Mission: Impossible 7 and Barbie - Summer Blockbusters '23

Let me address the elephant in the room first, I was not able to get good seats for Oppenheimer, and that is the reason it is missing in this post. My preconceived notion about it, is that it is going to be a mentally draining and or taxing experience. And I would rather dedicate a complete weekend and give it space to breathe.

Misson Impossible - Expecatations Met

I liked both the movies, but in my opinion, Barbie was clearly the better one. Before I go into reasons as to why, I want to talk about Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.

A quick summary of the premise - Ethan Hunt and his team take it upon themselves to a stop a rogue world ending AI before anyone can get their hands on it.

The cast and crew knew what I wanted from a Mission Impossible movie - stellar, intense action set pieces, Tom Cruise doing death defying stunts, cool gadgets. These things were the absolute highlight of the movie, and everything else just gets in the way of things.

The plots of MI movies were never the selling point. They never harm the experience, or at least going by the recent ones. Here, that was not the case. It was harder for me to suspend my disbelief, given my professional background. I felt the villain from Ethan's past or him having a personal connection was a needless plot point.

Other than that, I had two major gripes. The characters weren't written properly. The writing walks into a few bad tropes and tries hard to present it tastefully.  But it is a bad trope is still a bad trope and detracts from the experience. The other gripe I had is, why is this a part one. Not everything needs to be a two parter. While the set pieces were cool, at the end of the day, nothing here gets resolved. The story feels stretched thin, and I am more frustrated with this movie than I am excited about the next one.

Other than that, I enjoyed everything. The cinematography was quite good. I was able to tell what was happening on the screen for the most part, and that's what I look for in an action movie. Tom Cruise gives an excellent performance as always, and Haley Atwell was the other stand out.

Barbie - Expectations Exceeded

I went into Barbie expecting a comedy in the vein of Space Jam or Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Barbie crossing into the real world followed by a fish out of water situation, but done better the ones I mentioned. Because I trust Greta Grewig and loved her previous movies, Lady Bird and Little Women.

And that was what I got, or well kinda. Barbie (Margot Robbie) has an existential crisis of sorts and has to cross over to the real world. Ken (Ryan Gosling) tags along, and the rest of the movie examines the role of Barbie in society and patriarchy and what women go through.

Firstly, this is a well shot movie. The sets for Barbieland were great. The performances by Margot as Barbie were also good, but Ryan Gosling as Ken steals the show. America Ferrera also some great moments. I didn't like Will Ferrell's scenes that match, but it wasn't his fault.

With that out of the way, the messaging does feel a bit heavy-handed, but given the gravity of the message, I think it was the right approach. This wouldn't have worked had it gone the subtle route. There is a monologue in here by America Ferrera about the womanhood that garnered a rousing applause in my cinema hall. It seems to have resonated with the women present.

And that is also my takeaway, this movie is not aimed at me. It didn't resonate with me because I haven't gone through what women have had to go through. Having said that, I still enjoyed the movie. It was funny, though some jokes flew over my head. It was entertaining. Not only that, it also was refreshing. There were a few nitpicks here and there, but it was an enjoyable time.

And I also suspect it would hit much deeper emotionally and be even more satisfying for the opposite gender, or maybe to a father of a girl. Nonetheless, it was a great movie, and I am excited for Greta Grewig's next project - Chronicles of Narnia.

Post Script

I will try to catch Oppenheimer and meanwhile try to get back to reading. If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to leave one below or reach out to me.

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