Movie Review: Mission Impossible-Rouge Nation

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is back with another super spy thriller in the latest installment of the Mission Impossible series called, “Rouge Nation”. And the latest installment is the best one yet. In “Rouge Nation” IMF is shut down by the C.I.A. because they are implicated in a terrorist plot and Ethan is classified as a rouge agent. However; Ethan has discovered a shadow agency, made up of former agents from all over the world, who are plotting a terrorist attack. He’s a one man wrecking machine as he travels the world to find out who is leading this rouge agency against the IMF.

“Rouge Nation” has more of a “buddy movie” feel to it with Simon Pegg as Ethan’s sidekick Benji. Ving Rhames and Jeremy Renner are also back as members of the Mission Impossible team but most of the camera time, and action, is focused on Cruise and Pegg. They’re a buddy team in the tradition of Murphy and Nolte and Gibson and Glover. There’s also a very hot, and deadly, female lead played by Rebecca Ferguson (Hercules). She's deadly with all kinds of weapons and kicks butt right alongside the boys in this action-adventure flick.

Cruise on the Red Carpet at New York premiere

The bad guys are all sinister and clad in black leather (which as we all know is the chosen attire of gangsters worldwide) and the action in this movie is non-stop. The special effects are all dazzling and most of them were actually done by Criuse himself. The opening scene of the movie has Cruise hanging onto an airplane door, while the plane is in take off mode, and the action continues to build from there.

I loved Mission Impossible-Rouge Nation. It’s the kind of movie that is destined to become a summer block buster. It’s a fun adventure, with a runtime of 131 minutes, to be enjoyed in a cool theater with a Jumbo tub of popcorn. The movie is rated PG-13 for violence and some partial nudity. On my “Hollywood Popcorn Scale” I give Rouge Nation my highest rating…a JUMBO (with extra butter).

Hollywood Hernandez

 

Movie Review-Pixels

In Pixels Adam Sandler, Kevin James and Josh Gad are three nerd buddies who spent their formative years in the arcade playing video games and saving the world from aliens. However; after a video of kids playing video games in the 80’s is sent into space as part of a time capsule, they end up defending the world for real from aliens who take the video games as a serious challenge to war. In their current lives Sandler (Brenner) works as a home audio/video installer, Josh Gad (Ludlow) is a paranoid introvert who still lives with his grandma and Kevin James (Cooper) is the president of the United States. So when space aliens, in the form of 1980’s video games, attack the earth President Cooper calls on his childhood friends to help him safe the world.  

Pixels is light on story line but it’s heavy on special effects and action. The 1980’s video games come to life on the big screen and it’s enough to keep you engaged as if your were at an old school arcade feeding quarters into the machines. The movie will definitely bring back fond memories for “Gamers” who spend Saturday afternoons in the 80’s feeding the machines quarter after quarter from your mom’s laundry mat money stash. 

Peter Dinklage played my favorite part in the movie. He’s plays a diminutive gamer with a huge ego. He was Sandler’s rival in the old days, beating him at Donkey Kong at the first ever World Video Game Championships. He’s since fallen on hard times and his criminal ways have landed him in prison. So President Cooper (Kevin James) gets him out of jail to join his team of world defenders. His outrageous demands to join up are part of what gets the movie a PG-13 rating. (Look for a few major cameo appearances in the movie as well).

Pixels is a fun summertime move. It has a run time of 105 minutes and most of that time you’ll find yourself laughing. On my “Hollywood Popcorn Scale” I rate it a LARGE.

 

Movie Review-Ant-Man

Ant-Man may be my favorite of all the Marvel super hero movies yet. Comedic actor Paul Rudd (who always seems to play a smart-ass in his movies) makes the movie with his laid back attitude. And then there are his streetwise friends, T.I. Harris and Michael Pena. This by far is the coolest “super hero movie” ever.

In Ant-Man Rudd is a former convict who’ll do anything within his power to get right with his remarried ex-wife so he can have visitation rights to see his daughter. After failing at his attempt to get and keep a straight job he goes back to his old life of crime and, with a little bit of help from his old friends, finds himself in a bad situation with the long arm of the law.

However, not by coincidence, the house he breaks into is owned by inventor Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and the inventor gives him a chance to make everything right if he’ll go through the rigorous training involved to become Ant-Man. As Ant-Man he has the chance to save the world from Dr. Pym’s evil protégé, who now runs the company Dr. Pym created invented and he’s prepared to sell the technology that creates Ant-Man to the highest bidder.

The action is great and the film has a real edgy sense of humor. After all, Ant-Man’s crew consists of a group of gangsters. The contrast with the intellectual Dr. Pym and the world of white collar criminals vs. Ant-Man’s “keeping it real” gang of hustlers is one of the biggest sources of humor. They kept me howling.

Ant-Man is rated “PG-13” and has a run time of 117 minutes, but you’ll want to invest a little extra time to sit through the credits for, not just one but, two bonus scenes that give you a little insight into the next Avengers movie. On My “Hollywood Popcorn Scale” Ant-Man is a JUMBO.

Hollywood Hernandez