Mission: Impossible

Counting down the days to the fourth M:I movie, dubbed Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, and thought it was as good a time as any to look back on the movie that started this highly successful franchise, 1996's Mission: Impossible. An espionage thriller with top-notch action, it's still the best of the M:I movies....for now. Let's see how Ghost Protocol goes, but the fourth entry has its work cut out for it.

Leading an operation in Prague, MIF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) sees his team ambushed and murdered during the mission. Meeting a supervisor in the bloody aftermath, Hunt realizes he's been set up, made to look like a treacherous mole who's been working against MIF for years. Now he must find out who set him up. With the only surviving member of his team, Claire (Emmanuelle Beart), and two similarly disavowed MIF agents, Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Kreiger (Jean Reno), Hunt goes on the offensive. He seeks out the actual mole by going through his only link, a black market arms dealer, Max (Vanessa Redgrave), who wants one thing and is willing to pay heavily for it; a list of all undercover MIF agents worldwide. Now Ethan has to decide how far he wants to go to prove his innocence.

I'm not particularly proud of that plot synopsis, but I think it's the best I'm going to do. It took me two or three viewings to even understand the plot in the late 90s, and that's about all the information I can give without revealing too much. What do you need to take away from that plot? Ethan Hunt needs to do some impossible things to set up a meeting with the traitor who set him up. That's the movie in a nutshell. An actual understanding of that story would be unnecessary. It's good, old fashioned secret agent fun. Go along with it, and if you're like me, at some point the story will click into place.

This is Tom Cruise at his best. The man is a legitimately good actor, but he seems most at ease in these types of movies; popcorn movies with great characters, greater action and ludicrous action sequences that let him show off his physical ability. Like he would do four years later in M:I2, Cruise does most if not all of his stunts here. He's intense, believable and because this is a secret agent requirement....he's impeccably cool. It doesn't hurt to have some fellow bad-asses around, especially Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell, computer hacker to top all hackers, and Jean Reno as Kreiger, a livewire who is as unpredictable as the missions they're on.

A good action movie -- espionage or just straight crazy ridiculous shootouts and hand to hand combat -- needs one thing to be memorable; set pieces that rise above the movie. Mission: Impossible has three, dominating much of the movie's 110-minute running time. Let's start at the beginning. The first 30 minutes is the botched mission in Prague, setting a tone where nothing will be predictable (okay, maybe a little, more on that later). Ethan's team (including uncredited parts for Emilio Estevez and Kristin Scott Thomas) is wiped out in one of the great shocking openings ever. It's just different. You figure we're watching a team of agents we'll get to see, and then BAM! They're all dead. One of my favorite movie openings ever.

That's just for starters though. Mid-movie, Ethan and Co. infiltrate CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia in a sequence that all action directors should watch and analyze. Dropping into an impregnable vault that is virtually inaccessible with sensors for heat, sound and movement, Ethan must steal the NOC list, the names and locations of every MIF agent worldwide. An extended sequence with little dialogue, it is the definition of tension, the type of mission where the tiniest thing could ruin it all. And the ending? A chase through the subway under the English Channel with a helicopter strapped to the speeding train? Ethan battling it out on top? EPIC. One, two and three very memorable set pieces when just one would have made it worthwhile.

Some twists late in the movie aren't exactly surprising if you're paying attention, but the reveal of the treacherous mole is handled so well via flashback you shouldn't be disappointed. Rounding out the cast is Jon Voight as Phelps, Ethan's long-time mentor and team leader, and the always creepy Henry Czerny as Kittridge, the CIA agent gunning for Ethan. What else to mention? Action-driving music from Danny Elfman, including the always fun M:I theme, listen HERE. Director Brian De Palma has a real winner here, a great start to a great franchise. I don't want to spoil much, but starting HERE Youtube offers nine different key clips. Can Ghost Protocol be out now?!?

Mission: Impossible <---trailer (1996): *** 1/2 /****

The Professional

Two years ago, the first Jean-Pierre Melville movie I saw was his classic Le Samourai.  Starring Alain Delon, it was a very stylish look at the life of a hit-man who meticulously went about his business as the police desperately tried to track him down.  I didn't love the movie, but I certainly liked it enough to give some other Melville crime thrillers a chance.  But then I kept seeing references to Le Samourai coming up, some major and some more minor, but it was hard to miss them.  Over 40 years later, this Melville flick is still making its impact felt on countless action movies in terms of style and story.  One of the few to even come close to measuring up is 1994's The Professional.

In past reviews, I've written about some of my favorite character actors from the era of classic Hollywood between the 1930s and 1960s (even into the decade of the character actor, the 1970s).  When I think of current actors who can pull off supporting roles perfectly in movies now being released in theaters, it's harder to think of many.  One exception is Jean Reno, a veteran of Hollywood and European movies.  He's the type of actor who legitimizes a movie just by being there.  When given a rare chance at a starring role like the one in The Professional, Reno doesn't miss, swinging for the fences and hitting a home run with this very Melville-like character.

Working for a mid-level mafioso (Danny Aiello) in New York City, a man known only as Leon (Reno) is one of the best "cleaners" around.  For a price of $5,000 a person, Leon will kill any man, but he refuses to kill a woman or a child. He leads a simple life when he isn't on the job until one day his routine is shaken.  In the apartment building he lives in, Leon's next door neighbors are gunned down by a rogue D.E.A. agent, Stansfield (Gary Oldman).  The only survivor is 12-year old daughter, Mathilda (Natalie Portman), who hides out and convinces Leon to let her live with him. Leon doesn't know what to do other than the fact that he can't just put her on the streets. Mathilda has an offer for him, teach her to be a cleaner like him.  Leon isn't so sure it is a good idea though, knowing that Stansfield is eventually going to track her down looking to finish the job he started.

Like Melville did in Le Samourai with Delon's main character, director Luc Besson builds up Leon, his main character, without much in the way of describing his background, instead just showing his daily routine and hearing a few quick snippets of his principles. A middle-aged man living by himself almost like a monk, Leon constantly drinks milk and nothing else -- especially hard liquor or beer -- while caring for his small house plant.  He sleeps sitting up in his chair for quick catnaps, never resting for too long.  Leon can't read or write well, and he watches old movies at small NYC theaters in the morning hours.  As deadly capable as he is, Leon is also a vulnerable, somewhat innocent, even naive individual.  He trusts Aiello's word to a fault, letting him hold onto the money he earns.  All these little things add up to this great character that is hard not to like, even considering his career.  Even then, he's a bit of a righteous killer, taking out the worst society has to offer.

Reno is clearly channeling Delon's Samourai character, and I mean that as a compliment.  Usually relegated to key supporting roles in movies like Ronin, Godzilla, Mission: Impossible, and quite a few other movies, Reno makes Leon into this ultra-cool, killing machine.  The visual alone of his retro glasses and black overcoat quickly became an iconic image associated with the movie and wisely used on DVD boxes.  It can be a difficult challenge making a hired killer a sympathetic character, but Reno's Leon is as human as they come.  For her sake and his, he contemplates killing Portman's Mathilda to put her out of her misery, even putting a gun to her head as she sleeps.  He has countless opportunities to leave her or kick her out, only to realize he should and will do the right thing.  Call it a father-daughter, brother-sister relationship, but he starts to look out for her like family, like a guardian angel doing his damnedest to protect her.

In the news recently for her performance in The Black Swan, Portman is as well known for her parts in the Star War movies and V for Vendetta as this performance in The Professional.  More impressive? This was her first feature film role, and it's clearly an example of the talent she's working with.  Her chemistry with Reno is flawless and instantly believable.  She should have won awards for one scene alone when she stands outside Leon's apartment crying after walking past her dead family, pleading in a whisper for him to open the door.  The 13-year old Portman is a revelation here, and any fans of hers should see this movie. And for an off his rocker, eccentric DEA agent, who better than Oldman (one of the greatest villainous actors of all-time)?  His part is hamming it up and over the top, a necessary counter to Leon's quiet, smooth demeanor.

As the viewer, our introduction to Leon is about as well-handled as possible.  His hit attempt on a well-guarded mafioso is action at its tense best, guards being picked off one-by-one by this unseen, fast moving killer.  Before we know anything about Leon, we know he's an expert at what he does with few if any rivals.  For the most part, that's all the action until the end when SPOILER ALERT Stansfield finally tracks down Mathilda with Leon holding off countless SWAT team members and DEA agents.  Big, loud and chaotic, the finale is a spectacle to behold.  The ending itself isn't necessarily a happy ending, but it's an appropriate one, and a moving one at that.  A great movie overall.

The Professional <---trailer (1994): ****/****   

Flyboys

Before the United States officially declared war and entered WWI, many U.S. citizens joined the war effort, fighting for countries already fully involved in the war like Canada, Great Britain, and France. It's one of those lesser known stories that can get lost in the shuffle of the huge scale of the war. One group of Americans took part in the early days of aviation warfare, making up a volunteer squadron of pilots for the French, the Lafayette Escadrille. Their story was even turned into a movie, 2006's Flyboys, that is based on the facts of what actually happened.

What a surprise, but a historical epic about WWI struggled mightily at the box office, barely bringing in $13 million in theaters. I was lucky enough to catch it at a second-run theater, but it's been released on DVD in a high-quality packaging so if you missed it you have a chance to catch up. Directed by actor Tony Bill, Flyboys has an old-fashioned feel, like a war movie audiences would have seen in the 1940s as WWII raged on in Europe and the Pacific. WWI was that bridge in warfare between the Civil War and WWII as technology and strategy played a vital hand in how war was waged. Case in point; the airplane.

It's 1914 and a group of American pilots travel to France to join up with the Lafayette Escadrille, a squadron from the French Air Force (who knew?), in an effort to help throw back the German forces. It's only 10 years removed from the Wright Brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk so aerial combat is a new feature in war. Can these new pilots learn how to fly and fight before their German counterparts shoot them out of the sky, including ruthless the German ace known only as the Black Falcon (a variation of the Red Baron maybe)? With help from squadron commander Thenault (Jean Reno) and his aide Girout (Augustin Legrand) and quadruple ace Reed Cassidy (Martin Henderson), the new arrivals get to training.

Leading the pilots-to-be is Blaine Rawlings (James Franco), a young Texas rancher running away from an arrest warrant back home. Rawlings is cocky and confident, but he also becomes a reliable pilot while falling for a French girl, Lucienne (Jennifer Decker), living near the Escadrille's base as she cares for her brothers and sisters. The other pilots include Jensen (Philip Winchester), the all-American boy leaving his fiance behind so he can become a war hero, Skinner (Abdul Salis), a black boxer living in France hoping to defend the country that gave him a new life, Lowry (Tyler Labine), the Easterner with a silver spoon trying to live up to his father's name/expectations, Beagle (David Ellison), the pilot who can't seem to hit anything, and Porter (Michael Jibson), the religious pilot who goes into battle singing.

Franco leads the deep ensemble cast full of actors you might not recognize from other roles but not necessarily know their names. Rawlings' love story with Decker's Lucienne is surprisingly sweet with the French girl unable to speak English and the American pilot unable to speak French. Franco isn't a huge star, but with roles like this and in The Great Raid, I hope he sticks with some more historical movies. Other bright spots include Henderson as the requisite squadron badass. His character is based on real-life pilot, Raoul Lufbery. Reno is good in a thankless role as the squadron commander with Salis and Winchester representing themselves well.

What's so unique about a story like this is the difference almost 100 years makes in aviation. Commuter flights all over the world are second nature to us now, but in the 1910s it was an innovation, something still to be mastered and harnessed including the use of planes in war. The highlight of the movie then is of course, the aerial dogfights as the Escadrille tangles with rival German squadrons. In a time when CGI is overused much too often, Flyboys blends the computer images with actual flying sequences seamlessly. It never looks fake and because the fights look so real, they're that much more exciting and enjoyable. Here's the Escadrille's first dogfight for an idea of what's going on. Of the five or so extended battle sequences, the best by far is the attack on a German zeppelin approaching Paris, catch part of it here.

With a movie that runs well over 2 hours at 140 minutes, director Bill lets his story develop and allowing us to get to know the characters and sometimes all the difficult decisions they'll be forced to make. Aerial enthusiasts complain that the movie is not historically accurate -- I wouldn't know, I'm no expert on WWI era planes -- but that seems beyond the point. It's a well-made, exciting old-fashioned story about a little known piece of American history.

Flyboys <---trailer (2006): ***/****