

(02:13:35):
Yup, chat, you know, here's likethat pain I told you to hold
earlier. Here, in the final reckoning, we
finally get it. Explained although.
Personally, I think it's a reckon.
But we finally get it explained what the rabbit's foot is.
Turns out the rabbit's foot was not some virus.
It was not some, you know, nuclear war or it wasn't like a

(02:13:58):
bioweapon. Yeah, it wasn't a bioweapon or
nothing of that. It was fucking.
Code. It was code.
Relevant to. You know the plot.
It was code. Relevant in the you know,
stopping or like controlling theentity.
It was it, it was just, I don't know, Like I understand why
they. Did it because they want to like

(02:14:19):
tie. In every movie.
But it really felt like, all right, this, this, this is like
a retcon where I'm like, because, you know, Mission
Impossible. Was it 3 where the rabbit's foot
gets introduced? That was in 2006.
So you're going to tell me that,you know, this code that was
written in 2006 is so advanced that it's still relevant in

(02:14:41):
2025? That was kind of like where I
was kind of iffy about it because if this AI is so
advanced, like this code would be like not redundant, but just
obscure at this point because the AI would would have already
been like self learning and self-taught with all like the
new algorithms that were invented after that.
So that was like my only gripe with like, you know, them

(02:15:03):
revealing what the rabbit's footis.
Like I liked it better when it was a mystery and we didn't know
what it was. It was just like the Mac Guffin
of the story. But in this movie, that's like
my only gripe is that they actually gave it like this is
what the rabbit's foot is. I'm going to be honest, I
thought it was brilliant. No, I thought.
It was brilliant to bring everything.

(02:15:25):
Full circle and to actually. Like you said, more or less
serialize the entire franchise. I mean, I think the final
reckoning is to Mission Impossible and I hate that I'm
making this comparison because Idon't like.

(02:15:45):
This. Movie.
But I think the Final Reckoning is basically the end game of the
Mission Impossible franchise, except the Final Reckoning
actually has storytelling and filmmaking, unlike Avengers end
game. That's a shot now, I feel.

(02:16:05):
That and I do like like a lot ofthese.
We're not. Allowed these.
Movies, but like, you know, whenyou go from rogue nation to
Fallout, there was a reasonable like time gap between the movies
or not like not like in universelike it it had been like several
months since Solomon had been captured, blah, blah, blah.

(02:16:25):
From dead reckoning to final reckoning, it's only a two
months difference. The final reckoning opens like
it's only it's only been two months later.
So like if you're binging these like, oh, like it just dives
right back in. So like the way it does that,
like the way that this movie, like it's like, like we're
saying like it ties everything together.

(02:16:46):
It's like, it's not just an ending, but it's like a love
letter to the franchise itself with lots of like meaningful
nods to the franchise's roots, which I do like that it does
that. Like from getting back, like an
obscure character, just like to like bring it home.
Like how? Like how dire the consequences

(02:17:07):
were from Mission Impossible 1 all the way up to now.
Like Final Reckoning, it does a lot of.
Things right like. And and if that's my only gripe,
my gripe being that that the rabbits put was reckoned that's
come on, like how are people going to be?
I don't like I don't understand how people can be like we're

(02:17:28):
have mixed feelings about this movie where when it's like like,
OK, a fallout is a quintessential when it was
Fallout or rogue nation. Ro.
Nation was what we said, the quintessential spy Mission
Impossible movie, but Final Reckoning just fucking nails
everything like it's it's the accumulation of everything this

(02:17:50):
franchise had had been moving towards, even if it didn't know
that's what it was moving towards and the fact that it was
an AI, like I think that that's what's going.
To make that that is what? Is going to cement this
franchise if they never make another Mission Impossible movie
again. This is what's going to cement
like this franchise as as like afranchise that is still relevant

(02:18:12):
in no matter of times. Of course, 40 years from now, AI
is gonna be better than it was. Before and this movie.
Will still be relevant yeah, like the dangers are still there
like the the dangers that the the.
Dangers. Of AI that these movies present
very, very realistic scenarios. I think the meta commentary.

(02:18:34):
Of the AI. Threat in The Final Reckoning is
one of its strongest aspects, not only because it's relevant
and we're seeing AI evolve in real time right now, but because
I I genuinely do believe that there is this meta level of

(02:18:59):
storytelling where throughout the movie it's it's.
Kind of similar in. The sense that it's similar to
Top Gun in the sense that Top Gun is the movie striving to
prove that. That movie.
Stars and and efforts still matter.

(02:19:21):
I think the final reckoning in in a sort of similar but
roundabout way. Throughout the movie, we get
this constant refrain of Ethan. Being the only.
One who can stop this AI from destroying the world.
I think. On a meta level, this movie is

(02:19:44):
saying Tom Cruise is the only person that can save us from AI
produced films. Like, you know, maybe I'm, I'm
reading. Too much into?
It, but I think there is a genuine element of.

(02:20:04):
This movie that is trying to suggest that Tom.
Cruise and Christopher. Mcquarrie and everyone here
involved in the final reckoning that they are kind of the last
stand against AI production. Yeah, ChatGPT could not have
written the. Script for these movies like.

(02:20:25):
It could have probably given youlike, you know.
A surface. Level first grade, you know,
synopsis or outline for Dead Reckoning or final Reckoning,
but it would not have been able to give like the nuance in depth
and like paranoia and just like levels of distrust that these
movies present to you. And I think there there's like a

(02:20:49):
line that. That Ethan Hunt says that, I
think. Is like that that is showing
like that, that that is showing why he's the only character that
can stop the entity. And it happens in dead Reckoning
when he's talking to Grace whereshe asks where was she
presented? Like kind of like the choice
like to join to join our our ourrag, our ragtag group of IMF

(02:21:11):
agents where she asked him, we can you like, can you protect me
or are you going to promise keepme safe?
And Luther's like yes. And Ethan's like, no, I can't
make that promise because this is after the death of Ilya
Faust. But he says like, but he says
something to the effect of but what I can't promise is that
your life will always matter to me more than my own.
And I think that line was very telling because only like

(02:21:36):
that's, that's the way that Ethan Hunt thinks.
And it's because. Like he doesn't place.
That much value in his life thathe is like the only person
capable of stopping the entity whereas everyone else would have
put their lives ahead. Ethan Hunt is like the only
person who does not care about his life in to like that regard.

(02:21:57):
Not to say that he's like suicidal or yeah, it's not from
a nihilistic standpoint. It's from like knowing.
That like there like he cares more about like.
Saving others that he cares about.
Saving his own individual life. And you know, he said that in
Dead Reckoning, but like, I think that was.
Very telling of. Like why it's it's his character

(02:22:21):
that can is that can save like the world.
It's because that he's it's he'slike that that he was able to
like, you know, stop the entity.Yeah, I think sorry, I was
sorry. I was to say it real quick.
In classic you know, Mission Impossible fashion by.
Barely doing at the last, savingthe world at the very last

(02:22:41):
second. You're like, that was the one
thing, like where it was kind ofpredictable, like, all right, I
know how this movie's going to end.
They're barely going to be able to get like, you know, save it,
save the world at the very last second, as always.
Yeah, I think. Something that's interesting
about The Final Reckoning is that this is the the first

(02:23:05):
movie, which is interesting because it's it's the last movie
potentially in the Mission Impossible franchise to elevate
Ethan Hunt to this God like superhuman status.
Earlier in the film, we see thatLuther has apparently

(02:23:26):
mysteriously been dealing with it a chronically terminal
illness. Yeah.
That was kind of that was like kind of out of left field that
kind of came out of nowhere. Yeah.
Which and it didn't even really matter.
Anyway, since he ended up. Dying.
Yeah. Not from his sickness, but from
Gabriel. Yeah.
And I'm going to touch on Gabriel.
After. But just I I thought I was kind

(02:23:48):
of, that was weird. That was like a weird.
No, I agree. That was that was something that
I wasn't crazy about. Yeah.
But prior to Luther's death scene, he and Ethan have this
conversation. And Luther, you know, tells him
you have always been on the right side of things.
Even when everybody told you that you were doing the wrong

(02:24:12):
thing, that you were going against, you know, your people,
your government, your country, you were always in the right.
Like, just endlessly propping him up.
And then Grace, he has a similarscene with Grace where she tells
him You were the only person I trust to actually use the entity

(02:24:35):
for good. When he.
It's when he tells her that there is no country, there is no
government or military power on the planet that is capable of
controlling the entity. It has to be destroyed.
She said that's not true. Someone is capable of
controlling it. And he said who would you
possibly trust with that kind ofpower?

(02:24:58):
And she says you like, people are constantly elevating him to
this near mythic status in the final reckoning.
And yeah, I think it very much comes from a place of the
mission. Impossible.
Narrative. But I I couldn't help but think
that there is a reading of this film to where you can make the

(02:25:23):
interpretation that they're saying that Tom Cruise is the
only person who can save Hollywood.
Yeah, yeah. And I mean, you know, not, not
to derail the conversation, but look at how.
Things have gone with Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts and, you

(02:25:46):
know, cutting Superman's theatrical run short.
Like, I'm so upset about that. Me too.
But the. Point is, you know Tom Cruise.
Movies, Top Gun, Maverick, Mission Impossible, Dead
Reckoning, The Final Reckoning. You know, because those are the
post COVID Mission Impossible films.

(02:26:07):
These movies have held the line,you know, like we're going to
stay in theaters. You're only going to watch these
movies in theaters until an appropriate amount of time has
passed. But some movies just like, just
look better in theater like. I oh.
Man, I wish I had seen Ghost Protocol in theaters,

(02:26:29):
specifically IMAX because fuck, fuck, I would have loved to
like, you know, been in like in a been in a room where like, you
know, big ass screen and just like, you know, like the like
just Ethan Hunt's character looking down over like, you
know, like the city of Dubai, like that would have looked
fucking amazing on a big ass screen.

(02:26:49):
Instead, you know, I had to watch it on my dad's 80 inch.
Yeah. I know what you mean.
I I. I just.
Think the final reckoning. Gets so much right.
It is. It is genuinely a love letter to
the franchise while also being an effective story in its own

(02:27:11):
right. No joke, I teared up maybe 6
times and it's it's probably because I'm such a big fan of
the franchise. But like you said, I think it
was in the mental health episodethat.

(02:27:31):
If a movie can. Elicit that kind of reaction in
anybody, then it's clearly doingsomething right.
Yeah. And I do think there was just
this this heart and end finalityto the final reckoning that that
really was effective. And I think it was because this

(02:27:56):
movie was so radically differentin its tone compared to the rest
of the movies in the franchise. And even though it's it's almost
3 hours long, I think the pacingand just the sheer urgency with
which everyone has to operate inthis movie, it doesn't feel like

(02:28:17):
it's three hours. I mean, I when I rewatched it
for this episode, I couldn't believe that the movie was over
because I felt like I wasn't really doing anything.
Like I didn't feel like I was spending three hours watching a
movie. I had started it, and then the

(02:28:38):
next thing I knew, it was over. I'm like, oh, right.
OK. Yeah, yeah.
No, I like if. Anyone can if?
Anyone's like genuinely like? Complaining about this film like
are are we watching the same movie Have you have you been
keeping up with the same franchise like this movie it
does a lot of things right and like this is something we were

(02:29:02):
texting about Gabriel like in the first movie or not sorry in
the first movie in Dead Reckoning, if it was, you know,
calm, collected cold, you know thinking that he's in control in
this movie he's got more agency as you he said yeah, he's got
more agency. He's more reckless, I think.
So he's he doesn't like in this time, like now.

(02:29:23):
He he's been abandoned. By the the entity, because in
dead reckoning he was a, you know, a slave to the entity.
And that's why, you know, Ethan Hunt hit him with that, that
that badass line. You know, there's nowhere you or
your God can hide from me. Like, you know, who is his God,
the entity in final reckoning? You know, his God forsakes him.
So now is now Gabriel is another, you know, party that

(02:29:45):
wants to control the entity. And because of that, you know,
he because he begins to act morereckless and he tries to like
hurt Ethan and like more like he, I mean, obviously in in dead
reckoning, he he killed Ilya andthen then final reckoning, he
kills Luther or he's like least responsible for his death.

(02:30:09):
And it's just the the switch that Gabriel went to.
Like, I I liked it because it would have been, I think, boring
if he was still like the same character from directing.
Yeah, I think so. Like, because they're both.
And at the end of the day, like they're.
Both movies have like the same. Villains, you know, Gabriel and
the entity, but whereas the entity does not change, it's

(02:30:31):
Gabriel that changes. And I think that adds like, you
know, an element of like a refreshing element in, you know,
the final movie. I agree.
Gabriel has more agency, and he has his own.
Motivations in the final reckoning, which I think makes
him a stronger sort of overt antagonist to Ethan.

(02:30:52):
And obviously we get the unbelievable showdown between
these two in the biplane sequence at the end of the film,
which I just, I have no words for.
Yeah, because Tom Cruise is wingwalking in 2025.

(02:31:17):
And. He's he's doing all of this.
Crazy. Stuff at 62, at 62 on these
biplanes and. But I'm 30, I don't.
Even think I could do that. Like I told you, I almost don't
even want. To know how it was.
Done because I just as I was watching it, I truly felt like.

(02:31:41):
I was watching. Magic unfold.
It was unbelievable to see theseplanes thousands of feet above
the ground. And Tom Cruise is just
navigating these planes like it's it's nothing.
And again, you can tell that there's this this real sense of
punch and weight to these sequences like these aren't CGI

(02:32:07):
because you can see the G forcesagainst Tom Cruise's face and
his hair, like how intense it itmust actually be and the kind of
strength he has to have to fightagainst those G forces and pull
himself onto the wing over to the cockpit at 62.

(02:32:29):
Yeah. And how much you can see how
much he struggles to punch Gabriel and even the pilot from
the first plane. Like it takes so much effort
because of how high up he is and, and just the speed they're
travelling at. It's just it's, I mean, no other

(02:32:51):
franchise is doing stuff like this.
And I'm not saying you need to put your life on the line for
the audience's entertainment, but I think.
It's it's. Just so obvious that Mission
Impossible and Tom Cruise is committed to entertaining the

(02:33:13):
audience and delivering this sort of big screen spectacle.
And I have to be honest with you, I'm kind of afraid of
living in a post Mission Impossible cinematic landscape
because I don't know where that leaves us.

(02:33:35):
I mean honestly, like. After Atopic and Maverick where
I was like you. Know I kind of see your side
about, you know Tom Cruise beinglike the.
Last American like true icon or whatever.
After watching this movie, I am genuinely going to be sad.
When Tom Cruise passes. Because just like the level of

(02:33:57):
star power that he brought to like this franchise and like
what he continues to do in like the movies that he's in, like,
like you said, like I don't like, I don't think we're going
to take another person like that.
And like, same thing. Like we're give it like 20
years. They're probably going to reboot
Mission Impossible again, unfortunately.
But I don't think like it's not going to hit the same as these

(02:34:20):
movies. Like I don't think like the
practical effects that they theycan add, you know, like those
elements of stunts and practicaleffects, but I don't think like
they're going to like reach the highs that that that that
happened here in Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise.
Because yeah, like I mentioned to you, but when I started
watching like that, that biplanescene, I was like, OK, another

(02:34:42):
plane scene. But this No, but yeah, no, he,
he subverted my expectations. You know, he made like that
plane. Oh, bro, I was, I was, I was
like terrified. Like just imagining like if that
was me up there on the plane, like, no, no parachute hanging
on by, you know, twisting my, my, my legs around like the,

(02:35:04):
the, the pipe of the plane. Oh, man.
So just seeing like it, it was really like, intense, like
action scene or stunt and everything.
Then, you know, like the guy, like Gabriel flipping the plane
around. So now he's holding on for dear
life. Yeah.
And it's like, yo. And then you know the way that

(02:35:24):
Gabriel. Dies at the end like he's.
Done by his own arrogance. Yeah, like his own arrogance,
you know, which is kind of like ironic given like in Dead
Reckoning, he was so calm, collected, so like sure of
himself. And then like now I'm like in,
in final wrecking, like towards like his final moment, he kind
of devolves and takes like, you know, like that stereotypical

(02:35:44):
villain for like he thinks he's going to get away and like
starts making like dumb decisions and then boom, he
dies. And then you have like, you
know, Tom Cruise. Like flying?
A burning down plane jumps off or gets out of the plane
Parachutes. Down.
And the first one just goes up and yeah, I was like, oh.

(02:36:07):
Shit, yeah, And it's like at the.
Same time while this is happening, Ethan.
Hunt, you know. Has to put these put these two
things together in order to defeat the defeat the entity
like he's got his crew, he's gothis teammates and over down by
where the entity is currently residing and like in order for

(02:36:29):
them to defeat the entity, they both have to like do this thing
to plug Luther's poison pill into.
The entity's. Source code, Yup.
Yeah. And at the same time, while he
does that on the other side of where?
Like his team is they have to, you know, be able to like once
he does that, they have like 100milliseconds to disconnect like

(02:36:52):
the USB where the, the, the the AI is going to be stored.
Like the poison pill is going totake the AI and like, just
transfer it over there. And from there, like, yeah, like
I said, in the blink of an eye, Grace has to like pull out the
USB. So like by so, so, so the AI
only has time to be transferred into it and not enough time to

(02:37:14):
like, you know, launch nuclear Armageddon.
Sounds convoluted. It is, but they do it.
What separates a good pickpocketfrom a great one?
Ah, yeah, that line was also hard, yeah.

(02:37:34):
But yeah, but yeah, like. The the stunt.
Was like the plane the plane. The plane singing and like the
whole burning parachute jump, Yeah, like, that was ah, man,
Tom Cruise. You're too fucking cool, man.
He is. He he is so.
Dedicated to his craft and, and curating this image as the

(02:38:00):
champion of the cinematic experience.
And I, I really think he's succeeded.
Yeah, I think so too. Wow.
There you go, Chad. And that was just a summary for
like just running through all these.
Movies. Yeah, obviously the mission,
possible final reckoning. Haircut number.

(02:38:22):
I already started like where allthe other ones were, but yeah,
it's gonna be #6 Six. Yeah, damn.
You know what? I can.
See why his hair kind of grew shaggy?
In this one, yeah. Yeah.
But you know what? It makes sense story wise
because. You know he's.
Weathered. He's he's, you know, they're in
a race against the clock. Yeah.
And this was like the movie where like I.

(02:38:44):
I feel we're not. I didn't feel I just just the
way he looked like he actually did look, or I mean, he didn't
look his age, but he like you say he looked weathered.
Yeah, because like for I mean, Tom Cruise looks very fucking
good for like yeah, too. Like obviously I think he's
probably gonna work done. But he also like I think he also
like keeps in shape. So like he he looks, he looks

(02:39:05):
good. But it wasn't, it was until like
this movie where like you can see the wrinkles in his face.
Yeah, like he, he's not like that young, you know, short
hair, frosted tip. Youth.
He was in Mission Impossible one.
He's he's weathered down and youknow, I feel like that that
added like the emotional weight and just like more like gravitas

(02:39:27):
to like what like the stakes were of this mission, because it
really did feel like his final mission.
It did because even like the final, like the final scene is
just him seeing like all like his team and everyone just going
their separate ways. Who knows where if they might
mean the future. We don't know.
The future is uncertain. But what we do know is that the

(02:39:47):
world is a better place because of Ethan Hunt.
Yes, absolutely. Just like the world is a better.
Place. Because of Tom Cruise.
Yeah. Absolutely.
Abso fucking lutely. All right, Chet, so.
You've listened. To us like you know.
Run. Run down like.

(02:40:07):
All 8 movies. Yep.
So now very, very well. I say.
Very. Quickly, we'll see.
We'll see this actually quickly.But we're going to get into like
the villains from each movie, just real quick.
Mission Impossible one, which which I'm going to tie back into
Final Reckoning main villain JimPhelps, who you know, is like a

(02:40:30):
tie or not. Not necessarily a tie in, but
kind of a tie in to the TV show.Because Jim Phelps is a
character in the TV original TV show and in the in the original
TV show, he was a good guy. He was kind of like the Ethan
Hunt of Mission Impossible the TV show and then what they did
here, what at Mission Impossibleone was they flipped it and they

(02:40:53):
made him the villain. And according to my research,
some fans of the original TV series did not like that.
But since I was not a fan or I didn't know any of that
backlord, that did not affect mylike my view and experience of
the movie. But I Jim Phelps villain like,
you know, classic trope of, you know, it's your boss who ends

(02:41:15):
up. Being like the villain all.
Along. So that's what the main villain
was in Mission Impossible One. I don't really have much to say
about him because you know. I guess it's like the betrayal
at the. End where it felt like, oh shit,
he's a villain. But to that point, you think
that he's on Ethan Hunt's side. But one thing I do like about

(02:41:37):
this franchise. Is like the villains get.
Better, yes. Even Mission Impossible 2.
I think that was a better villain.
Like the? The actually, no, I take that
back. I'm sorry.
Now I take that back. Ambrose is not a better villain.
Scratch that from the record. No, I I will put Jim Phelps over
Ambrose, but OK. Mission Impossible 2.
Ambrose The, the, the, the sexual horn dog.

(02:41:58):
Yeah. Villain.
You know, it's kinda like, like,like like we've been saying
Mission Impossible 2. The weakest.
In Sean Down Bad Ambrose. Yep.
The the second movie, The weakest in the.
Franchise. I think the villain.
Too even like, like his reasons for once, like, you know, infect

(02:42:21):
a a country with a virus are kind of like, like he, he's kind
of like a super superficial villain, I think.
Yeah. And see that was.
Honestly, the only addition I had what you said about Jim.
Phelps is that his motivations were incredibly weak.
He wasn't getting paid enough. Like, just whatever.

(02:42:41):
Yeah. So first two villains kind of
like, eh, whatever, yeah. Mission Impossible 3.
Honestly, like one of the best villains, yeah.
Like the stakes? Like the stakes?
In three are not as high as all the other movies, but the
villain just like just the dude was like so cold and very like
like he he threatens Ethan like when Ethan first captures him.

(02:43:04):
He what's his name, Dadon Owen Davian Davian.
I called him Otto earlier for some God forsaken.
Reason, but his name's Owen Davian.
Owen Davian when he's initially captured by Ethan Hunt and his
team. He he threatens Ethan like, you
know, through handcuffs. He's like, I'm going to find
your family. I'm going to kill them right in
front of you and then I'm going to kill you.

(02:43:27):
Movie proceeds. He escapes.
He's. He ends up capturing Julia.
And killing Julia in front of him.
Yeah. And like.
But. I didn't think he was gonna do
it and. He's just.
So cold and nonchalant about it.He's just.
Asked him. Where's the rabbit's foot?
You have 10 seconds to tell me or else she's dead.

(02:43:48):
Like, there is no hesitation. I mean, Philip Seymour Hoffman
just gives it his all, like he did in every role.
But I Yeah, Owen Davian is a huge reason that Mission
Impossible 3 is elevated to a different level, especially in
those early days of the franchise.

(02:44:09):
I think Owen Davian is a big, big reason that that movie is
really good. Yeah, yeah.
Solid villain. Let me get Ghost Protocol.
Amazing movie, extremely weak villain.
Yeah. Because I'm, I was thinking like

(02:44:29):
I was like literally struggling like right now thinking.
Who was the villain for? Because I I I know what the
like, like the whole story was what was the conflict is Yeah,
the conflict like who was like really like like the villain.
There's just some. Dude who want to.
Blow up or send a a nuclear strike via VSLA ghost protocol.

(02:44:51):
As much as I liked it like the villain high I not memorable.
That might be the one thing thatholds it back.
I I didn't. Even realize that until I was
thinking about it right now. Like damn my.
Favorite movie and I can't remember like the villain or
like why he was motivated to do what he wanted to do.
He's just kind of a a faceless European goon.

(02:45:16):
Yeah. So sorry.
Yeah, sorry, Chad, I don't. Have anything to say about
Ghost? Protocol Rogue Nation Now we're
back to the good villains. Solomon Lane, definitely.
I think he has a case for being the the best just.
In terms of like I said, well, he's like the leader.

(02:45:36):
Yeah, but but to why I should say, like you said, you can make
the argument that Rogue Nation is the Mission Impossible movie
with the spies, the double agents, the betrayals, the
double cross, the triple cross, the allegiances, the secrecies,
the espionage, and most importantly the Syndicate, the

(02:45:59):
shadow organization that basically rivals the IMFI think
there is a a serious case to be made that Solomon Lane is the
best villain in the entire franchise purely because he is
kind of the the archetypal spy movie villain.
Like that's what you look for, Yeah.

(02:46:20):
When you watch. Something like Mission
Impossible, and he's competent, like he's smart, he's extremely
competent. He's playing like these.
Mind games with Ethan where evenlike Ethan is like.
This is what Solomon wants. Us to wants you to do yeah and
like no no one believes I think it was it like no one believes
that Solomon is a real person. No yeah no one believes in the
movie no one believes that the syndicate is a real

(02:46:42):
organization. They all think that Ethan Hutt
is chasing a shadow. So when Ethan Hutt is saying
like oh this is exactly what Solomon wants us to do or
whatever everyone's kind of likebro where are you on yeah I
think that's what makes like Solomon Lane just like a great
villain like he's smart calculated.
He doesn't really like act out unless like he like until like,

(02:47:05):
you know, he loses, But like very like excellent villain,
like like like like like you've been saying, like he's very
efficient. Yes, like Rogue Nation is like
the quintessential like mission.Impossible Movie.
Has like the best villain and like even like Gabriel.
Like Gabriel, it's not until Final Reckoning where he starts

(02:47:27):
like acting for himself, like Dead Reckoning.
He's cool. I like Gabriel, but Solomon
Lane, he has his own agency and he's the one running this shadow
organization. So it's like you have to be a
certain level of ruthless and smart.
Yeah, to be able to run this shadow OPS that with the world
like world governments don't believe exist.

(02:47:49):
So, yeah, villain, best villain in the franchise.
Solomon Lane, I'm inclined to agree.
Yeah, because he's he's both thevillain for Rogue Nation and
Fallout, although Fallout by youcould make the argument that
Walker is. Yeah, but he's kind of a
secondary. Let's go with the kind of like 2
villains, yeah, Because, well, Ithink Walker is kind of the.

(02:48:10):
More physical threat in that. Movie whereas lane is still
trying to occupy the the more global stakes and the
intellectual threat to Ethan yeah yeah and emotional because
obviously he plants. One of those.

(02:48:30):
Bombs where? Julia is for a very specific
reason. Yeah.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
I thought that was smart. You know, like they brought.
They they brought. Back, you know, Julia and you
know, they tied her into the store like it wasn't just like a
cute little cameo. It was it was it was like, no,
she there's a specific reason why, you know, Ethan Hunt just

(02:48:52):
happened to run into her. It wasn't a coincidence, not at
all. Yep, it wasn't the entity either
or it was written. But you know.
That was, that was, you know, that was Solomon Lane's like,
you know, villainy genius. Yeah.
That was this genius at work. Exactly.
And then we get like, you know, dead reckoning, final reckoning,
where the main. Antagonist or villain is the

(02:49:14):
entity, you know, this, this nebulous artificial
intelligence. It's like the only tangential
villain that we have to focus onis Gabriel and like the
antagonistic forces against Ethan Hunt.
Like I was going to bring this up from Jim Phelps.
There is a character in that's introduced in, I think, Dead

(02:49:35):
Reckoning that we later learned in Final Reckoning is the son of
Jim Phelps. Yeah.
It's like I said, like everything is just Final
Reckoning is just tying everything together.
Yeah. But yeah, in terms of, like, I
think it does it well. Yeah, it does it well.
It feeds into. Like this notion of.
Legacy in the franchise yeah in regards to like villain like the

(02:49:59):
entity, I don't know because it's AII don't know like if I
want to call it like you know like a good villain or will it
or or whatever, because at the end of the day, the the entity
is just AI and all they did was just like self learn from what
they was taught like I would I mean it is the villain of the

(02:50:19):
story, but. I feel like.
It it, it doesn't compare to like the villain that was.
Solomon Lane, where it felt. That this one was more I guess,
I guess I guess my I guess my problem is that the villains
were human and then the last oneis like it's AI.
Yeah. So you kind of you kind of just
like hand wave it away. Like there's like it's not
personal. Like when they defeat the AI, it

(02:50:41):
doesn't really feel like personal.
Yeah. Versus like when they defeat
Solomon Lane or when he when Ethan Hunt beats Davian or
defeats Gabriel, like those feellike, you know, there's a
there's a certain cathartic relief that I feel.
Yeah, a certain triumph that I feel when he's when he defeats
these villains. And while I do like the concept

(02:51:03):
of the entity and how the way that AI is used, I don't know
how I feel about it as a villainbecause I got, I got.
I'm going to give that to Gabriel.
But at the end of the. Day, like Gabriel, was a pawn.
To the entity, yeah. So I guess, Chad, I'm going to
circle back on this. Because.
We've been. Rambling for almost 3 hours and

(02:51:24):
I did say that this is the season finale of Below the Line
podcast but what I didn't tell you that this is Part 1 this is.
Below the Line podcast. Episode. 24 Dead Reckoning, Part
1. Because there's still more shit

(02:51:46):
that we have to talk about. Mission Impossible, like all all
we all we did, all we did was give you the summary and our
thoughts, you know, and some banter.
But there's still a lot left to discuss about this film.
There is, yes, I know you need abreak.
We need a break. So.

(02:52:07):
We're going to. Pause it here.
In terms of like the the the scope.
That we're talking about mission.
Impossible. We're going to stop right here
with the villains. Yeah.
But rest assured, we're going tofinish off this conversation.
Because. This conversation.
Is not done chat. We still got to talk about the
thematic value in the in this franchise, like the the legacy

(02:52:30):
from all like the films like what they contribute, like
there's still more things to discuss.
MM hmm, on on this episode and we will deliver that to you.
But right now, I hope you enjoyed this whole conversation,
the enthusiasm that has been brought to this this

(02:52:51):
conversation, because it's it's fucking incredible because prior
to this, I, like I said, I had not watched any Mission
Impossible movies. So just the fact that like, just
bingeing all these movies in a week, it just has me like so
hyped up to talk about these movies because like, they're
really fucking great. Like as much of a snob.

(02:53:14):
That, Dylan is. He gets it right.
He gets a lot of things right when it comes to film, guys.
Like what he. Says, you know, Tom Cruise is
my, is like the last true American icon mega star.
There's a reason he said that. And, you know, I finally
understand. I'm glad you do.

(02:53:36):
Look. Guys, I'm not going to milk it
anymore because we have been yapping, but there is a lot left
to say. I mean this is.
Like I said this. Is a franchise that I have truly
grown to love to an unbelievabledegree.
And there's. Still a lot left to say.

(02:53:59):
I mean, not just about the themes and the legacy of the
franchise, but how each individual installment helped
build something that's going to last for who knows how long.
And we haven't even discussed the supporting characters.
And maybe after. Yeah.
No, this is all have been about.Yeah, maybe after taking a

(02:54:23):
pause. We'll have something to say
about. The villains.
So we'll see you next week, because sometimes season finales
do have two parts. Shout out to lost JJ Abrams.
So yeah, this has. Been Below the Line podcast

(02:54:46):
episode. 24 season 1 finale deadreckoning Part 1 Well said and
with that being said, chat. Thank you for tuning in.
Thank you for sitting down with us and listening to U.S. chat
about Mission Impossible. Behold that thought because you
know the thought is not over. We will be back to give you the

(02:55:07):
true final reckoning. Yes, to be continued.
Thank you for listening. Everybody that's going to do it
for today, we hope you join us next week.
Other than that, the single. And most effective?
Way to support the show is to follow us on Spotify, but you

(02:55:28):
can of course find the show on various other podcast hosting
platforms if you so wish. Subscribe to the YouTube channel
youtube.com forward slash at nightfall films.
You can find us on Tiktok under the same handle.
That's going to do it for today.Peace plants.

(02:55:50):
Namaste.

All Episodes

Mission: Impossible - The Reckoning Begins

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

Dateline NBC

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Mission: Impossible - The Reckoning Begins