Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie brings a dark and gritty tone to this larger-than-life franchise. Along with a constant stream of barbed humour, the film has an enjoyably knotted mystery plot and action set-pieces that feel like they're grounded in the real world. It's a terrific shift into earthy believability for a series of movies that has previously indulged in gleefully incoherent narratives and exaggerated explosive chaos.
With thanks to Vue Cinemas we were watching this in a preview screening at their new IMAX facility in Leeds...more on that elsewhere..
Right from the start, our hero Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is an outsider. As he searches for a shady assassin (Sean Harris) and his mythical organisation The Syndicate, Ethan's Impossible Mission Force is being dissolved by the US government. CIA Director Hunley (Alec Baldwin) absorbs the IMF team, but tech genius Benji (Simon Pegg) secretly helps Ethan, enlisting Luther (Ving Rhames) and William (Jeremy Renner) as well. Soon, all three are gallivanting from Vienna to Morocco and back to London, as Ethan works with double or perhaps triple agent Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson) to prove that The Syndicate exists and stop its nefarious plan.
The film plays out like an edgy James Bond adventure, as Ethan works with a possibly dangerous woman in exotic locations in pursuit of some very shadowy baddies. McQuarrie's script is unusually lucid for this genre, piecing together the various elements expertly, building a genuine sense of tension without ever letting things tip over into overblown silliness. The chase sequences are remarkably rough and unpredictable, avoiding digital trickery to create moments that are jaw-droppingly authentic. As usual, we can tell that Cruise does his own stunts; the opening hanging-from-an-airplane scene is awesome, and a helmet-free motorbike chase looks even more perilous. With the IMF disbanded, it's never quite clear how Ethan funds his one-man operation, but he has a terrific supply of cool gadgets stashed all over Europe. But crucially no Q.
Cruise may be 53 years old, but he's clearly more than up for this kind of physicality, occasionally removing his shirt to remind us how fit he is. But he also lets the strain show, as it takes Ethan a bit longer to recover from each gruelling action sequence. Thankfully, the flirtation with Ferguson's tough, intriguing Ilsa is kept in check, letting her become a strong character in her own right. And Pegg, Rhames and Renner provide an entertaining chorus of comical patter that never becomes too corny.
With such an edgy tone, it's surprising that the film doesn't have much of a point. There's an allusion to the West's careless use of lawless counter-terrorism tactics, but the film never quite grapples with that at all. Instead, it's notable for how it quietly keeps the gears of the tight plot turning, smartly avoiding the hackneyed pitfalls of other summer blockbusters.
The increasingly stale Marvel formula gets a blast of fresh air in this rollocking adventure movie, which combines a steady stream of character-based comedy with action sequences that are integrated seamlessly into the plot. Like last summer's Guardians of the Galaxy, the film departs from the usual tired structure to joyously tell a story that's more than pure escapism.
Released from prison after a stint for burglary, Scott (Paul Rudd) is struggling to restart his life when he has an unexpected encounter with Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), an inventor who needs his help. Hank's technology company is being steered away from his original vision to help mankind by his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) and his protege Darren (Corey Stoll), who see a chance to make a lot of money by selling Hank's ideas to the highest bidder. Hank's biggest breakthrough is a suit that shrinks the wearer down to ant-size, allowing for all kinds of unexpected possibilities. Pushed into a corner, Scott starts learning how to master the suit. But his ex-wife (Judy Greer) is now engaged to a cop (Bobby Cannavale) who's keeping his eye on Scott.
One of director Peyton Reed's main challenges was to sell the whole idea of an insect-sized warrior, and he does that fairly effortlessly, revealing an increasingly cool series of possibilities in each action sequence. These set-pieces emerge organically from the story, combining comedy and exhilaratingly coherent action to push the narrative forward. One of the best moments is an encounter with one of the Avengers (Anthony Mackie's Falcon), which offers a strong hint about how Ant-Man can liven up the franchise as a whole. And the climactic sequence is an inspired collision of mind-bending effects and inventive humorous touches (Thomas the Tank Engine nearly steals the whole film). Plus two post-credit stings for the fanboys.
Much of this sense of anarchic fun clearly comes from Edgar Wright, who was originally slated to direct and who gets screenplay credit alongside Joe Cornish (Tintin), Adam McKay (Anchorman) and Rudd. This is a rare action movie that bothers to make the characters fully rounded people with their own internal lives. Rudd is somewhat restrained in the role, but is still utterly charming, and he generates sparky chemistry with Douglas and Lilly. Stoll is superb as guy who seems unable to see the bigger picture. And Pena has a series of hilariously rambling monologues, which are important to the plot, so listen carefully. Yes, despite the silly tone and thrilling rollercoaster plot, this summer blockbuster doesn't dumb itself down to the audience. This kind of fresh approach is exactly what Marvel has needed for awhile now.
To be up front about this, my wife won this stay on twitter. OK, it cost us nothing but to my mind we are due at least as good a service as paying customers. Some might argue that for prize winners there should be that extra bit of care. It’s a thought at least..
We opted to arrive fairly early as our baby son has a habit of waking us early, hence we can be out on the road early. As it was we arrived at the hotel at around 10am having previously checked that it was ok to do so. We had been told that we could come into the (otherwise) private car park off at the back of the hotel in order to drop bags etc especially as we had an infant child with us. The car park is accessed through either a key or by pressing the intercom, we pressed and pressed for almost ten minutes, nothing. So we rang the hotel and advised them that we were there trying to get into the car park, a long ringing ensued before someone answered, we explained our situation and you could hear them turning the intercom on….suddenly it burst into life…. And the barrier lifted, Sorry we had to disturb whatever they were doing, that it was so important you turn the intercom off...
Whatever it was that they were doing then they had clearly gone back to doing it as we arrived in reception just moments later. No sign of anyone, completely abandoned, repeated presses of the bell had no effect. Eventually somebody arrived and we began the painful check in process. Our name? Sure we spelt it out. It’s not unusual but it’s a habit of mine to spell it out as some find my Yorkshire accent strong… No there was no record of any booking for us, rechecked the name, nope nothing, add first name, type of booking, no nothing. Did we have a confirmation we were asked, yes we do as we had chased up the hotel the day before for it. Ah she says when she sees the confirmation, yes we have it but tis spelt like this – yes I said, correctly, like I spelt it to you. How odd that I should know how to spell my own name. Recovering from the brink of despair, we asked if we could leave our bags,, yes we could although our room was ready so we could check in now – for £10. Either our room is ready or it’s not, why charge us for it but we said yes so we could get the little man’s cot set up etc..
We get to our sweatbox of a room, ok, the blistering heat of the day is not Travelodges fault but there is very very very little available by way of ventilation, certainly no air-con and ta-da certainly no cot. I won’t bore you with details but we had to ask 4 separate times for the cot, finally, 8 and a half hours after we checked in we get the cot, unceremoniously dumped on the floor by the member of staff as though it was a huge inconvenience. Well it obviously had been. Quite incredibly they even tried to make us change rooms to the one where the cot currently was rather that bring it down the corridor. Travelodge are by no means alone in this phenomena of not having a travel cot or similar actually in the room ready for you – despite it having booked weeks or months in advance, they just don’t seem able to do it. It does make me wonder exactly how they manage to run a hotel if such a simple task can not be carried out adequately.
We were in a family room, so Travelodge clearly feel for a family of three that one bath towel and one hand towel is sufficient, let me tell you it isn’t. Bear in mind the rack rate for this room on this night was a stunning £165 that they could stretch to a towel each at least.
This is one of their much trumpeted recently refurbished hotels #travelogical they call it, a lick of paint, new bed and a new pic on the wall in corporate colours seem to be the extent of the refurbishment. A broken fan, well the fan worked but the top of it came off leaving the workings exposed, not entirely safe for any room let alone a family one with children. Yes the main beds have been upgraded, in truth, pillows and outrageous heat aside, it was a comfy night’s sleep,. I would pity anyone on the other bed in this family room, lumpy, hard and really not to be used as a bed, we used it as a bespoke sofa to watch the world’s smallest tv (slight exaggeration) on as it was just that bit nearer.
Her are a couple more quick tips that Travelodge could take on board to really help:
Pillows, most of us must have experienced the “one is not enough, two is too many” scenarios, too fluffy / thin / hard / soft – let’s get some different pillows not just 4 generic same plumpness ones.
Plugs – in many rooms, certainly this one, it’s hunt the plug socket, usually you end up unplugging something you need, like the fan or tv just to free up a plug to charge your phone. Why not a socket either side of the bed, that would be #travelogical, most people use phones as alarms now and want to charge them overnight. Either way more than two sockets would really help.
Kettles, there is a growing trend for hotels so supply kettles with the shortest possible flex and Travelodge seem to have cornered the market. Just to illustrate this, they then put the kettle almost as far away as they can from the socket. In our room, due to the lack of plugs too, you had to kind of balance the kettle up on a ledge behind the tv, with the exposed electrics of the broken fan, it was the only way, only place you could plug it in. We all know electricity and water are good bed fellows, don’t we? That’s #travelodgical…. an accident waiting to happen
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This declining franchise really needed a jolt to the head, but the producers disappointingly opt to play it safe with an unambitious script and child-friendly action. After the OK part 3 (2003's Rise of the Machines) and a weak part 4 (2009's Salvation), this film is unlikely to win new fans or keep the old ones hoping for more. Even though it's made to a high technical standard, the movie feels derivative and safe, avoiding any properly dangerous tension for a series of badly contrived action set-pieces.
It opens in 2029, as plucky rebel John Connor (Jason Clarke) is fighting the world-dominating Skynet machines with the help of his right-hand man Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney). When Skynet sends a Terminator (the young Arnold Schwarzenegger) back to 1984 Los Angeles to kill John's mother Sarah (Emilia Clarke), Kyle follows to rescue her. But he arrives to find the timeline already altered. Sarah had been attacked years earlier, rescued at age 9 and raised by an ageing Terminator she calls Pop (the present-day Arnie). Since everything has changed, Sarah and Kyle decide to jump forward to 2017 San Francisco so they can stop Skynet from taking over the planet with its Genisys operating system. But when they arrive, they realise that there's been even more jiggery-pokery in the timeline.
The way the film wraps in and around the 1984 original is clever, with added intrigue in the fact that Kyle and Sarah haven't yet fallen for each other and conceived John. So when he turns up in San Francisco, there are all sorts of mind-bending possibilities. Alas, the screenwriters can't be bothered to play with them. Instead they structure the film as a series of rambling expository conversations leading to yet another pointless flurry of explosive carnage. Honestly, if Terminators are literally indestructible, why bother trying to defeat them with guns? And yet everyone keeps shooting at them, just making them mad.
All of this leaves the actors with little to do, and the inanity frankly defeats both Courtney and Jason Clarke, who come off as little more than macho poseurs. Emilia Clarke is far and away the best thing on-screen, investing some genuine emotional depth into her role that adds what little resonance the film can muster. And Schwarzenegger has a lot of fun revisiting his most iconic role, livening up each scene with witty (if repetitive) deadpan humour. Yet while the film is loud and fiery, with solid effects and an epic scale, it never manages to thrill or surprise us at all. The producers need to travel back in time to recapture their mojo.
We couldnt quite bring ourself to commit to this one so one of our interns, Michelle stepped up...
"Hello, I'm Taylor, and I love seeing a sold out Manchester Arena", called Taylor Swift as if the fifteen thousand people screeching from the stands didn't know who she was. For someone with seven Grammy Awards, Swift immediately came across as an incredibly humble performer. This could be one of the best things about her performance at Manchester Arena on Wednesday night - her vigorous determination and beaming smile showed that she wanted to be on stage as much as her fans did.
Attracting fans of all ages from across the world, Swift was met with a tremendous applause and insanely strong reaction from the crowd as she launched straight into 'Welcome to New York'. It set the scene well; we were all there for an evening with Swift in the magical musical world she had created. "There's something else you should know about me", she said after her first song. "I was born in 1989!"
Stories about heartbreak, believing in yourself and (surprise, surprise) heartbreak again were honest, and moving. Her joyous and bubbly personality was heightened by moments where she played the wrong note on the piano (and informed everyone) and laughed when one of her backing dancers made a funny face at her from behind a clear screen. These minor moments humanised her performance, reminding the audience that the superstar on stage was a real person, not just a manufactured pop robot.
On the subject of dancers, they all put in a terrific effort, accomplishing insane acts and crazy acrobatics on an already packed stage. This was helped by the equally amazing light show the audience was treated to, accompanied by the light-up wrist bands which flashed and shone in time with the music.
While Swift utterly dominated the stage with her performance, a special mention has to go out to Vance Joy, who set the tone for the show with a comparatively brief half-hour set. The young Aussie looked right at home on the tour, but seemed somewhat stunned by the number of people who were almost as interested in seeing him as they were Swift. Putting on a great show including his new single 'Mess is Mine' and an exceptional Sam Smith cover, he rounded off the set with a stunning performance of 'Riptide', winner of Triple J's Hottest 100 (Australia's musical equivalent of a Best Picture Oscar) which was recently covered by Swift.
From the 50 Shades inspired rendition of 'I Knew You Were Trouble' to the rock-tastic performance of 'Bad Blood', Taylor Swift's 1989 World Tour was a sight to behold. An honest, touching and outstanding spectacle, which delighted everyone who attended - especially with her awesome encore of, yes, 'Shake it Off'.
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Josh Warrington will defend his WBC International and Commonwealth Featherweight title against Joel Brunker at the First Direct Arena in Leeds on September 5.
Tickets are now on general sale from the First Direct Arena on 0844 248 1585 and at www.firstdirectarena.com. VIP tickets priced at £150 are available exclusively from Matchroom Boxing on 01277 359900 and at www.matchroomboxing.com.
As usual we have cant be beat hotel rates for the centre of Leeds. We cannot name the hotels due to the exclusivity of our rates. All hotels are City Centre, no more than 15mins walk from the Arena and are booking up quickly..if you have used this service before you know you will not be let down.
Hotel 1. SOLD OUT 2/7
Hotel 2: SOLD OUT 3/7
Hotel 3: SOLD OUT 2/7
Hotel 4: SOLD OUT 4/7
We also have a small number of £10 codes to use with Redspottedhanky for your travel to Leeds. The codes are valid through September, from anywhere in UK mainland but the destination must be Leeds. Codes are one per booking. Click here to enter your email address and receive a code.
All codes allocated 5/7 thank you.
Josh Warrington will defend his WBC International and Commonwealth Featherweight title against Joel Brunker at the First Direct Arena in Leeds on September 5, live on Sky Sports.
Warrington makes the third defence of the title he claimed in Hull in November 2013, and will look to add the challenger to the impressive scalps of Rendall Munroe and Martin Lindsay.
Matchroom boxing earlier today revealed the schedule for Marching on Together..
SCHEDULE
JOSH WARRINGTON VS JOEL BRUNKER
12 x 3 mins WBC International and Commonwealth Featherweight title
GAVIN MCDONNELL VS JEREMY PARODI
12 x 3 mins EBU Super-Bantamweight title
KAL YAFAI VS TBA
8 x 3 mins Super-Flyweight contest
CALLUM JOHNSON VS TBA
8 x 3 mins Light-Heavyweight contest
ANDY TOWNEND VS LEE GLOVER
10 x 3 mins English Super-Featherweight title
EVENT TICKETS
Tickets are on sale from midday on Tuesday June 30 to Matchroom Fight Pass members from www.matchroomboxing.com priced at £30, £40, £60, £100 and £150 for VIP tickets.
Tickets go on general sale from midday on Wednesday July 1 from the First Direct Arena on 0844 248 1585 and at www.firstdirectarena.com. VIP tickets priced at £150 are available exclusively from Matchroom Boxing on 01277 359900 and at www.matchroomboxing.com.
