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rajeevfromca
Reviews
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
Recycled old hits
This felt like a a recycled old hits album - familiarly satisfying without piquing new interest. Car chases, hand to hand combats, fighting on trains, motorcycle stunts - old-fashioned movie making for modern times! Tom Cruise is on a legacy run, like Harrison Ford. This one is not as good as Top Gun Maverick, but still worth a theater watch for the spectacle.
That said, it is best to leave most of your brains at home. Sadly, I tried to suss out the plot and ended up with a long list of confusing plot points below.
SPOILER ALERT!
Why is the Entity's source code hidden on a Soviet submarine, when it was developed by US intelligence?
How did the master key go from the dead Soviet officers in the ocean to Alana getting one half and Ilsa the other half?
Who was the buyer in Abu Dhabi? How and why did he have a (fake) key? Why was he killed by Paris?
Did Alana hire Grace to steal the key from this buyer or from Ethan? Since the buyer's key was fake, it was a miracle that Grace stole the authentic key from Ethan - a real McGuffin!!
Why was Gabriel even at Abu Dhabi airport? Why did he place the fake bomb in baggage? What was the point of Benji bomb defusing sequence? How did Gabriel disappear from Ethan's sight (since AI can only manipulate digital images, not real eyes!)?
If Gabriel is working for the Entity, who is all knowing and predicts the future, why didn't he know the buyer had a fake key and focus on Ethan to get the real key? Worse, he could've foreseen the two keys being in Venice and later on the train, and avoid Abu Dhabi altogether!
Why was Paris trying to kill Grace and Ethan when they had the key and would've brought it to Venice anyway?
Why was Gabriel at the Venice party (especially when he later predicted the key would be on the train and he'd take it from there)? Alana intended to get the matching key from Grace and sell it to a bidder on the Orient Express, so why did she invite Gabriel there?
Why does (Gabriel predict) one of Grace and Ilsa has to die? Why does he try to get one key from Grace when he intends to get both keys on the train the next day?
Why does Alana get on the train to meet the bidder when she doesn't have both keys and knows the deal won't be done?
Why does Grace not go through with the transaction with Kitteridge so they could follow where it leads to? The money was part of the original deal and shouldn't have weighed on her conscience.
I could go on but you get the point. If you use your brain, you will end up with too many questions...
The Bear (2022)
Goes nowhere fast
I was excited to see a show about a fine dining chef trying to right a diner. But sadly, the show doesn't really focus on the cooking or even kitchen operations.
It drops tantalizing references, dialogs and a few food porn shots. But then it devolves into annoying characters shouting at each other, talking over each other, cursing like there is no tomorrow, being super disorganized & messy, having no control over their personal lives.
It is just a hot mess and there is no discernible story line. Episodes feel repetitive. There are slow moments that are supposed to build up the characters but they just seem to drag and don't move the plot forward.
I have no sympathy for messy characters who can't get their act together, who take the easy way out, who are supposed to be misunderstood geniuses whose bad behaviors need to be overlooked constantly.
If only they could focus on the cooking and restaurant management, it could have been so much more fun!
Dark Winds (2022)
Starts well, ends poorly
The show started strong, with great visuals and interesting characters. I am not overly swayed by the "woke" protests in some reviews, and was happy to see the indigenous culture take center stage. I even forgave the overindulgence in cultural themes (especially that one episode when one non-essential character goes through an adolescent ceremony). Acting was pretty solid though I do agree that the white characters were drawn like thin caricatures. I wasn't impressed by Chee's portrayal, as it felt simultaneously awkward, adolescent and arrogant!
Still, the mystery was engaging enough. But around episode 4, things started going downhill. Cliches abounded, both in actions and dialogs. Things got progressively nonsensical to the point of incredulity. Native sorcery was taken to the extreme. Many plot points were left unexplained (what really happened at the double murders and why? How exactly was money being laundered via cactus pictures? Were the Buffalo activists true activists with a real agenda or mere thugs?). In the end, I gave up and fast-forwarded through the many needless "action" scenes and ended on a sour note.
If they do make another season, they should focus on stronger plotting and cleaner resolution.