The Causal Angel
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With his infectious love of storytelling in all its forms, his rich characterisation and his...
Oblivion
Arnaldur Indridason and Victoria Cribb
Book
The Quick. A woman swims in a remote, milky-blue lagoon. Steam rises from the water and as it...
Hunt For The Enemy (The Enemy #3)
8.5
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The breathtaking and action-packed finale to the bestselling Enemy series. The Hunt is on. ...
Cold Reign (Jane Yellowrock, #11)
9.0
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Jane Yellowrock is a shape-shifting skinwalker… and the woman rogue vampires fear most. Jane...
David McK (3883 KP) rated Atlas (2024) in Movies
Dec 28, 2024 (Updated Dec 28, 2024)
Or her music career.
Not of what is, essentially, a version of the 1980s FASA miniatures game "Battletech" or the "MechWarrior" series if computer game spins offs.
Which is more-or-less what this feels like, with J-Lo's character in the future - who distrusts all technology - trapped inside the cockpit of a mobile armoured fighting robot (Gundam, perhaps, as another touchstone, or even Armoured Core) and needing to interact with the AI of said suit whilst on a mission to another planet to hunt down rogue AI - that she has a personal connection with - that attempted to commit genocide against the human race.
Actually better than I thought it would be, but unlikely to win any awards!
Bullets and Dandelions (Deputy Gemma Stone #0.5)
6.0
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My name is Tess Reynolds, and I’ll admit few people would think I’m a badass Army sniper called...
Romantic Suspense Series Novella
David McK (3883 KP) rated Mission: Impossible - Final Reckoning (2025) in Movies
Jun 7, 2025 (Updated Jun 7, 2025)
There's nothing really in it that would lead to that conclusion.
Oh, sure, there's plenty of call-backs and reminders to the previous films (Dead Reckoning, of course, for which that was originally going to be called Dead Reckoning Part 2 but also M:I 3 and (delightfully) the original Mission: Impossible 1996 film carrying the lions share of), even if the villain from the previous entry seems to have undergone a full-on personality transplant between then and now.
But, still, we all know the real draw of these is Tom Cruise's insane stunts ...
And, on that front, this delivers.
The film, as a whole, is maybe a tad overlong however - for me, Rogue Nation is still the pinnacle of the series,
Dick Move: Island Confidential Novella
8.0
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When Danny Shaw's ex dumped the job of returning some...personal items...to a short list of his...
Contemporary MM Romance Series Novella
Phillip McSween (751 KP) rated Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) in Movies
Apr 8, 2019
Acting: 10
Beginning: 10
Characters: 10
Cinematography/Visuals: 10
The Mission: Impossible franchise has a way of hopping from one locale quickly to the next and Rogue Nation is no exception. Every location brings them to a different point in the journey, a means to an end, which makes things fun to follow. There’s always something happening that manages to up the visual ante from one scene to the next. My personal favorite was a crazy car chase through a crowded city. Director Christopher McQuarrie really manages to capture the intensity of this moment as cars and motorcycles weave in and out of tight spaces. This is just one of many heartpacing sequences that are visually stunning.
Conflict: 8
While the movie doesn’t skimp on the action, Rogue Nation isn’t quite as intense as other movies in the franchise. Not to say that this movie will put you to sleep by any means as there is plenty to keep the viewer occupied. One scene (actually the scene right before the car chase I love) involves Ethan having to capture data from an underwater security system. I could take a stab at describing it, but I couldn’t do it justice. It’s intense and fun to watch at the same time. I remember watching it for the first time in theaters and screaming out loud at the movie screen as Ethan found himself racing against times. It’s action sequences like that that make me wonder why more people don’t love movies.
Genre: 7
Pretty damn good…but I’ve seen better, particularly in the franchise itself. It falls just a couple notches shy of being great. Despite falling just shy of a classic, it manages to hold its own and gives me a good time with every watch.
Memorability: 10
Car chases. Underwater security fields. Tom Cruise suspended in mid-air hanging on to the side of an aircraft. And, most importantly, Tom Cruise running. This is a movie that reminds you why it’s fun to go to the theater. Rather than beat you over the head with deep messages, it hits you with high-intensity action that inspires a rewatch.
Pace: 9
Plot: 8
Resolution: 7
Overall: 89
I won’t lie to you, I hope they make a million of these movies because it never seems to get old. Since the second film (which was a pure nightmare), the franchise not only bounced back, but continues to improve and stay fresh. Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation is just a flat-out good time.
David McK (3883 KP) rated Star Wars: Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel in Books
Jan 28, 2019
That movie starts, remember (minus the traditional opening crawl) with the Erso's hiding out on a planet before they are found by Director Krennic, with Galen Erso then forced to finish his work on the weapon that the Death Star was built to house before jumping forward about a decade or so to his daughter in a prison transport: Jynn then becoming the main focus of the rest of the film.
This novel details hiow they came to be hiding out on that planet in the first place, focusing nearly exclusivley on Jynn's parent Galen and Lyra Erso: the former a genius involved in the study of Kyber crystals (those that power the Jedi's lightsabre's) believing - at least initially - that he was involved in exploring new methods of renewable energy; the latter his wife and assistant.
Te novel takes place over a span of years: as it starts, the Clone Wars are still raging across the galaxy, with Order 66 yet to be implemented by the soon-to-be Emperor Palpatine: a character who, though mentioned, has no direct impact on the events in this at all. Indeed, the conclusion of the Clone Wars, the fall of the Jedi and the appearance of Vader are all really only background noise, 'fluff' (if you will) to the story told in this, with the novel split into three segemens: the first showing the friendship(?) between Erso and Krennic (or, at least, the latter manipulating events so that the former would believe this is the case), the middle segment Erso's work on the Kyber crystals leading up the first test-firing of the super-weapon (with Krennic keeping this secret from Erso) and the final section with Galen and Lyras growing doubts and disillusionment about the work they are involved in - doubts and disillusionments shared by the secondary character of Has Obitt who finds himself going from working for Krennic to being instrumental in providing the Empire for excuses to take over worlds to joining the (pre)Rebellion rebellion against the Empire before being captured and employed by Tarkin to spy on Krennic - yes, Tarkin also plays a role in these proceedings, albeit not to the exten he does in Rogue One, via his rivalry with Krennic.
Solid if not spectacular entry in the 'new' Star Wars canon - be prepared to find out more than you could possibly want to know, though, about crystals!