Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning

A little thin, like butter scraped over too much bread.

MOVIES

- I don't know if Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning as a whole is going to be Tom Cruise's last big adventure as Ethan Hunt in this series, but it feels noteworthy that his advancing age is being acknowledged in-story.

- It does feel a little bit like both Cruise and repeat collaborator Christopher McQuarrie are trying to squeeze in as many practical stunts as they can manage before the physical effort finally takes its toll, although this does have its downsides.

- This is a two-part story, and yet Dead Reckoning: Part One feels both too long and over-stuffed at the same time, often coming across as if it the stunt/action sequences were written first and then the story was figured out afterwards to fit around the big set-pieces.

- To continue the trend of movies taking more and more from videogames, this was also a (valid) criticism of Uncharted 3, which is quite amusing when you consider that this movie ends with a tense sequence involving characters climbing out of a wrecked train dangling over a cliff like the start of Uncharted 2.

- And the action sequences are somewhat of a let down this time, although relative to the previous movies in the series rather than in general; there's nothing here that I thought came anywhere close to Fallout's action at any rate.

- It doesn't help that Dead Reckoning: Part One seems to have fallen into the same John Wick: Chapter 4 trap of 'more being more' and that really not proving to be true in any form.

- Unlike Wick 4, this series has a wider range of personalities to call on, meaning things do at least feel more varied than that movie when attention cuts away from Cruise's hunt to Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames or, newcomer to the series, Hayley Atwell, all of whom bring a different energy to proceedings.

- Overall, I did like it but I really think it'll depend on how good Dead Reckoning: Part Two is before it can be really judged as right now it's definitely a lesser Mission, although that still means it's better than a lot of other action-focused films out there. [7/10]

GAMES

- Mass Effect: Andromeda is done and I still think it has arguably the best final sequence of any games in the series, with a lot of the bigger decisions having a welcome impact on the finale.

- I also think Andromeda has the best combat and movement in the series, even if biotic powers are pretty terrible in comparison to the Shepard trilogy.

- Now playing through Batman: Arkham Knight again and somewhat enjoying it, although I do think that it really has been designed for people who have played at least one of the previous games, because I cannot see newcomers to the series enjoying this at all!

- Also playing through Gris and The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales through Game Pass on PC and enjoying both for entirely different reasons: Gris is a fairly straightforward platforming game and gorgeous to look at, with practically every screen being wallpaper material; while Bookwalker is a fun, if odd adventure game so far.

- A new playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3 is still yet to be started.