Versus Cinema - Black Eagle (1988)

Director: Eric Karson

Cast: Sho Kosugi, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Doran Clark, Bruce French, Kane Kosugi

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 90 min

Versus Cinema is a series dedicated to analyzing films that pit separate actors, icons, and/or franchise properties against one another. Whether they directly sell themselves as versus films within their titles, prominently feature two opposing actors in a versus plot, or are somehow secretively a versus feature, this series will cover them all.

I absolutely love "versus" films. I'm not talking about franchise versus films like Alien vs. Predator or Freddy vs. Jason, although those can be fun every now and than. No, I'm talking about versus films that pit two separate action stars against one another. Examples of this sub-genre include 1992's Universal Soldier, which pit Jean-Claude Van Damme against Dolph Lundgren, 1995's Assassins, which pit Sylvester Stallone against Antonio Banderas, and 2007's War, which pit Jason Statham against Jet Li. These films are typically made in order to capitalize on the success or marquee name of the dual stars within the film. Producers were smart to realize that audiences would shell out more dough if they were guaranteed not only one, but two action stars for the price of one. Stallone eventually took this ideal to the extreme with his Expendables series when he realized that he could capitalize on the names of ten or more action stars, but that's getting off topic.

Anyways, I wanted to highlight a very unique versus film, one that is most likely forgotten amongst the halls of action cinema. Black Eagle, released in 1988, is quite possibly the only accidental versus film in cinematic history, a fascinating anomaly if there ever was one. Produced by Rotecon B.V. and Magnus Productions, the film starred Japanese martial artist Sho Kosugi (Pray for Death, Rage of Honor) and Belgian actor Jean-Claude Van Damme (Hard Target, The Expendables 2). At the time of the film's release, Kosugi had experienced mild success with Cannon's Ninja Trilogy while Van Damme had yet to taste success with the release of Cannon's Bloodsport around the corner. When Black Eagle was produced, there was no way that the producers could have predicted that Van Damme was going to blow up within the next couple of years. By pitting Kosugi, a fairly well established action star at the time, against Van Damme, a no-name actor at the time who eventually went on to A-list success, the film's producers created the world's first accidental versus movie. 

The "Muscles From Brussels" shines in one of his earliest roles.

After a United States (U.S.) airplane is shot down over the Mediterranean Sea by the island of Malta, the CIA and the KGB send their best operatives to the island in order to retrieve the valued cargo upon the plane, a laser guidance system. The CIA calls in Ken Tani (Sho Kosugi), also known as the titular Black Eagle, their greatest operative who had originally planned to go on a two week vacation with his kids. Therefore, the CIA goads him into going on the mission by sending his kids to Malta as well. As Tani makes his best effort to retrieve the downed laser guidance system for the U.S. government, he repeatedly clashes with the CIA's greatest agent, Andrei (Jean-Claude Van Damme), an equally skilled martial artist who makes things personal when he kidnaps Tani's kids. It's the "Muscles from Brussels" against the "Black Eagle" in an all out brawl for dominance in one of the best low budget action films not produced by Roger Corman.

Black Eagle is ostensibly a spy thriller, as well as a wannabe James Bond film, as are many of Kosugi's other films. If the film's plot sounds somewhat familiar, that is because it is a blatant rip-off of the plot for the 1965 Bond film, Thunderball. The film even operates like a Bond picture in that the characters on both sides of the film play mind games with one another even though each knows what the other wants. Take the scene at a poker table for instance. The scene, which looks directly lifted from a Bond picture, features Kosugi and the CIA on one side of the table and Van Damme and the KGB on the other, both playing poker against one another, thereby symbolizing their political indifference and struggle with each other. Also, both Kosugi and Van Damme wear tuxedos in this scene. Bond much? There's no denying that Black Eagle is a Bond rip-off, but at least the film features enough distinct elements to make it more than simply a Bond rip-off.

While viewers expecting an action fest will find Black Eagle dull and slow, those with mild expectations may find it to be surprisingly engaging and fun to watch, especially for action fans with an appreciation for Kosugi and Van Damme. Even though the film lifts its plot from a superior spy thriller, Black Eagle shakes the formula up with its unique family dynamic and martial arts centric action. Although Tani must go on a dangerous mission, he is forced to bring his children along as well, thereby placing them into harm's way. The addition of Kosugi's family, who are played by his real life children Shane and Kane, is a distinct theme of Kosugi's filmography. Tani, as well as Kosugi himself, is a proud family man who will do anything for his children, as seen through his actions in the film and Kosugi's repeated usage of his sons in his films. The film's stakes are especially raised when Tani's children are taken from him, thereby shaking up the predictable spy plot a tad bit. Throw in the fact that the entire picture is also designed around pitting two separate martial arts stars against one another, and you have a film that is more than just a shameless Bond rip-off.

The name's, Kosugi, Sho Kosugi.

Produced on a mere $3 million, Black Eagle is far from lavish or action packed. One could easily compare the film to the types of low budget productions that famed producer Roger Corman is so well known for, as it features many of the staples of Corman's cinema: low budget, lots of dialog, minimal action, and heavy usage of the same locations. Shot on the island of Malta, Black Eagle is at least bright and aquatic, although visually dull at the same time. As with most low budget productions, several scenes or instances within the film are either heard or not seen.

For example, the inciting incident of a downed U.S. plane is heard over a radio. If Black Eagle were a big budget production, especially one made today, the entire incident would probably be depicted with computer generated graphics and kick off the film. Another example of the low budget can be seen within the film's action, especially during scenes of violence. Although some characters are shot or stabbed, there is nary a squib or blood pack in sight. All things bloody occur slightly off screen, or at least tamed down to a manageable point for a $3 million budget. There is also barely any gunfire in the entire film, despite the heavy presence of guns and rifles. Therefore, set your action sights low before going into Black Eagle. 

However, I would argue that Black Eagle uses its low budget to its advantage, or at least the proper way that a low budget action film should. The film takes its time to establish both of its lead characters on both sides. Tani is shown to be a family man while Van Damme is even given a love interest, which thereby humanizes both of them. After all, that is more than you can say about some characters in low budget action cinema, so give Black Eagle credit where credit is due. The film also shows a surprising level of maturity concerning Cold War ethics, especially in a scene where Tani's son asks him, "Are they bad guys?" to which Tani replies, "They probably think that we are bad guys too." This dialog exchange implies the honest truth about war and that neither side is villainous, and only acting in the best interests of their own country. Maybe I'm giving Black Eagle more credit than it deserves, as it more or less craps on this statement by ultimately demonizing the Russians at the end in a finale where, you guessed it, the U.S. wins. Either way, Black Eagle shows a notable attention to character and the plight at hand for a low budget action film that easily could have been all plot from beginning to end with no character to boot (i.e. Steven Seagal's entire DTV library).

The fight of the century! Kosugi vs Van Damme!

The true meat and potatoes of Black Eagle is its accidental versus pairing of Kosugi and Van Damme. Although most DVD's (such as the one I have) for the film advertise Van Damme as the lead, Kosugi is the true protagonist, with Van Damme playing the supporting villain of the picture. Let's be honest, Kosugi is not particularly charismatic or an ideal lead for a spy film of any kind. He's never been a great actor, and you can definitely tell this whenever he attempts to be witty a-la James Bond's witticisms. Still, Kosugi's cheese factor and occasional intensity is what makes him so entertaining and watchable, sort of like similar C-grade martial arts performers Gary Daniels (Riot) and Michael Dudikoff (American Ninja). 

Van Damme on the other hand is extremely charismatic, bad ass, and handsome. He completely steals the show here, and rightfully so. Although it is a shame that he disappears for long stretches of the film, and has minimal dialog, he still poses a formidable threat to Kosugi's protagonist. It's worth mentioning that my DVD of the film from EVE Digital Entertainment not only advertises Van Damme as the lead, but uses a picture of him from Lionheart for the cover and photoshops a literal black eagle tattoo onto his chest! Kosugi is the titular Black Eagle, not Van Damme! 

As I stated before, the aspect of the film that takes the biggest hit due to the low budget is unfortunately the action. Thankfully, you don't need a sizable budget to perform martial arts, just great martial arts performers, and Black Eagle has two of the best. For an accidental versus film, Black Eagle features not one, not two, but three fights between its action stars! Talk about accidental bang for your buck. Any of Black Eagle's flaws are more than made up for by the fact that it features a whopping three fights between Kosugi and Van Damme. 

Their first fight is fairly underwhelming, as it comes out nowhere in the middle of a chase scene. Their second fight on the other hand is fantastic and well built up too. The two's day time struggle atop a fort on the island of Malta is the stuff of accidental legend. Both Van Damme and Kosugi show incredible skill here and equally match one another in a very well choreographed and photographed fight. Their third fight, while decent, is ruined by a lousy ending in which the loser, who shall remain nameless, is killed off in an unfair manner unrelated to the fight itself. Regardless, Black Eagle delivers the versus goods, and in the perfect kind of plot designed around pitting two separate characters against one another for said reasons.

Round Three: Van Damme's jazz hands against Kosugi's black tarred body.

While a majority of action fans will probably decry Black Eagle as a dull spy thriller, I personally believe that it is an undiscovered and underrated gem in which two action stars were paired up against one another. The plot is fairly slow, and the locations redundant, but the accidental versus casting more than makes up for any of the film's low budget flaws. In all honesty, I prefer Black Eagle to a few of Kosugi's films, and, get ready for this, almost every single one of Van Damme's mainstream blockbusters, including Nowhere to Run, Timecop, and Sudden Death. I'm most likely an audience of one on this picture, but I enjoy it greatly and recommend the film to all action fans with an appreciation for its stars and a patience for low budget action cinema. If you have worked your way through most of Van Damme's films and Kosugi's very few ninja features, give it a watch. You may find yourself surprised at how well it holds up, at least in retrospect and when stacked up against other purposeful versus features.

Rating: 6.5/10 - Black Eagle may be a cheap Bond rip-off, but it is also a fascinating accidental versus movie with some solid fights, a fairly engaging plot, and a show stealing performance by a young Jean-Claude Van Damme. 

'Jason Bourne' Franchise Retrospective: Part III - The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

Director: Paul Greengrass

Cast: Matt Damon, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles, Edgar Ramirez, David Straitham

Country: United States / Germany

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 115 min

The Bourne Ultimatum is the third entry in the Bourne series and the conclusion to the initial trilogy of films that explore Jason Bourne's origins. Whereas The Bourne Identity introduced audiences to Jason and The Bourne Supremacy took everything away from him, The Bourne Ultimatum finds Jason returning "home" and going up against the CIA in a final battle for the truth. The film is also a masterclass in suspense and action courtesy of Paul Greengrass' masterful direction. Ultimatum takes all of the intrigue and tension from Supremacy and amps it up to a blockbuster level of excitement and scale. Bourne travels the globe, engages in multiple physical bouts and car chases, and confronts the man who created him. The third Bourne film answers all of the series' unanswered questions in a direct and natural way that never compromises the tone or energy established by the series.

While Greengrass' camera work is still too extreme for fist fights, his direct cinema style works perfectly for the film's many elusive surveillance sequences. Ultimatum also features more action than the surprisingly light on action Supremacy thanks to a bevy of unforgettable set pieces. Ultimatum hits the ground running and never stops until it reaches its final credits sequence in which Moby's "Strange Ways" blares across the soundtrack. Although not a standard to which action film's should model their action photography off of, The Bourne Ultimatum is one of the 21st century's greatest thrillers in which direction, performance, sound, and editing all come together to craft an unforgettable experience.

He's back...in the saddle again!

The Bourne Ultimatum finds Jason Bourne once again dropping off the grid after the events of The Bourne Supremacy. However, Bourne comes out of hiding when he reads an article written by a journalist that unveils the secrets of Blackbriar, the CIA operation that created him. The article attracts not only Bourne's attention, but the CIA and the film's big baddie Noah Venson, played with incredible malice by David Straitham. Unfortunately, Bourne cannot get ahold of the journalist in time as the CIA beats him to the punch and snipes him in cold blood. Therefore, Bourne heads after Daniels, the agent who leaked the information on the Blackbriar program. With the help of former Treadstone agent Nicki Parsons (Julia Stiles), Bourne digs deeper than ever before and takes the fight to New York City, combatting several assassins along the way.

The Bourne Ultimatum is what I like to call, "the perfect success." That means that the film scored big in all arenas: commercially, critically, and awards-wise. The film grossed over $400 million worldwide, scored a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, and won three technical Oscars at the Academy Awards. In other words, the perfect success. This is exactly what every filmmaker and studio hopes for when they make a film. Not only did they make a profit, but they crafted a film that the entire planet fell in love with and helped establish an unforgettable legacy in spy cinema.

Greengrass is an interesting filmmaker who succeeds at depicting real world events, especially 9/11, in a respectful but engaging manner in his films. His Bourne films are some of the most definitive post-9/11 films in how they depict intense patriotism, the NSA, a morally ambiguous United States government, and brutally realistic action sequences. He also directed United 93, a retelling of the incident that occurred on September 11, 2001 in which passengers fought back against terrorists on an airplane, in between The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. He even went on to direct The Green Zone, another Matt Damon fronted political/actioner, in which the events of the Iraq War were retold in a fictionalized manner. Therefore, it's clear that 9/11, as well as real world events, find their way into Greengrass' cinema and help make for fascinating, but respectful, political films.

My boy Scott Adkins has a small role as a nameless agent.

Greengrass' direction and attention to pace is especially impressive in his second Bourne outing. The Bourne Ultimatum is so action packed and intriguing that the film's tension rarely lets up and makes for one of the briskest two hour films of all time. Greengrass and his fellow screenwriters take all of the events of Supremacy and amplify them however possible. Ultimatum features far more elusive surveillance sequences, a lengthier and more satisfying fist fight, and even an equally exciting final car chase.

The film's greatest sequence, and proof that Greengrass is a master of suspense, comes early on in the form of a cat and mouse chase that takes place at Waterloo Station in London. The CIA want to get their hands on journalist Simon Ross because he spilled the beans on Blackbriar. However, Bourne also wants to get ahold of Ross in order to protect him and to uncover more about his origins. Therefore, both Bourne and the CIA chase after Ross in what is truly a masterful display of direction, editing, performance, and music. This sequence is utterly satisfying because Bourne passes off a new phone to Ross without him knowing and helps lead him through London's crowds and security heavy areas in order to avoid government agents, cameras, and hitmen. The CIA has trouble getting ahold of Ross because of Bourne's efforts. It's an excellent display of Bourne's character as well as Greengrass' flair for preceding action with tension.

Another show stopping sequence in the film is none other than Bourne and Desh's fist fight in Madrid. This penultimate throw down is preceded by an intense foot chase amongst Madrid's roof tops and crowded alleys, thereby making the long awaited brawl all the more worthwhile. Matt Damon and martial artist Joey Ansah throw down in the franchise's greatest brawl that makes great use of Bourne's improvisation of everyday object as weapons. I saw the film in the theater in 2007 and distinctly remember the entire audience roaring with applause once Bourne defeated Desh. It was one of the most memorable theatrical experiences of my life time. The film's final car chase is also fantastic, although not as brutal and personal as Bourne's car fight against Kiril in Supremacy. Overall, The Bourne Ultimatum excels where its previous entries failed as action pictures because its action is all the more memorable, lengthier, and eventful.

This is what they like to call "the money shot."

Each Bourne film features a unique arc for Jason, as well as an over encompassing arc for the entire trilogy. Jason ultimately learns who he was before his amnesia and chooses to run away from his enemies by the end of Identity. When everything is taken away from him in Supremacy, Jason becomes a lone warrior and learns to confront his past instead of running away from it. In Ultimatum, Jason confronts his creators and helps take down those responsible for Blackbriar, thereby enacting proper law and order for all of the damage caused by the CIA's efforts. Jason goes from running away to live a life of solitude to becoming a lone hero who must ultimately take down a corrupt organization over the course of three films. Even though each Bourne film is self contained and has a definitive conclusion, each new entry adds something essential to the character and story, thereby making the sequels important instead of unnecessary.

Ultimatum also features a dynamite cast of supporting players that help take some of the pressure off of Damon's shoulders. Joan Allen dazzles once again as Pamela Landy, the story's second hero. She owns every second that she is on screen and gives a commanding performance as a no-nonsense CIA agent who fights for justice and truth. Landy's story over the course of Supremacy and Ultimatum is equally as fascinating as Bourne's journey. When she and Bourne finally meet face to face at the end of the film, it's a well earned moment between two people who have been striving for the same cause.

Other supporting players include returning franchise veteran Julia Stiles as the likable Nicky Parsons, Scott Glenn as the corrupt director of the CIA, Albert Finney as Bourne's creator, Edgar Ramirez as an unstoppable assassin, and even my boy Scott Adkins as a nameless agent who gets destroyed by Bourne. However, no villain exudes more malice than David Straitham as Noah Venson, the man in charge of Blackbriar. Straitham is the franchise's greatest villain because of his corrupt nature, disregard for American life, and determination to eliminate Jason Bourne once and for all. Viewers may come for Matt Damon, but will be equally delighted by the amazing supporting cast who help round out an excellent cast of characters in one of the previous decade's greatest thrillers.

Until next time, we bid you farewell Jason Bourne.

Whether one declares The Bourne Ultimatum or any other entry in the series' initial trilogy as the best, we can all agree that the Bourne trilogy is one of cinema's greatest interconnected trilogies alongside the original Star Wars films, Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, and Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather saga. Each Bourne entry is better than the previous, with each one amping up the stakes, performances, and action. Even though Greengrass' shaky cam is the only thing holding back Ultimatum from being a perfect action film, his direct cinema style is hugely important in the film's success and influence. If it weren't for Greengrass' efforts, than Bond may have never risen back into the mainstream as the box office champ that it is now. Therefore, let us all take our hats off to the initial Bourne trilogy, and hope for the best with the franchise's highly anticipated fifth installment which brings back both Damon and Greengrass.

Rating: 9/10 - The conclusion to the initial Bourne trilogy is as fantastic as cinematic conclusions come and arguably Matt Damon's finest hour as the character. 

Franchise:

The Bourne Identity (dir. Doug Liman, 2002)

The Bourne Supremacy (dir. Paul Greengrass, 2004)

The Bourne Ultimatum (dir. Paul Greengrass, 2007)

The Bourne Legacy (dir. Tony Gilroy, 2012)

Jason Bourne (dir. Paul Greengrass, 2016)

Spectre (2015) - Theatrical Review

Director: Sam Mendes

Cast: Daniel Craig, Lea Seydoux, Dave Bautista, Christoph Waltz

Country: United States / United Kingdom

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 148 min

The most damning truth about Spectre, the 24th Bond film and Daniel Craig's fourth time out as the character, is that it never amounts to being anything more than 'just another Bond film.' Sam Mendes directed the previous entry in the series, Skyfall, to great success and helped revamp the series back to its 60s roots. Skyfall is so beloved by Bond fans that many declare it to be the best Bond film of them all, or without a doubt one of the very best. Unfortunately, Mendes' second time around is a huge letdown and proof that both he and Craig are simply going with the motions. Spectre, one of the most boring and over bloated Bond films to date, proves that it is time to recast the Bond role and to put the franchise in someone else's hands. 

Despite Spectre's over long run time and dull action sequences, it is still a Bond film after all. There's no denying that an average or bad Bond film is infinitely more satisfying than any average or bad standalone action picture. Therefore, the film still looks beautiful despite its otherwise hollow plot. The outfits are incredible, the locations gorgeous, and some of the action rock solid. Unfortunately, nothing here is filled with worthwhile material of any sort. If I were to describe Spectre as a piece of furnishing, it would be that of an ornate vase that looks beautiful on the outside, but has utterly nothing under its surface.

The Day of the Dead. A fitting holiday for a film as dead as this.

Spectre starts things right by getting back to the Bond tradition of starting off the film with the infamous gun barrel sequence in which the actor walks across screen, turns, and shoots at the audience. It also plays to tradition by opening with an exciting action scene that sets off both the film's plot and excitement. Unfortunately, this opener set during a Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City is nothing short of dull, despite a rather impressive tracking shot. The film than segways into its title sequence accompanied by Sam Smith's "Writing's on the Wall," a solid Bond song, although mostly forgettable coming off the heels of Adele's now iconic "Skyfall" theme.

The plot kicks off when Bond discovers a tape left by M (Judi Dench) on the heels of her death. She reveals to Bond that he must locate and kill a man named Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz). Therefore, Bond drops off the grid after being grounded by the new M (Ralph Fiennes) and goes in search of Oberhauser and his mysterious Spectre organization. Along the way, Bond teams up with Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux), the daughter of Quantum's Mr. White, and repeatedly encounters Mr. Hinx (Dave Bautista), a mute muscular member of Spectre, in his search for Oberhauser. 

Spectre tries to connect all of Craig's previous Bond films (Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall) with a grand villain and organization who was ultimately behind all of Bond's pain. Bond discovers that the lead villains from his previous adventures were all apart of Spectre and that Oberhauser is the grand orchestrater of all of his pain. While this idea may sound cool, it ultimately proves to be wasteful, as Bond responds in no way to such a revelation and Oberhauser in no way adds up to be the villain capable of such pain. In retrospect, this revelation of every villain being connected with one another is completely ridiculous and total crap. No previous screenwriter or director probably felt that their villain was connected to the previous one. Therefore, all of this is simply last minute retconning in which Spectre's current screenwriters (who also wrote Skyfall) thought it would be clever to connect every one of Craig's films in order to make his Bond adventures a continuity of their own.

The octopus of death.

Spectre has a simplistic plot that should have resulted in satisfying action and story. Unfortunately, the film is nothing but a bore. Spectre's biggest weakness is that no through line connects everything together. Bond simply wanders from foreign country to foreign country or set piece to set piece without a care in the world. The film relies entirely upon formula, but injects none of that formula's pieces with energy or tension. This proves to be extremely frustrating because Mendes spent all of Skyfall rebooting Bond back to his roots. Therefore, now that Mendes has a chance to make an old fashioned Bond adventure reliant upon established formula, he delivers one of Bond's most boring adventures yet. It's surprising that Skyfall and Spectre come from the same director, as one is breathtaking and masterful while the other snooze-inducing and forgetful. Mendes has confirmed that he will not return to the franchise after Spectre, as he only intended to wrap up the story that he started in Skyfall. However, I cannot agree more with Mendes' departure, as the director (as well as Craig), should move on from the franchise and let someone else take over its reigns.

This leads into another one of the film's biggest problems, Craig's performance. Craig practically sleepwalks through the entire film and proves that he truly is over the franchise and character once and for all. It's a damn shame though, because Craig's energetic performances in the likes of Casino Royale and Skyfall earned him the title as the best Bond since Sean Connery, a high praise if there ever was one. However, it's clear that Craig is done with the series based on his emotionless turn in Spectre. It remains to be seen if Craig will for certain return for a fifth installment, but I for one declare that MGM should step away from the franchise for another four or five years and recast the role. As to how Craig and an as yet undetermined director can deliver a solid fifth Craig-fronted Bond entry is beyond me.

Seydoux makes for a fine Bond girl and comes out the most unscathed of any actor in the film. She gives a good performance as a beautiful and tortured daughter of a corrupt father who finds love in James Bond of all people (although I doubt that love will last). The most awesome character in the entire film is clearly Mr. Hinx, a mute and brutish villain who recalls Goldfinger's Odd Job and Moonraker's Jaws. He kicks the most ass and has a fantastic fist fight against Bond on a moving train that stands out as the film's best action scene. All of the franchise's returning characters, such as M, Q, Moneypenny, and Mr. White, all do fine work, even though they have very little worthwhile to work with. 

Say the password: "Fidelio."

The biggest disappointment of the entire film is its main villain portrayed by Christoph Waltz. Waltz is one of the current generations best actors, haven given incredible performances in Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained. Unfortunately, his turn *spoiler* as the franchise's newest Blofeld *spoiler* is extremely disappointing. Not only is he barely in the film, but he hardly leaves an impression for the few scenes that he has to work with. Javier Bardem's Silva also had little screentime in Skyfall, but he was an infinitely more interesting and devious character than the emotionless Oberhauser. It's almost impossible to believe that such a lame villain is responsible for the deaths of everyone that James ever loved and that he unleashed all of those previous villains on him as well.

The final nail in the coffin is Spectre's surprisingly boring action sequences. Although filled to the brim with car chases, shootouts, and fist fights, Spectre is one of the most hollow action films in recent memory. Most of the action scenes are entirely devoid of tension or stakes and play out like cut scenes from a video game. They may be filled with moments of greatness, such as the stunt where Bond rips the top of a parked car off with his car or when he launches a wing-less plane through a house, but they mostly pad out the running time and move Bond further along on his adventure. Take the scene where Bond escapes Oberhauser's torturous hideout. Once he heads outside, he starts gunning down henchmen left and right with the littlest of difficulty. He makes it look so easy and barely makes an effort to take cover or even aim down sight! Such hollow and empty action scenes like these populate the entire film and make the viewer question how $300 million could be flushed down the toilet like so.

As I stated in the introduction of this review, Spectre is still a Bond film, and that means beautiful locations, lush production values, gorgeous costumes, and awesome cars galore. There's something to be said about a film that costs $300 million, even if it is as hollow as Spectre. Incredible production value and gorgeous cinematography can go a long way in redeeming a bad film, and Spectre does just this. The film's brownish color scheme makes for a nice foil to Skyfall's gorgeous blues. The car chase in Rome, while particularly dull, features two incredible looking vehicles drifting through the night. The film's plentiful outfits are also fantastic, especially Bond and Swann's ever changing wardrobes. Spectre always looks great, even though its content isn't.

Bond and Swann look for a reason to care in the open desert.

Craig has confirmed that he has one more Bond film on his contract. While I would prefer for a Bond actor to go out on a high note, Craig has a lot to make up for after his worst Bond entry yet. Something radical has to be done for the next Craig fronted adventure, as Spectre proves that pure formula doesn't do much. Spectre may not be as bad as silly Bond outings like Die Another Day and A View to a Kill, but the Bond tradition proves that a 'funny bad film' is more entertaining than a 'boring bad film.' Spectre joins the list of increasingly lousy sequels this year, thereby tainting its franchise as much the disappointing Taken 3, Furious 7, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Terminator: Genisys. While I could see myself revisiting any one of Craig's previous Bond adventures any day, I need to separate myself from Spectre for at least a year or so before giving it another chance. Recommended for die hard Bond heads, but most definitely not recommended for those who don't bleed for the franchise already.

Rating: 5/10 - Beautiful visuals and a massive budget are all this dull Bond entry has going for it.

'Jason Bourne' Franchise Retrospective: Part II - The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

Director: Paul Greengrass

Cast: Matt Damon, Brian Cox, Joan Allen, Karl Urban, Julia Stiles

Country: Germany / United States

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 108 min

Even though The Bourne Identity revamped the espionage genre in the 2000s, the series is mostly remembered by its sequels The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. This is the point in the franchise when Paul Greengrass stepped in and revamped the series' stylistic identity as we know it today. Greengrass took the first film's action and themes and amplified them with his signature documentary style. The Bourne sequels are infamous amongst action fans for introducing and popularizing the "shaky cam" style of photography in which the cinematographer photographs an actor with a hand held camera for maximum immersion and documentary realism. This style is also referred to as "post-action," coined by Vern from OutlawVern.com. 

However, The Bourne Supremacy also upped the series' maturity level and delved deeper into its post 9/11 themes of surveillance and government secrecy. Greengrass truly is the perfect filmmaker for a series like this with his pedigree for capturing true to life events on film. Greengrass' sequels are also faster paced and cut with a rapid style of editing that constantly keeps the film in motion, even during its slower moments. The sequel is even a different kind of film than the first, being both a who-dun-it mystery and a revenge thriller at the same time. Despite an all around lack of action, The Bourne Supremacy is a solid step up from the dregs of its early 2000s predecessor.

All good things come to an end.

The Bourne Supremacy picks up two years after the first film with Jason Bourne and his girlfriend Marie residing in India. Unfortunately, their happy getaway is ruined when Bourne spots an unfamiliar man, an assassin named Kiril (Karl Urban). Even though Bourne attempts to escape, Kiril shoots at him and takes out his girlfriend Marie instead. Believing the assassin to be linked with Treadstone, Bourne resurfaces in Europe in order to attract the CIA's attention. However, Bourne soon realizes that the CIA was never after him at all, and instead one of its rogue operatives was using Bourne to take the blame for a previous crime. Bourne comes to grips with a past assassination linked to the current day plot against him and also seeks vengeance on Kiril for murdering his girlfriend.

While The Bourne Identity feels dated in terms of its visual style, fashion sense, and sound design, The Bourne Supremacy still feels modern even though it came out two years after its predecessor. Greengrass' sequel is a technical delight in which photography, editing, and music comes together to craft a unique vision of modern society. His signature documentary shooting style makes his films feel all the more realistic and eternal in their mission to establish a time and a place. This direct cinema style is best suited for surveillance sequences and location establishment, as the camera movement places the viewer into the setting as if they were a fly on the wall to the government's shady dealings. Greengrass is also to be applauded for focusing on average streets and subways in order to make his locations more realistic instead of focusing on tourist attractions and world renowned landmarks. And while the photography is a tad too intense for my taste during the action scenes (more on that later), I can't imagine the Bourne series without Greengrass' cinematic eye.

Editing credits go to Christopher Rouse and Rick Pearson, who both do an outstanding job piecing together the puzzle that is Greengrass' shaky cam. The strength of the film's editing is most apparent during sequences when Bourne eludes police officers and government agents, not during fight sequences. While The Bourne Ultimatum contains greater elusive sequences, The Bourne Supremacy got the ball rolling with the sequence where Bourne eludes the CIA during a protest and kidnaps one of their agents at the same time. The editors do their best to piece together the jumbled photography that is the film's action scenes, but that's not their fault, as they didn't shoot the film themselves.

Improvisational Bourne.

Greengrass' direction, along with the film's pitch perfect editing, all comes together perfectly with John Powell's excellent score. Returning from the first film, Powell is to be applauded for composing several exciting and recognizable music cues throughout the film that racquet up the tension. His score drives the film's action packed proceedings home and buries itself into your brain long after the credits role.

Damon returns and gives an even more intense performance this time around. While it is unfortunate that Marie dies in the first 15 minutes of the film, it proves that Bourne is a more interesting character while on his own. He simply works best when he has all of the odds stacked against him and him alone. And while we should all have a moment of silence for Marie...the true Bourne comes to life here. The sequel also features several great supporting performances by Brian Cox as the shady Abbot, Joan Allen as the franchise's second hero Pamela Landy, and Karl Urban as one of Bourne's greatest foes. While neither Cox nor Urban last beyond the sequel, Joan Allen truly shines as the amazing Pam Landy, a determined government employee who purely wants to get to the bottom of everything. Both she and Julia Stiles' characters last into the third film as well and both help round out the franchise's best supporting cast members. 

The Bourne Supremacy is ultimately a story of revenge between Bourne and Kiril. However, the film is also a tragic story of forgiveness and the strength of Bourne's inner humanity. While the revenge plot is what most audiences will latch onto, the tale of self-forgiveness is what is most powerful about the sequel. Bourne initially played a part in Abbot's scheme to steal money from the CIA when he assassinated a politician who was willing to squeal on Abbot. When Bourne went to kill him, he discovered that his wife was in the room too. Therefore, Bourne reluctantly killed the politician first and than his wife, making it look like a murder suicide. By the end of the film, Bourne's only goal is to locate their daughter and to explain to her that her mom never killed her husband or herself. This is what ultimately leads Bourne into the film's climactic car chase, his conscience.

Leave it to Greengrass to finish a car chase.

The only true disappointment of The Bourne Supremacy is its sometimes extreme photography and minimal amount of action. The film's action quota comprises of a small opening chase, a short fist fight, and an unforgettable final car chase; that's it. The final car chase is the only true action set piece of the film to last longer than two to three minutes. Fortunately, the car chase is especially great because it plays out over an extended period of time and involves both Bourne, police officers, and Kiril. Bourne and Kiril's final car faceoff in a crowded tunnel makes for one of the series' best action highlights, especially its final moment when Greengrass blows his vehicular wad.

While this style of photography can be great for surveillance sequences and establishing realistic locations, it can be a bit extreme for action. The fist fight between Bourne and Jarda is especially difficult to make out at points. While some may argue that shaky cam adds extra power to an actor's hits or places the viewer into the action, all it does is give me a headache or blur what should be a visibly cohesive fist fight. This action scene also further builds on Bourne's knack for improvising everyday objects as weapons when he rolls up a magazine and defends himself from a knife attack.

The shaky cam style of action, also referred to as post-action, is an extremely controversial and touchy subject amongst action fans. Many decry it as the end of action cinema and the death of true action photography. Some filmmakers, such as Olivier Megaton (Taken 2, Transporter 3), have gone on to become experts in post-action, thereby rendering entire action sequences incomprehensible. It's a shame that such a style caught on, because no camera should ever be purposefully shook up. 

The end of the Supremacy, the start of the Ultimatum.

The Bourne series will always be remembered because of what Paul Greengrass did to the series. He took Doug Liman's solid first installment and improved upon it in every way possible. Greengrass turned a fictionalized tale of espionage and intrigue and shot it in a documentary style in order to make it appear as if it were non-fiction. Greengrass also brought a sense of tension and excitement to the Bourne proceedings that seemed lacking in The Bourne Identity. Even though Greengrass' sequel is light on action, the film is even more compelling and tense than the first. In retrospect, The Bourne Supremacy is an important stepping stone in the franchise because it led to Greengrass' masterpiece (and the true finale of the series), The Bourne Ultimatum.

Rating: 8/10 - A fantastic spy thriller that ups its predecessor in every way and sets the stage for a superior third installment. Important for introducing Greengrass' style to the series before going all out for the finale.

Franchise:

The Bourne Identity (dir. Doug Liman, 2002)

The Bourne Supremacy (dir. Paul Greengrass, 2004)

The Bourne Ultimatum (dir. Paul Greengrass, 2007)

The Bourne Legacy (dir. Tony Gilroy, 2012)

Untitled Fifth Bourne Film (dir. Paul Greengrass, 2016)

'Jason Bourne' Franchise Retrospective: Part I - The Bourne Identity (2002)

Director: Doug Liman

Cast: Matt Damon, Chris Cooper, Franka Potente, Clive Owen, Julia Stiles

Country: United States / Germany

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 118 min

The Bourne Identity, adapted by Robert Ludlum's novel of the same name, is the first entry in the Jason Bourne film franchise. The film and its respective series launched Matt Damon to blockbuster stardom and revitalized the espionage sub-genre in the 2000s. It had a profound effect on modern action cinema too. Other films started emulating the series' shaky cam photography, copying its signature amnesia plot, and setting their plots in foreign locations like Paris, France. While Bond may have launched the spy genre in the 1960s, Bourne saved it in the 2000s.

The first Bourne film is a solid example of early 2000s action. It's not a great film, nor an excellent action picture, but a swell spy thriller none the less. It's the perfect example of modern American action filmmaking. The focus of the film is mainly on the plot and characters, while the action scenes are particularly short and somewhat underwhelming. However, such mediocre action is forgivable when a film features such a great protagonist and contains an immensely intriguing story. No matter how you look at it, The Bourne Identity is an immensely important espionage film whose effect can still be felt in contemporary action cinema.

The Bourne Saga all started here.

Fishermen locate a body adrift in the Mediterranean Sea and bring it on deck. The man (Matt Damon) appears to have amnesia, two bullets in his back, and a small device lodged in his waist that leads to a safety deposit box in Switzerland. Once the man makes his way to Switzerland, he discovers that he is in fact named Jason Bourne and that he was once an assassin for a CIA operation entitled Treadstone. As Jason puts together the pieces of his identity along with the help of a kind German woman, Marie (Franka Potente), the CIA sends assassins and agents after Bourne in order to clean up their mess.

The Bourne series redefined action and spy cinema for the modern age in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The series took note of the ever growing issue of safety and surveillance and tied it into its plot about shady CIA dealings and dueling assassins. While other spy films tried to be hip and entertaining in the early 2000s, The Bourne Identity embraced the reality of modern day espionage and brought a maturity and realism to the spy genre. In fact, The Bourne Identity was released the same year as Lee Tamahori's schlock-fest Die Another Day and the hip Vin Diesel fronted XxX. In James Bond's darkest hour, Jason Bourne rose to the occasion.

The series also went on to heavily influence the style, setting, and plot of many spy films to come. While not as evident in the first film, the Bourne series is notable for its brutal hand to hand combat sequences. Therefore, future filmmakers took note of this style's effectiveness and incorporated it into their film's action scenes. The most notable examples include Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and the Taken series. Bond would become so influenced by this style of fighting (and its accompanying shaky cam photography) that many action fans decry Quantum of Solace for purely being a Bourne film and not a Bond film per say. The Bourne Identity also popularized the amnesia plot, which would go on to be duplicated in other films such as Unknown and American Ultra. Even the film's foreign setting of Paris would go on to become a popular location for American action films, such as Taken once again. There's no denying it, The Bourne Identity and its respective series influenced American action cinema for about a decade.

The action may seem dated but that sweater is eternal.

The Bourne Identity introduced audiences to Jason Bourne's characteristics and trademark skills. Bourne proves his resourcefulness time and time again throughout the film as he thinks fast on his feet, improvises everyday objects as weapons, and proves himself a master surveyor of his surroundings. Watch the scene where Bourne escapes the U.S. embassy and spot how quickly he turns his situation around by quickly noticing and grabbing advantageous objects (i.e. security radio and map of building emergency exit). The sequels would go on to make these sequences even more unique and intense. Bourne also improvises his first weapon in the film, a pen, and turns it into a fatal stabbing weapon by piercing it through a hitman's fingers! The Bourne films are infinitely satisfying to watch time and time again purely for Bourne's survivalist instincts and improvisational abilities.

The film also tells a unique story about Jason Bourne at the first stage in his adventure. He is ultimately a killer who gets a second chance at life and to redeem himself. However, Bourne is not the go-getter that he would go on to become in the sequels in this film. Instead of going after Treadstone (the shady CIA black ops operation that he was apart of), Bourne decides to run away because he cannot deal with the mistakes he made in the past. Even though he will ultimately go on to pay the consequences for running in the sequel, Bourne's journey in the first film is made all the more interesting because of this.

Another pleasure of watching the Bourne films is for the numerous assassins and agents who combat him throughout the series. Bourne goes up against two notable assassins in the first film, a bleach blonde guy and the Professor (Clive Owen). His fight against the bleach blonde assassin is noticeably weak due to the film's poor editing, sound design, and cinematography during the bout. It's clear that the editors cut multiple times in order to add power to the hits. Unfortunately, the stock sound effects don't help out either. Just listen to the sounds of the punches when Bourne throws his first punch. It's pretty awful. This weak fight in no way convinces the viewer that Damon knows the moves at all.

Double barreled Bourne.

On the flip side, the film's gun fights and car chases fare much better. In fact, this Bourne entry features the most gun fights of any the series. It's also the only entry in the series in which Bourne guns down his opponents and aims to kill instead of to wound, hurt, or maim (another sign that this Bourne is different from the one in the sequels). Bourne's gun fight against the Professor makes for a great game of cat and mouse as one armed assassin fights against an underarmed one. His resourcefulness shines once again in this sequence as he puts around eight shotgun shells to good use.

The film's mid-point car chase and the final gun fight are also solid pieces of action cinema. Unfortunately, nearly all of the film's action scenes leave much to be desired, especially the final gun fight. Most of the action scenes end before they even begin. The film's final set piece lasts less than two minutes in fact. The Bourne Identity is still solid action cinema, just don't rely upon the action to thrill you beyond a punch or two here and there.

The Bourne Identity establishes many of the tropes that the series would come to be known for. It explores relevant themes of privacy versus security and how surveillance plays a role in it. It also explores how shady our government can be at times and how some American lives can be put at stake in order to protect more American lives. The mysterious Treadstone program and the eventual Blackbriar training facility are further explored in the sequels, but only touched upon in the first film. The first film also establishes the series' knack for action, especially its love for hand to hand combat and car chases. However, it would be director/writer Paul Greengrass (United 93, Captain Phillips) who would take all of these elements and amplify them to perfection in the sequels as he brought a gritty realism to the series.

Mid-air shot, Bourne style.

Doug Liman's sole entry in the Bourne franchise is a swell film that succeeds at the important task of establishing the tropes of a franchise and introducing audiences to its hero. Jason Bourne is an utterly iconic character now because of Liman's direction and Damon's performance. However, The Bourne Identity suffers from a bland visual style that lacks the gritty realism of its sequels. The editing is also especially poor during its fist fights. In short, The Bourne Identity has good content, but lacks the style and expert direction that catapulted the sequels to greatness.

Rating: 7/10 - A solid and memorable action thriller that relaunched the spy genre.

Franchise:

The Bourne Identity (dir. Doug Liman, 2002)

The Bourne Supremacy (dir. Paul Greengrass, 2004)

The Bourne Ultimatum (dir. Paul Greengrass, 2007)

The Bourne Legacy (dir. Tony Gilroy, 2012)

Jason Bourne (dir. Paul Greengrass, 2016)

Mission-Impossible-a-Thon, Part 4 - Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Director: Brad Bird

Cast: Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist

Country: United States

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 132 minutes

One of my favorite things about the Mission: Impossible franchise is that there is typically four to six years in between each entry. Therefore, each installment feels well earned and never rushed. Each film always feels essential to the times and gives Cruise another chance to play the ever lovable Ethan Hunt. That's another thing I love about this franchise; Cruise doesn't rely upon it for his career. He does all types of films in between each Mission entry. When Cruise does return to a Mission film though, it feels like we are meeting up with an old friend who has a new bag of tricks to show us. And in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, that bag of tricks includes a car chase in a sand storm, a fight inside of a futuristic parking garage, and Tom Cruise climbing the tallest building on the planet. 

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is currently the highest grossing entry in the franchise. It is also the most critically hailed entry as well, with numerous critics praising the film's humor, pace, and unbearable tension. Interestingly enough, the film was directed by first time live action director Brad Bird, well known for masterful animated features like The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille. It's interesting watching Ghost Protocol because it's not often that animated filmmakers make live action films. Therefore, it's harder to spot the filmatisms that reflect Bird's works the way that De Palma, Woo, and Abrams left their mark all over their respective franchise entries. Still, Bird's Mission is an exciting entry in the series and one that serves as a throwback to the De Palma days in which Ethan engaged in various heists instead of shootouts. If Bird had tossed in a few bad ass gun fights into the mix, than Ghost Protocol would probably be my favorite entry in the series. 

Cruise runs for his life from Mother Russia's Kremlin.

Ghost Protocol's plot is arguably the most complex of the franchise yet. In this entry, we meet Ethan as he breaks out of a Russian prison with help from fellow agents Benji (Simon Pegg now expanded to a significant supporting role) and Jane (newcomer Paula Patton). Ethan and his team than make their way to the Kremlin in Russia and infiltrate the building in order to obtain files identifying a man known as "Cobalt." However, the mission ends in disaster when "Cobalt" bombs the Kremlin and makes the IMF appear responsible in an attempt at sparking a nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia. As a result, The United States Government enacts Ghost Protocol; this disavows the entire IMF until they can prove themselves innocent of the attack. It is than up to Ethan, Benji, Jane, and additional newcomer Brandt (Jeremy Renner, The Bourne Legacy) to stop Cobalt from nuking the U.S. and to clear their names. As usual with the franchise, a mere four agents go up against impossible odds and come out on top. However, Ghost Protocol squeezes in an essential sub-plot concerning Ethan's wife Julia that pays off in a big way and for the first time establishes actual continuity between franchise entries.

Ghost Protocol is a very tense and exciting globe trotting spy thriller that takes us from Russia to Mumbai. The film is packed with memorable characters, varied settings, and stunning set pieces that remind the viewer why Mission: Impossible is such a great blockbuster franchise. Even though Ethan and his team travel the globe in the film, all of the set pieces and character moments are small scaled in nature. No matter how large a battle Man of Steel or The Avengers ends on, none of those films can compete with the compact tension on display in Ghost Protocol's technologically advanced parking garage fight and the now infamous Burj climbing sequence.

Unfortunately, Ghost Protocol is more of a team driven film focused on gadgets and plot than an action film starring Tom Cruise. Cruse is still the lead, but the lead of a team given equal screen time and substantial backstories. This is both a negative and a positive. It is a positive in that each team member feels like an actual character instead of an archetypal computer hacker or fist fighter. Whereas previous IMF agents were typically bland characters, Ghost Protocol's teammates are fully fleshed out characters with miniature story arcs of their own.

Just running down the world's tallest building. No big deal.

However, this team driven nature of the film is a negative in that the focus is taken off of Ethan. I love the team driven nature of the film, I really do. But, I prefer my Ethan Hunt when he is the star running around and fighting people a-la M:i:I, M:i:II, and M:i:III. Ghost Protocol is great stuff, but it lacks the gritty, personal, and grounded bad-ass nature that made parts of M:i:II good and all of M:i:III great. The only time that Ghost Protocol encroaches upon gritty and bad-ass action is in the final action sequence. As Ethan chases Cobalt around a technologically advanced parking garage, the two beat the crap out of one another and leap from one moving platform to another. It makes for an incredibly tense sequence filled with moments that will make you gasp and hold your breath. Even though all of the film's other set pieces are solid, none of them give me that bad-ass thrill that the motorcycle chase from M:i:II or the bridge attack from M:i:III gave me.

That select personal opinion being said, Ghost Protocol is still great entertainment as far as team driven films go. All of the set pieces are a lot of fun and blockbuster filmmaking at its finest. Ghost Protocol might have the most variety in its set pieces than any other entry in the franchise. In one film, we see Ethan escape from prison, break into the Kremlin, escape a sunken car, climb up and down the side of the world's tallest building, fight a group of henchies inside of said building, chase Cobalt in a sand storm, and than fight Cobalt once and for all inside of a parking garage. Talk about bang for your buck. Most fans remember the Burj sequence as the almighty show stopper of both the film and the entire franchise. I have to admit, the Burj sequence is incredible stuff bolstered by both its practicality (no green screens here) and sheer insanity (Ethan runs down a freaking building).

As I stated before, the supporting teammates are one of the film's strongest points. Benji is upgraded to a larger supporting role from his small three scene appearance in M:i:III. Pegg is one of the best comedic voices in cinema today. Therefore, I am happy to see Shaun of the Dead himself become a staple of the franchise. Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton are fantastic additions as well. Unfortunately, franchise regulars Ving Rhames and Michelle Monaghan are reduced to small cameos in the film's final scene. While it sucks to go through an entire Mission film without our hacker friend Luther or Ethan's newly established wife, their single scene inclusion is well spent.

Renner and Patton take aim at Cruise in one of the film's tensest scenes.

Now that I think of it, Ghost Protocol lacks both a helping heaping of bad ass action and a bad ass villain. Phillip Seymour Hoffman's villainous performance from M:i:III was one for the books. He owned that film with every second he had on screen. Unfortunately, Ghost Protocol's villain is barely memorable or visible. Cobalt, portrayed by Michael Nyqvist (also of John Wick villainy), has very few scenes to establish a menacing presence or leave a lasting impact on the viewer. It's clear that Bird wanted the villain to be kept in the shadows as much as possible. The character pops up for the first time out of nowhere in the middle of the Kremlin mission and doesn't truly reappear until the very end of the film. There's nothing wrong with Nyqvist's performance, it's just that his character has no character, plain and simple. It's also a bummer to watch a Mission film where the lead villain has a single henchman and no cronies to back him up. I love a good Mission film where the villain has number of cronies for Ethan to shoot up or take on. It also makes a villain seem more prominent when they have a group of men working for them. Therefore, Ghost Protocol's villain leaves much to be desired. I guess we should be thankful that Nyqvist isn't as bad as Dougray Scott in M:i:II.

It seems that after three entries, Paramount is done with numbering their Mission films. We live in a day and age where studios seem ashamed at numbering their franchise entries. It's rare that a franchise entry includes any number above three next to its title. The only contemporary franchise I can think of that wears its numbers proudly on its sleeve is the Fast and Furious franchise, currently at entry number seven. However, most contemporary franchise entries (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men: Days of Future Past) incorporate a sub-title next to the main title in order to avoid sequel fatigue. I'm sad to say it but Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is the first entry in its series to ditch the roman numerals. I have always found roman numerals to be a classy way to number your franchise entries anyways. And with the recently titled Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation set for release in July 2015, it seems the numerals are out for good.

I am also sad to report that Ethan's alternating hair length ends here. While each entry has alternated Ethan's hair length, the recently revealed fifth entry shows Ethan with a long head of hair. I was really hoping that Cruise would have a short head of hair a-la Jack Reacher to go with his second McQuarrie team up. Oh well, let's hope the film is good despite Tom Cruise's hair cut.

This parking garage sequence is infinitely re-watchable. It's that great.

After the one-two-punch of Mission: Impossible III and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, I cannot wait for what Christopher McQuarrie's Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation has in store for us. The Mission: Impossible franchise is currently on a role and I could not be happier about it. Ghost Protocol is a great entry that any one can enjoy. For the first time in the series, you don't have to be a Tom Cruise fan to find enjoyment in this globe trotting thriller. If you don't connect with Cruise, you'll be sure to connect with one of the likable teammates or tense heists scattered throughout the film. This is still a solid entry in the series that any action fan should enjoy despite the lack of grounded/personal action or a truly menacing villain. I'll be back to celebrate the Ethan Hunt saga in July with...Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation! Until then, I recommend revisiting all four of the Mission: Impossible installments in order to get caught up on the series.

Rating: 9/10 - Although I prefer Ethan Hunt and his fellow antagonist to be more deadly and bad ass, this is a truly fantastic spy thriller that sets the bar high for future franchise entries.

Franchise:
Mission: Impossible (1996, dir. Brian De Palma)
Mission: Impossible II (2000, dir. John Woo)
Mission: Impossible III (2006, dir. J.J. Abrams)
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011, dir. Brad Bird)
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015, dir. Christopher McQuarrie)