Mission: Impossible - Fallout Review

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Release Date: 2nd August 2018 - Australia

Production Companies

Paramount Pictures (presents)

Bad Robot

Skydance Media (presents)

TC Productions

Alibaba Pictures (in association with)

Distribution

Paramount Pictures Australia

Genre: Action
 

Rating: M

Runtime: 147 minutes

Budget: $178,000,000

Box Office Gross: $791,657,398 (Worldwide)
 

Plot Summary

Ethan Hunt and the IMF team must join forces with hard-hitting CIA agent August Walker to prevent a catastrophe of massive proportions. Weapons dealer John Lark and a terrorist group known as the Apostles plan to use three nuclear devices to simultaneously attack the Vatican, Jerusalem and Mecca, South Arabia. Ethan and his crew are in a desperate battle to stop

the weapons from falling

into the wrong hands when

they go missing.

Cast

Tom Cruise - Ethan Hunt

Henry Cavill - August Walker

Vanessa Kirby - White Widow

Simon Pegg - Benji Dunn

Rebecca Ferguson - Ilsa Faust

Ving Rhames - Luther Stickell

Michelle Monaghan - Julia Meade-Hunt

Sean Harris - Solomon Lane

Alec Baldwin - Alan Hunley

Angela Bassett - Erica Sloan

Wes Bentley - Patrick

Frederick Schmidt - Zola

Liang Yang - Lark Decoy

Kristoffer Joner - Nils Debrunk

Wolf Blitzer - Himself (Cameo)

Alix Benezech - French Policewoman

Charlie Archer - Delivery Man

Crew

Writer/Producer/Director -

Christopher McQuarrie

Based on the Television

Series - Bruce Geller

Executive Producers - David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger

Producers - J.J. Abrams, Tom Cruise and Jake Myers

Co-Producer/First Assistant Director - Tommy Gormley

Casting Directors - Mindy Marin and Toby Whale

Production Designer - Peter Wenham

Supervising Art Director - Phil Sims

Senior Art Director - Matthew Gray

Art Directors - Oliver Hodge,

Gary Jopling and David Weare

UK Art Director: New Zealand Unit -

Steven Lawrence

Set Decorator - Jillie Azis

Property Master - Barry Gibbs

Action Props Supervisor - Toby Shears

Costume Designer - Jeffrey Kurland

Master Armourer - Simon Atherton

Supervising Armourer: New Zealand Unit -

Nick Komornicki

Weapons Master: New Zealand Unit -

Gunner Ashford

Director of Photography - Rob Hardy

Additional Director of Photography/

Director of Photography: New Zealand,

Helicopter Sequence - Fraser Taggert

Underwater Director of Photography - Pete Romano

Aerial Director of Photography - Adam Dale

"B" Camera/Steadicam Operator - Marcus Pohlus

Supervising Location Manager - Ben Plitz

Supervising Location Manager: Norway Unit -

Thor Kjartasson

Unit Production Manager - Chris Brock

Second Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator -

Wade Eastwood

Chief Instructor: Norway Unit - Ray Armstrong

Skydiving Coordinator: Norway Unit - Allan Hewitt

Lead Aerial Coordinator: H-145/Camera

Pilot - Marc Wolff

Fight Coordinator - Wolfgang Stegemann

Animal Wrangler Head Trainer: New Zealand

Unit - James Delaney

Action Vehicles Supervisor - Graham Kelly

Unit Base/Set Coordinator: New Zealand Unit -

Glenn Shaw

Special Effects Supervisors - Neil Corbould

Special Effects Supervisor: New Zealand Unit -

Richard Schuler

Assistant Special Effects Supervisor - Keith Dawson

Visual Effects Supervisor - Jody Johnson

Visual Effects Supervisors: DNEG - Huw J. Evans

and Rohit Prakash Gujar (Uncredited)

Additional Visual Effects Supervisor: Prime Focus

World - Vinod Gundre

Visual Effects Consultant - Nikki Penny

Computer Graphics Supervisor: BLIND Ltd -

Andrew Booth

Film Editor - Eddie Hamilton

Supervising Sound Editor - James H. Mater

Production Sound Mixer - Chris Munro

Re-Recording Mixers - Mike Prestwood Smith

and Gilbert Lane

Additional Re-Recording Mixer - Chris Burdon

Foley Mixer - Glen Gathard

Foley Artists - Peter Burgis and

Zoe Freed

Music - Loren Balfe

Writer: Themes from Mission: Impossible -

Lalo Schifrin

Recording Engineer: Air Studios - Geoff Foster

Review

I have seen all five of the previous Mission: Impossible (M: I) movies. It has been three years awaiting the release of the sixth instalment. Since Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation were released, the ongoing movie franchise has been well-received through the latest instalments, and Tom Cruise is still its dominant figure. Full of jam-packed action and suspense, FALLOUT is a much more exciting addition to the film series than the previous episodes and has exceptional set pieces that balance out with dramatic moments. The stunts displayed high-level coordination, and the movie's pacing is fast but exhilarating. Again, Chris McQuarrie uses his creative talents to shoot FALLOUT as he is the only director who returns to do another M: I feature.

Although it's nice to see Cruise again, he still looks older than in the last movie. He gets brought into an ensemble cast with the other players. Sean Harris returns as the main villain, with Simon Pegg, Michele Monaghan, Alec Baldwin, Rebecca Ferguson, etc. Finally, Henry Cavill is cast as the CIA-trained assassin August Walker, an excellent foil to Cruise's Ethan Hunt and is an abrupt change from his previous role as Superman in DCEU.

I never actually believed this film would stand above all its predecessors. It has exceeded the fans' expectations. FALLOUT is an exception to the M: I movies, and it has a load of callbacks to the franchise for those who have previously seen them. I hope to see it again soon.

Star rating: (9/10) Excellent Movie

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Ghostbusters (2016) Review

Ghostbusters

Release Date: 14th July 2016 - Australia

Production Companies

Columbia Pictures (presents)

LStar Capital (in association with)

Village Roadshow Pictures (in association with)

Pascal Pictures

Feigco Entertainment

Ghostcorps

The Montecito Picture Company

Distribution

Sony Pictures Australia

Genre: Comedy/Fantasy

Rating: PG

             M (extended)

Runtime: 116 minutes

                134 minutes
                (extended)

Budget: $144,000,000

Box Office Gross: $229,147,509 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

To prove the existence of ghosts in modern society, Abby Yates, a paranormal researcher, and Erin Gilbert, a physicist, set to find out. When mysterious phenomena started appearing in Manhattan, they enlisted the aid of an engineer named Jillian Holtzman. Patty Tolan, a lifelong New Yorker who knows the city inside out, also joins the team. As more than 1,000 vicious ghosts descend on Times Square, the four women, armed with proton packs and plenty of attitudes, prepare for an epic battle.

Cast

Melissa McCarthy - Abby Yates

Kristen Wiig - Erin Gilbert

Kate McKinnon - Jillian Holtzman

Leslie Jones - Patty Tolan

Chris Hemsworth - Kevin

Neil Casey - Rowan North

Michael Kenneth Williams - Agent Hawkins

Matt Walsh - Agent Rourke

Andy Garcia - Mayor Bradley

Ed Begley Jr. - Ed Mulgrave

Cecily Strong - Jennifer Lynch

Charles Dance - Harold Filmore

Bill Murray - Martin Heiss

Michael McDonald - Jonathan

Adam Ray - Slimer (Voice)/Lead Singer
Robin Shelby - Lady Slimer (Voice)
Dave Allen - Electrocuted Ghost

Steve Bannos - Flasher Ghost

Elizabeth Perkins - Phyllis Allder

Steve Higgins - Tom Shanks

John Higgins - Baba Booey Shouter

Zach Woods - Garrett

Nate Corddry - Graffiti Artist

Toby Huss - Officer Stevenson

Katie Dippold - Rental Agent

Karan Soni - Bennie

Bess Rous - Gertrude Aldridge Ghost

Eugene Cordero - Bass Guitarist

Milana Yaybtrub - Subway Rat Woman

Sigourney Weaver - Rebecca Gorin (Cameo)

Ernie Hudson - Uncle Bill (Cameo)

Dan Aykroyd - Cabbie (Cameo)

Annie Potts - Desk Clerk (Cameo)

Ozzy Osbourne - Famous Rock

Star

Al Roker - Himself

Pat Kiernan - NY1 News Anchor #1

Greg Kelly - Fox 5 News Anchor

Rosanna Scotto - Fox 5 News Anchor

Chris Gethard - Himself

Theodore Shapiro - Keyboardist (Cameo)

Daniel Ramis - Metal Head (Cameo)

Stephen Boss - Police Officer (Cameo)

Justin Kirk - Phil (Cameo) (Extended Cut

Only)

Brian Baumgartner - Frank (Cameo)

(Extended Cut Only)

Crew

Writer/Executive Producer/
Director - Paul Feig

Based on the 1984 Film "Ghostbusters"

Director/Producer - Ivan Reitman

Based on the 1984 Film "Ghostbusters"

Writer/Executive Producer - Dan Aykroyd

Based on the 1984 Film "Ghostbusters" Writer -

Harold Ramis 

Writer - Katie Dippold

Executive Producers - Ali Bell,
Jessie Henderson, Joe Medjuck and Tom Pollock

Executive Producer/Unit Production Manager -

Michele Imperato

Producer - Amy Pascal

Casting Director - Allison Jones

Production Designer - Jefferson Sage

Illustrators - Peter Rubin,

Shae Shatz, Tully Summers and

Constantine Sekeris
Art Directors - Beat Frutiger,

Lorin Flemming, Iain McFayden,

Brad Rubin and Audra Avery
Set Decorator - Leslie Pope

Property Master - Kirk Corwin

Costume Designer - Jeffrey Kurland

Director of Photography - Robert D. Yeaman

"A" Camera Operator - Casey Hotchkiss

"B" Camera/Steadicam Operator - David Chameides

Location Managers - Mark Fitzgerald

and Charlie Harrington

Unit Production Manager - David Witz
Second Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator -
G.A. Aguilar
Stunt Coordinator - Walter Garcia

Choreographer - Stephen Boss

Special Effects Supervisor - Mark Hawker

Special Effects Coordinator - Andy Weder

Visual Effects Supervisor - Peter G. Travers

Visual Effects Supervisor: SPI - Daniel Kramer

Visual Effects Supervisor: MPC - David Seager

Visual Effects Supervisors: Illoura -

Glenn Melenhorst and Andrew Hellen

Executive Visual Effects Supervisor:

Furious FX - David Lingenfelser

Visual Effects Producer - Sean Santiago

Visual Effects Consultant - Eric Brevig

Animation Supervisor: SPI - Sebastian Kapijimpanga

Lead Animation Supervisor: Illoura - Nicholas Tripodi

Animation Supervisor: Illoura - Terence Bannon

Stereoscopic Supervisor: Legend 3D - Anthony Dunifer

Editors - Melissa Bretherton and Brent White

First Assistant Editors - Alex Hepburn

and Ken O'Keefe

Supervising Sound Editors - Andrew DeCristofaro

and Becky Sullivan

Sound Designers - Karen Treist,

Michael Payne and Tony Lamberti

Sound Mixer - Steve Cantamessa

Re-Recording Mixers - Mark Paterson

and Beau Borders

Foley Artists - Gary A. Hecker

and Rick Owens

Music - Theodore Shapiro

Music Editor/Supervisor - Erica Weis

Review
When they officially announced the new GHOSTBUSTERS movie, I hoped it'd be about a new generation with some original cast members participating as their old characters. Unfortunately, it occurred to me that this was a remake, not a sequel. Its co-creator, Harold Ramis, has died, making the newer film impossible to continue. However, it's a mind-numbing epic fail that could not possibly remake the original of its comical fright with a material of gags and jokes from the original actors. All four new lead protagonists are women. I'm not saying I am a sexist, but it's bad luck to mention some forced female empowerment in this movie. This remake should have had only one or two female lead characters, with the other two (or three) male.

It contains only a few jokes, with the rest being not humorous. The actresses who played the four female Ghostbusters have better movies in their careers than this one, especially from the gorgeous talents of Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. They did not live up to the reputation of these classic actors trained to their best. However, some like Sigourney Weaver, Dan Aykroyd, Annie Potts and Eddie Hudson got piled into unnecessary cameo roles, with Bill Murray in a supporting role. The CGI is terrible, which makes the original effects look better in comparison (save for the stop-motion animation, which didn't age well).

I recommend you not watch the new GHOSTBUSTERS as it is an unsuccessful revamp of the original. All female viewers should note that it's a soulless and misguided attempt to improve the 1984 classic.

Star rating: (2/10) Bad Movie

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Edge of Tomorrow Review

Edge of Tomorrow

Release Date: 5th June 2014 - Australia

Production Companies

Warner Bros. Pictures (presents)

Village Roadshow Pictures (in association with)

RatPac-Dune Entertainment (in association with)

3 Arts Entertainment

Viz Productions (in association with)

Distribution

Roadshow Films

Genre: Sci-Fi

Rating: M

Runtime: 113 minutes

Budget: $178,000,000

Box Office Gross: $377,044,245 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

When a powerful alien race

attacks Earth, the military

doesn't stand a chance

against the marauders.

Maj. William Cage gets

assigned on a suicide

mission, and within

moments, he gets killed, only

to be brought back again in

a time loop where he has to

relive the same battle and

his death many times. With

each encore, Cage's fighting

skills improve, which brings

him and a comrade closer

to defeating the aliens.

Cast

Tom Cruise - Cage

Emily Blunt - Rita

Brendan Gleeson - General Brigham

Bill Paxton - Master Sergeant Farell

Jonas Armstrong - Skinner

Tony Way - Kimmel

Kick Gurry - Griff

Franz Drameh - Ford

Dragomir Music - Kuntz

Charlotte Riley - Nance

Masayoshi Haneda - Takeda

Noah Taylor - Dr. Carter

Lara Pulver - Karen Lord

Madeleine Mantock - Julie

Terence Waynard - Cruel Sergeant
Beth Goddard - Secretary - Iris

David Kaye - UDF Commercial (Voice)

Crew

Executive Producer/Director - Doug Liman

Based on the Novel "All You Need Is Kill" - Hiroshi Sakurazaka

Screenplay - Christopher McQuarrie and Jez & John-Henry Butterworth

Script Supervisor - Lisa Vick

Executive Producers - David

Bartis, Bruce Berman,

Hidemi Fukuhara, Joby Harold

and Steven Mnuchin

Producers - Jason Hoffs, Gregory Jacobs, Tom Lassally and Erwin Stoff

Producer/Unit Production Manager - Jeffrey Silver

Co-Producer/Unit Production Manager - Tim Lewis

Co-Producer/First Assistant Director - Kim H. Winther

Production Designer - Oliver Scholl
Concept Artists - Harald Belker,

Tim Browning, Steve Burg,

Stephen Forrest-Smith, James Hegedus,

Will Htay, Jeff Julian, Tani Kunitake,

Magda Kusowska, Michele Moen,

Ed Natividad, Jamie Rama,

Matthew Savage and Henrik Tamm

Illustrators - David Allcock

and Martin Asbury

Supervising Art Director - Neil Lamont
Art Directors - Alastair Bullock,

Mark Harris, Christian Huband,

Jason Knox-Johnston, Andrew Palmer,

Hayley Easton Street, Stephen Swain

and Gary Tomkins

Assistant Art Directors - Jordana Finkel,

Robert Hochstoeger, Ashley Lamont,

Will Coubrough and Jeffrey D. Simon

Set Decorators - Elli Griff and
Gene Vazquez (Uncredited)

Head ExoSuit Builder - Pierre Bohanna

Costume Designer - Kate Hawley

Costume Supervisor - Dan Grace

Supervising Armourer - Simon Atherton

Armourers - Roy Stratford and Tim Wildgoose

Director of Photography - Dion Beebe

Director of Photography: Second Unit -

Fraser Taggart 

"A" Camera/Steadicam Operator - Peter Robertson

"A" Camera Operator: Second Unit - Peter Field

Supervising Location Manager - Sue Quinn

First Assistant Directors - Chris Carreras

and Max Keene

Second Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator - Simon Crane

Stunt Coordinator - Wade Eastwood

Special Visual Consultant - Guillermo del Toro

Special Effects Supervisor - Dominic Tuohy
Special Effects Coordinator - Jess Lewington

Visual Effects Supervisors - Nick Davis

and Rohit Prakash Gujar (Uncredited)

Visual Effects Supervisor: SPI - Daniel Kramer

Visual Effects Supervisor: Framestore - Jonathan Fawkner

Visual Effects Supervisor: Cinesite - Simon Stanley-Clamp

Additional Visual Effects Supervisor: Framestore -

Christian Kaestner

Visual Effects Producers - Alex Bicknell

and Emma Norton

Senior Visual Effects Producer: SPI - Eric Scott

Visual Effects Producers: Framestore -

Chloë Grysole and Danielle Legovich

Digital Effects Supervisor: SPI - Kee-Suk 'Ken' Hahn

Art Director and Lead Concept: Framestore -

Kevin Jenkins
Animation Supervisor: SPI - Steve Nichols
Animation Supervisor: Cinesite - Eamonn Butler

CG Supervisors: Framestore - Alexis Wajsbrot

and Neil Weatherley

Editors - James Herbert and Laura Jennings

Supervising Sound Editor - Dominic Gibbs

Sound Designer - Jimmy Boyle

Additional Audio - Mark P. Stoeckinger

and Ann Scibelli

Production Sound Mixer - Stuart Wilson

Re-Recording Mixers - Chris Burdon

and Mark Taylor

Foley Mixer - Glen Gathard

Foley Artists - Jason Swanscott

and Peter Burgis

Music - Christophe Beck

Music Supervisor - Julianne Jordan

Review

Director Doug Liman has turned his attention to helm EDGE OF TOMORROW, an ideal sci-fi action blockbuster based on a Japanese manga. It's interesting how the director has attempted to make another science-fiction breakthrough, unlike his failed effort, Jumper. The film is well-written with an intriguing concept and full of non-stop action, but it is fascinating to look at its style of repetitiveness, which feels like Groundhog Day all over again. Although the time loop structure of EDGE OF TOMORROW is hard to understand, that was all part of its premise and style. The producers managed to get actor Tom Cruise in the lead role and his screenwriting collaborator Chris McQuarrie to write the feature-length film adaptation.

The actor Cruise deserves to be in the movie as he seems confident and is better at handling another terrific performance in his career. Emily Blunt is a fantastic leading actress who has done so much with her role and shares some incredible chemistry with the aforementioned male actor. The cinematography is impressive, and the alien race Mimics are strangely perfect in their visual design.

EDGE OF TOMORROW is terrific and stylish, but it was a great movie overall. I did enjoy it, and at some time, I will have to compare it to the other films that came before that I have and have not experienced.

Star rating: (8/10) Very Good Movie

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Skyscraper Review

Skyscraper 

Release Date: 12th July 2018 - Australia 

Production Companies 

Legendary Entertainment

Flynn Picture Company

Seven Bucks Productions

Distribution 

Universal Pictures Australia

Genre: Action

 
Rating: M

Runtime: 102 minutes 

Budget: $125,000,000

Box Office Gross: $304,868,961 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary 

Former FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader and U.S. war veteran Will Sawyer has the job of assessing the safety and security of The Pearl - one of the world’s tallest buildings.

While on assignment in China, Sawyer is invited to stay at The Pearl, a 240-floor luxurious skyscraper, along with his wife and children. He attends a meeting to give his findings on the safety of The Pearl, a fire starts on the 96th floor, trapping his family. When Sawyer goes to save them, he’s captured and the lives of his wife and kids are threatened. Sawyer must free himself, find out why this is happening and figure out how to rescue his loved ones. (Source - Metro Cinemas)

Cast

Dwayne Johnson - Will Sawyer

Neve Campbell - Sarah Sawyer

McKenna Roberts - Georgia
Sawyer

Noah Cottrell - Harry Sawyer

Chin Han - Zhao Long Ji

Noah Taylor - Mr. Pierce

Roland Møller - Kores Botha

Bryon Mann - Inspector Wu

Pablo Schreiber - Ben

Hannah Quinlivan - Xia

Kevin Rankin - Ray
Gretal Montgomery - Ray's Wife
Jett Klyne - Ray's Son
Kayden Magnuson - Ray's Daughter

Adrian Holmes - Ajana Okeke

Tzi Ma - Fire Chief Sheng
Elfina Luk - Sergeant Han

Crew

Writer/Director - Rawson Marshall Thurber

Executive Producers - Dany Garcia, Eric Hedayat, Wendy Jacobson and Eric McLeod

Producers - Beau Flynn, Hiram Garcia, Dwayne Johnson and Mary Parent

Co-Producer/First Assistant Director - James Bitonti 

Co-Producer/Visual Effects Producer/Post-Production Supervisor - Petra Holtof

Production Designer - Jim Bissell
Supervising Art Director - Helen Jarvis

Costume Designers - Ann Foley
and Luca Mosca

Director of Photography - Robert Elswit
Second Unit Director - J.J. Perry

Fight/Stunt Coordinator - Allan Poppleton

Stunt Coordinator - Robert Alonzo
Co-Fight Coordinator/Stunt Actor/Stunts/
Utility Stunts - Brian Ho

Special Effects Supervisors - Dan Cervin and
Joel Whist
Visual Effects Supervisor - Jason M. Bergman
Associate Visual Effects Supervisor: ILM -
Jose Burgos
Visual Effects Producers - Geoff Anderson
and Karin Johnson

Film Editors - Julian Clarke and
Michael L. Sale

Music - Steve Jablonsky

Review 

Throughout his career, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson has played a number of heroes and now the former wrestler/well-known actor gets to be the new John McClane in this new fully action-packed movie, 'SKYSCRAPER', so-named due to its setting. However, viewers would find 'SKYSCRAPER' to be too familiar; resembling other movies like 'Die Hard' and 'The Towering Inferno'. 'SKYSCRAPER' appears to have copied off elements from these two films making the plot look very predictable and unoriginal by today’s standards. 'SKYSCRAPER' does contain scenes which are remotely intense and provide an adrenaline rush; defying all logic that it would be possible for the action to take place in a fictional skyscraper that would have been taller than the actual Burj Khalifa building in Saudi Arabia.

Despite 'SKYSCRAPER's predictable aspects, Johnson has never been as good in his wonderful performance. Even Bruce Willis himself would be pleased that Johnson - as Willis’ would-be successor - is doing the action-hero role very differently in the 'Die Hard' series, in his younger years. Neve Campbell is a remarkable actress in doing her part as a survivor and she did it in her very own way. 

Good but at-times ludicrous, 'SKYSCRAPER' may not be as exciting and thrilling as moviegoers have been anticipated. It offers pure escapism for everyone who is living in a dull life and has yet to experience the movie that is currently showing on the big screen. If you have not seen 'Die Hard' and 'The Towering Inferno', then this movie is for you. If you did watched these two films, you would surely find it that it is okay, but nothing new.

Star rating: (7/10) Good Movie

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