An Impossible Mission

How do you wrap up a franchise like Mission: Impossible? That is, if this even is the final installment... as they’ve made it sound (while at the same time, stars not named ‘Tom Cruise’ pipe up and suggest that might not be so). It has been twenty-nine years, with different writers and visionary directors – from twisty Brian De Palma and the action hair stylings of John Woo, to the lens flares of J.J. Abrams and animation expert Brad Bird, it was only about ten years ago that the franchise decided to opt for The Usual Suspects scribe Christopher McQuarrie for the final four. To return to that opening question once more, you could end with a Sopranos’ style cliffhanger, simply make another entertaining movie like the many before – like Everybody Loves Raymond did it with its final episode, or try to tie everything up in a neat little bow by bringing everything together as the Daniel Craig era did with James Bond. Well, it is definitely more along the lines of the latter example, with some distinct differences.

Re-teaming together in short order after the success of 2024's The Beekeeper, director David Ayer and star Jason Statham return just one year later with A Working Man (2025)... if the former oozed an unbeatable action hero more along the lines of a John Wick, this newer effort clearly takes some inspiration from the Taken model of hustle and bustle. Actually taking its genesis from a 2014 Chuck Dixon novel entitled “Levon’s Trade”, it was Sylvester Stallone who snapped up its rights... originally adapting it for television through his Balboa Productions. Long story short, it was adjusted to become a movie, Stallone stepped away from starring in it (due to age constraints and a busy schedule with his series Tulsa King), with Ayer soon joining the production, making some additions to the script before directing.

Following in the recent action craze launched by John Wick, fusing it with The World is Not Enough Bond villain’s inability to feel pain, adding in some of the sadism found in Home Alone and its sequel, and throwing in some rough and tumble comedy to boot, Novocaine (2025), co-directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, holds no punches, or perhaps packs quite the punch if you’d prefer. Not for the weak of heart... an early warning to the wise – if you don’t like R rated violence then this movie is likely not for you, as it does not hold back in any which way. Though it does contain action, comedy, and romance, don’t let those last two genres suggest that this is a light date night foray for couples.

In 2025, dare I say that it’s nice to be highlighting a film made for mature audiences. Avoiding the pratfalls of sequels, remakes, comic book movies, and overly costly bombast, Black Bag, written by David Koepp (Mission: Impossible) and directed by Steven Soderbergh (Traffic), is most easily described as an old school spycraft feature. Opening with an extended tracking shot of spy George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) making his way through a happening nightclub in London, his contact soon informs him that there is a rat leaking some sort of tech software named Severus from within the agency. If there is one thing Woodhouse despises, it’s a liar, so he invites all of the suspects to a dinner party to try to get to the bottom of it.

Filling in a lot of the back story gaps of the 2015 sensation Mad Max: Fury Road – which was a spectacle for its non-stop pedal to the medal action, George Miller’s prequel to the fourth film of the franchise, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024), sets aside some of the thrills (but don’t worry, they are still aplenty) in order to explain more about his post-apocalyptic landscape and his main character at the centre of the story – the titular Furiosa. Rather intriguingly, this screenplay was already written during the filming of Fury Road – it was handed out at the time to help the actors better understand who their characters are and where they came from. For those of you who have seen the 2015 edition, this narrative will explain how Furiosa (originally Charlize Theron in Fury Road, now the younger version is played by Alyla Browne, the teen version by Anya Taylor-Joy)

It all started with X – an ode to the 1970s early slasher movies; then, it was followed up by prequel Pearl – a horror flashback paying tribute to the early days of colour cinema; and it all concludes (supposedly) with MaXXXine (2024) – which leaps into 1985... following survivor of the original, Maxine Minx (Mia Goth), as she navigates Los Angeles – attempting to make it in the cutthroat world of show business. One of the more unique trilogies in cinema history, writer/director Ti West’s conclusion is not complex in its narrative... if you’ve been in tune with the films from the very beginning, it will likely not be too difficult to guess where it’s all leading to, but it is utterly impressive in its cinematic dialogue – in other words, how it pulls its inspiration from the history of the industry to create a striking pastiche of the 80s era.