There was a Mission Impossible 2? Or 1? Christ. Where have I been?
Just once I’d like to see a film where the bad guy does precisely what he says he’ll do in precisely the timeframe he proposes to do it in. No explaining your master plan. No skiving off on your dastardly deed because of a sudden attack of humanity. None of that bollocks. Hard core, cold blooded nastiness. I want to see the heroes suffer without the swelling musical chords that indicate hope’s still alive if only you’ll stay tuned for the sequel. I want dead loved ones to stay dead and the hero of the hour to have to figure out how to slog on when there’s no particular reason to do so. I want the bad guy to win. For after all, “evil will always triumph because good is dumb.”
And that is why, despite it’s insanely annoying characters, 24 is infinitely superior to anything in the Mission Impossible genre. People die. This is the “really, real world. There ain’t no coming back.” Evil is human nature, it’s the root of our being. Our capacity for goodness is unbounded but it’s deeply unnatural. The universe tends toward entropy. So, apparently, does human society. Why can’t we have that reflected on screen? Are we all really that desperate for escapism?
Meh, I saw it, I enjoyed it in the moment and I shall promptly forget all about it. How long until Pirates of the Carribbean?