Crisp Criticism - "Mission: Impossible - Fallout", "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again", "The Catcher was a Spy", "RBG"

by Julien Faddoul

Mission: Impossible - Fallout **

When an IMF mission ends badly, the world is faced with dire consequences. As Ethan Hunt takes it upon himself to fulfil his original briefing, the CIA begins to question his loyalty and his motives.

Exquisitely staged set-pieces typify what is the longest entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise, with thrilling chases and sharp combat. But more so than usual, there is a reliance on mythology and its rather convoluted deception plot. As a result – typically for the franchise – it does run out of steam in the final act.

wd – Christopher McQuarrie

ph – Rob Hardy

pd – Peter Wenham

m – Lorne Balfe

ed – Eddie Hamilton

cos – Jeffrey Kurland

p – Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, Jake Myers, JJ Abrams

Cast: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Alec Baldwin, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Kirby, Frederick Schmidt, Kristoffer Joner, Michelle Monaghan, Wes Bentley

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

A Godfather Part II-style sequel to a movie based on the 2008 film adaptation of the lackadaisical yet highly successful jukebox stage musical.

A sequel that demonstrates the difference between ineptitude and insipidness, and if industrial competency were the sole barometer for cinematic works then this instalment is far superior to the prior one. But essentially what we have here is a lot of colours and noises designed to placate fans of the elements its chosen to acclimatise, which here include scenery of European islands, gaudy multicoloured clothing, crowds of people cheering when dictated to do so, the music of a 1970s Swedish pop group and a troop of white people who seem incapable of drawing concern for anyone other than themselves.

d – Ol Parker

w – Richard Curtis, Ol Parker, Catherine Johnson   (Based on the Musical by Catherine Johnson)

ph – Robert D. Yeoman

pd – Andrew Palmer

m/ly - Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus

m – Anne Dudley

ed – Peter Lambert

cos – Michele Clapton

p – Judy Craymer, Gary Goetzman

Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Lily James, Dominic Cooper, Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Christine Baranski, Andy García, Julie Walters, Cher, Jessica Keenan, Wynn Alexa Davies, Jeremy Irvine, Hugh Skinner, Josh Dylan, Omid Djalili, Celia Imrie

The Catcher was a Spy *

Major league baseball player, Moe Berg, lives a double life working for the Office of Strategic Services.

Bland retelling of a true story that regrettably resolves to follow every biopic beat in the book. The story itself is fascinating enough to convey a minor level of poignancy.

d – Ben Lewin

w – Robert Rodat   (Based on the Book by Nicholas Dawidoff)

ph – Andrij Parekh

pd – Luciana Arrighi

m – Howard Shore

ed – Mark Yoshikawa

cos – Joan Bergin

p – Kevin Scott Frakes, Tatiana Kelly, Buddy Patrick, Jim Young

Cast: Paul Rudd, Mark Strong, Sienna Miller, Jeff Daniels, Guy Pearce, Paul Giamatti, Connie Nielsen, Shea Whigham, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tom Wilkinson, William Hope

RBG **

A look at the life and work of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Hagiographic for sure – and hardly formative cinematically – but in providing a generous helping of footage on its subject, it becomes impossible not to be enchanted by the rhetoric and charismatic logic that makes Ms Ginsburg so indispensable.

d – Betsy West, Julie Cohen

ph – Claudia Raschke

m – Miriam Cutler

ed – Carla Gutierrez

p – Betsy West, Julie Cohen

Cast: Ruth Bader Ginsburg.