MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE- ROGUE NATION: The ‘Cruise’ rides, high on entertainment! [3.5/5]

IMF (Impossible Mission Force] has been shut. Agent Ethan Hunt is a wanted now. CIA has taken over the further responsibilities to decide on all the anti-national threats; and also to locate and eliminate Mr. Wanted. Meanwhile, the mission impossible here for agent Hunt is to track and prove the existence of an illegitimate/undercover group of highly-skilled eliminators branded as the Syndicate. Now, you don’t need to be a fan of the popular franchise to guess what follows next. The plot has been set. The tracks are laid. And illustrated as ‘the living personification of destiny’, Ethan Hunt is ready to take you on a thrilling ride where betrayals are norms, guns are on the loose and there is always a ticking time-bomb situation. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE- ROGUE NATION is exactly what it promises to be or is expected to be. Probably, the most satisfying contribution to the series!

Though it all has become a ‘predicted from miles’ mix of elements now i.e. a comic sidekick [Simon Pegg in this case] waiting to throw-up witty one-liners every time his mouth is opened, a grumpy-cranky boss [Alec Baldwin], an understanding, sympathetic and constantly supportive partner [Jeremy Renner], a mysterious femme fatale [Rebecca Ferguson] destined to be the flame of the fearless male protagonist, sooner or later and the almost unshakable villain [Sean Harris] with more distorted desires than his tonal expressions; MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE- ROGUE NATION doesn’t fall in the league of ordinary efforts. The highlights are certainly the high-octane action sequences, pulse-raising bike-chase, the eye-arresting locations and the blazingly electrifying theme soundtrack.

Tom Cruise decidedly looks susceptible at first to every given situation where he is needed to outperform himself and later emerges comfortably as the unstoppable at nothing kind of superhero. He is known and loved for that; and this action-expedition only takes the frenzy a notch up. Be it the hanging out [in literal sense] with the running plane scene featured in the trailers also or the amazing dive in the whirls of pool scene; stunts are visually breathtaking and Cruise as always the most comfortable at it.

Film finds another prop of strength, conviction and visual delight in Rebecca Furguson. Clad in a stunning Golden ball gown, she can kill you with not only her looks but moves that come with a warning of ‘blink and you miss’. She can gift Cruise a sense of bewilderment in his judgments, that too more than once. The best from her comes when she tries to encourage Hunt in pure poise with ‘come away with me’ plea. Simon Pegg successfully marks his comic-best in the weekly polygraph test scene where he has to cheat the technology used to gain considerable information about Hunt. The only weak link likes to be is in the casting of Sean Harris as the chief of the Syndicate. It could have been more fanatic, freaky or dramatic I would say as we are here dealing with Tom Cruise and not some Gary Oldman or Colin Firth in some razor-sharp espionage drama.

On the whole, Christopher McQuarrie directed MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE- ROGUE NATION is a ‘crispier than a wafer’ action adventure that makes your investments in the bucket of popcorns definitely a worth. And if you can catch in IMAX, nothing beats that! Mission to entertain: accomplished! [3.5/5]  

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON: Spectacular but standard! Fun for fans!! [3/5]

If you are a hardcore comic-book fan, you would know what to expect from a specific series, and when. There will be moments of comfort shaken by the flashes of threatening situation to the very existence of mankind. Team should be intact and as any of the old-book sayings would recommend, ‘together’. Meanwhile, you can have a romantic track between the two of leading members, a sentimental family-connection, self-assured guys cooler than ice-crushes, a ‘mightier than ever’ evil force and loads of pages carrying only action-words like ‘Boom’ ‘Bang’ ‘Crash’ ‘Smack’ written all over big & bold.

Marvel’s screen-adaptation and a sequel to 2012’s super-hero flick THE AVENGERS, Joss Whedon’s AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON too doesn’t dare to rule out on the basics and tries its best to serve you ample portions of everything you read in the buffet menu. Tony Stark [Robert Downey Jr.] known for inventing witty one-liners more than scientifically viable gadgets and programs accidently brings an artificial intelligence program into life, and ‘Ultron’ is now planning to extinct human race from earth in order to save it. Initially, it [as Ultron is just another evolved operating system, works by hacking and controlling dense information freely flowing in the virtual world] gets hands of support from a speedster young kid with his twin sister- a mind-manipulating freak seeking personal revenge from Stark. She can easily invade any mind and slide them to a complete opposite track with corrupted visions in the head.

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON gives plenty of space for an entertaining ride having your favorite superheroes by your side. In one particular ‘party’ scene, everyone else tries to lift the immovable hammer of Thor [Chris Hemsworth]. Thor looks quite confident of his caliber and the hammer’s built until Bruce Banner- the hulk [Mark Ruffalo] enters the game. Bruce couldn’t do much but succeeded in shaking Thor’s confidence for a moment. Don’t miss his face! In other, everyone in the team pulls Captain America’s leg for his one of early instructions to watch out for the ‘language’. It all starts in the beginning and keeps coming at regular interval but so incredibly, you are never done with the joke. The film also explores the softer track between Natasha [Scarlett Johansson] and the rage-driven green monster in a man’s body, Bruce [Ruffalo]. The eagerness of being alike mixed with the sadness of uncertainty in the nature of their relationship is heartbreaking. So is the sequence where Stark’s artificial intelligence program JARVIS gets terminated by the evil Ultron. After Johansson’s talking operating system in Spike Zonze’s HER, this was another heartfelt sequence involving some machine.

Whedon creates a world full of explosions, destruction and skyscrapers getting melt down to dirt. The action sequences especially the ones having all the superheroes fighting in slow-motion and in one frame are a treat to watch, but what lacks the most is the depth in the story. I wish the plot gets more thickened by some cleverness and hadn’t just decided to bigger the scale. It’s scenic. It’s thrilling. It’s pure fun. Don’t expect anything out of the box or any unpredicted surprise in the tale! AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON is the latest in a popular series and stays the same. Spectacular but standard! [3/5]