Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation London Location Hunt

What do Jeremy Renner fans do when not watching their hero? Well, they re-enact parts of his films in their actual real life locations, and they lunge of course...

Anyone who read my Geek La Chic articles back in April will already know that I am not only a huge Jeremy Renner fan, but I have also met a great many of my best and most treasured friends through his fandom. What an amazing bunch of people he has as his fans. I hope he realises.

After we collectively went to see Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation in July (review here) we decided that our next outing should be to hunt down some of the London locations used in the shoot of the movie.

One of my Renner friends Sammy actually tweeted the director Chris McQuarrie to find out which train station they filmed in towards the end of the movie. He returned her tweet telling her it wasn't actually a station, and if we found it he'd send her a poster. Sadly we didn't manage to find the building with the red tiles but we did find a whole bunch of other locations and did what any discerning fanwoman would do, we took pictures of each other re-enacting moments from the movie. If that doesn't earn us all posters then I don't know what will.

Our first location was actually one of the first parts of the movie (after the plane take off), when Agent Hunt goes to get his mission in a London Record Shop...

Next up we found the theater that Agent Hunt stood in front of to take a phone call from the IMF.

Suze was our Agent Hunt stand in for this shot as she was the only one who would brave going into the stinky London telephone box.

Our next mission was to find the "station" in the movie. We had been informed this was King's Cross but it seems now that most of this scene was shot somewhere else. Back to the drawing board. In the mean time Ims did get this shot of me pretending to be the smirky Agent Brandt, my newspaper in hand and lean perfected.

Ims also photographed me as Benji and Luther in the same part of the film.

We were pooped after our day out in London and called it a day after this so that we could re-fuel, sleep and prepare ourselves for mission day 2.

Our first location on day 2 was a lane passing the Royal Courts of Justice, down which Ethan Hunt and Ilsa Faust flee while escaping from Soloman Lane. Here I captured Ims and Suze re-enacting the scene beautifully.

Next we headed to Middle Temple to look for the arches where Ilsa and Vinter have a particularly atmospheric knife fight. In the process we found the steps where Ethan Hunt runs down in the dark, gets into the building and jumps out of the window on the right to fell his opponent. We were all inordinately pleased to find that the shrub is real.

The arches where Ims and Suze re-enacted the knife fight using Biro's.

Whilst heading to our next location (and getting lost within Middle Temple) we discovered another two locations we hadn't even been looking for, the first one was outside Middle Temple Hall. Here I re-enact Ilsa running. She's much fitter than I obviously.

The second was this tunnel where our hero and heroine of the hour are being chased by the bad guys! Here I think Suze is being all of the characters in the scene simultaneously. :)

Our next planned location was The Tower of London/Tower Bridge, the dockside of which was used in the very tense scene where Agent Hunt meets with Ilsa and her hostage Benji.

We also assumed that the building Soloman Lane looks out of was one of these across from Tower Bridge.

 

Our final location was St John Street, looking towards Smithfield Market. The spot where Agent Brandt "betrays" his colleagues in a classic red phone box, which unfortunately was a prop. Hence I, as Brandt, made the call in the street instead.

After making the fateful telephone call where he effectively sold out his friends, Agent Brandt trudges despondently down the street.

We also found the location of this warehouse scene, although could not go inside to take a picture.

We ended our day with a signature Renner Lunge (Patent Pending I'm sure) to ease out any aches from all that walking around London.

I hope you enjoyed the tour, and maybe we've helped you to source some locations you might have been looking for. If anyone reading this does happen to know where the King's Cross scenes were filmed (somewhere with a main hall that's very big, and in London) please do get in touch. 

Massive thank you to Ims, Suze and Sammy for the use of their photos and helpful information. Screenshots courtesy of Google Images and Paramount Pictures. 

Brooklyn

http://www.brooklyn-themovie.com/

When in London for the weekend and you're faced with a day of rain, there's only one thing for it, a movie.

My companions and I weren't sure what to see as we'd initially wanted to check out Crimson Peak, but that had mostly finished. Then we considered seeing Burnt, but I'd already promised to see that with another friend. Finally, one of our group suggested seeing Brooklyn as she is a fan of Saoirse Ronan. 

I've only seen Ronan in a couple of movies, How I Live Now and Lovely Bones (I don't count Atonement as I honestly don't remember anything about her in that, other than her being the little sister who ruins everything for Keira Knightley's and James McAvoy's characters) and I wasn't particularly impressed by her in either of those offerings. I recently caught a bit of The Host when it was on TV but again I wasn't particularly gripped by the performances or the storyline and eventually I changed channel. 

I knew nothing about Brooklyn other than who the star was, and as such, I must admit that I went in with rather low expectations.

The movie tells the story of Eilis Lacey, a girl growing up in Ireland in the 1950's who gets shipped off to live in Brooklyn through an arrangement made by her sister Rose, and priest Father Flood. At first she is homesick but she eventually builds a life for herself in Brooklyn, meeting a nice young man out there and wanting to settle down. But when family tragedy strikes, Eilis must decide where her heart really lies.

It was only after the film was a short way in that I remembered reading a little about the story and I recalled thinking that it sounded quite creepy, this young girl being shipped to Brooklyn through an arrangement with a priest. Thankfully the movie is quite the opposite. The friendship between Eilis and Father Flood is a sweet one, he's very much a guide and father figure for Eilis and their scenes together are lovely. As is the film as whole.

I cried a lot more than I was expecting to, it is very much a weepie, but it's so rich with characters who you absolutely fall in love with, from the idyllic boyfriend Tony, to the girls in the boarding house, including the head of the house Mrs Kehoe, played brilliantly by Julie Walters, right down to Tony's little brother who steals the two scenes he's in completely. It's a genuinely lovely, heartwarming story and I could not fault a single thing with it. 

I guarantee that such a nice little movie will not be around for long so I urge you to see it while you can. 9 out of 10.

 

Viewing Date - 7th November 2015

UK Release Date - 6th November 2015

Cast Overview:
Eilis Lacey ~ Saoirse Ronan

Tony Fiorello ~ Emory Cohen

Jim Farrell ~ Domhnall Gleeson

Father Flood ~ Jim Broadbent

Madge Kehoe ~ Julie Walters

Miss Kelly ~ Brid Brennan

Mrs Lacey ~ Jane Brennan

Rose Lacey ~ Fiona Glascott

Director ~ John Crowley

Writers ~ Nick Hornby, Colm Toibin (based on his novel of the same name)

Fantastic Four

http://www.fantasticfourmovie.co.uk/

I will admit that I was not looking forward to seeing Fantastic Four and one of the reasons I wanted to attend Cineworld's unlimited screening of it 3 days ahead of release, was to get it out of the way. 

I had no problem with the studio changing the colour of Johnny Storm's pre-firey skin. In honesty I didn't really have a problem with the studio re-telling the story with a much younger cast. After all, if they were going to re-make the story as an origin film, a younger cast would be needed. No, my problem was that we didn't need this film at all. 

In an age where strong female characters seem to be getting shafted out of superhero movies, we didn't need a remake of an existing franchise. What we need is a female lead superhero movie. There. I said it.

Now let's get to the synopsis so I can really start tearing a hole in Fox's reboot and why it really didn't work.

We open on a young Reed Richards who needs a power converter for his teleportation device. He starts a highly unlikely friendship with tough kid Ben Grimm and together they zap a toy car to who-knows-where. Skip a few years and Reed is at the forefront of teleportation technology and on the brink of being able to send matter to another dimension. After making a breakthrough and getting hammered, Reed, Ben, Johnny and Victor Von Doom decide to take a joy ride in the teleporter and boldly go to the other dimension to explore. Needless to say it all goes horribly wrong, and in the process they lose Victor and all exhibit 'powers' upon their return. Including Sue Storm who wasn't part of the landing party but was in the lab when they all returned looking slightly worse for wear. Skip to the end and after a more sensible party is sent to the other dimension, Victor is found. And surprise surprise, he's pissed. Wonder why?

This was an origin story where they seemingly couldn't actually be bothered to tell the story. The early scenes of Reed and Ben could have been really in depth, building not only their relationship with each other, but also allowing the audience in on that too. Instead, the whole film just seems rushed, and like none of the characters have been properly developed. The drunken mission just seems incredibly unlikely given the people involved are supposedly some of the worlds brightest minds, and poor Sue, being the woman of the hour here is given virtually nothing to do for the whole film except listen to music. 

The end fight scene comes around far too quickly and is over before it begins. I will give the film it's due and say that at least it isn't a scene for scene remake of the 2005 Fantastic Four, but it also doesn't improve on that film either. And for a movie that is being made 10 years later I expect leaps and bounds, not baby steps.

Like I said at the start of the review, I had no problem in the changes made to Johnny Storm's character from the original comic book creation. Characters can evolve from their original intentions. Evolution is all good. But there was one major change to a character that I just couldn't get on board with. Billy Elliot as Ben Grimm. Come on Fox, what the hell were you thinking? Ben is supposed to be the muscle. You said it yourself in the trailer. So why cast the shortest and skinniest actor you could find? It makes no sense at all. 

My cinema buddies commented on how it would have been nice to see some scenes of them coming to grips with their powers, how they controlled them, mishaps along the way etc, and I agree. Any kind of character development on the part of any of the characters would have been nice. But we weren't given that opportunity. It's time to give the toys back to Marvel now Fox. You've had your chance twice, and you're clearly not making the most of what you've been given.

Please can we have a Black Widow movie now to counteract this crap? 2 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 4th August 2015

UK Release Date - 6th August 2015

Cast Overview:

Miles Teller ~ Reed Richards

Kate Mara ~ Sue Storm

Toby Kebbell ~ Victor Von Doom 

Michael B Jordan ~ Johnny Storm

Jamie Bell ~ Ben Grimm

Reg E Cathey ~ Dr Franklin Storm

Tim Blake Nelson ~ Dr Allen

Director ~ Josh Trank

Writers ~ Simon Kinberg (Screenplay), Jeremy Slater (Screenplay), Josh Trank (Screenplay). Based on characters by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Southpaw

http://southpawfilm.com/

I was originally meant to see Southpaw on my birthday. Being a Jake Gyllenhaal film I should have seen it on it's opening day, but my bestie came down for my birthday weekend and that night we had tickets to see Bradley Cooper in The Elephant Man, so Southpaw was pushed back to my birthday. Only 2 days after release, I could live with that.

On the day, the weather was terrible so we holed ourselves up in the cinema and watched Labyrinth (being shown at our local independent cinema) and Inside Out (as it's tradition to watch a Pixar film on my birthday) and when that had finished we were all tired and wanted to get home. So no Southpaw for me. Eventually I managed to see Southpaw last Thursday along with Mission Impossible and Minions. Bit of an odd triple bill to say the least.

The movie is about successful boxer Billy Hope (Gyllenhaal) who loses his wife Maureen (Rachel McAdams) in a tragic accident, when another boxer challenges him at a charity event. He loses a lot more than Maureen when in the process of grieving for his wife, he crashes his car whilst under the influence. His house, his possessions and his daughter are all then taken from him in quick succession. Billy finds himself literally on the ropes and trying to get his life back together.

The trailer for the movie gives a lot away, but at the same time sets the film up as being a very gritty and really quite violent piece of cinema. When in reality, at it's core, this is a film about family. It's a film about losing sight of who you are and finding the strength to get back to being that person. Gyllenhaal gives one of the best performances of his career. Yet again becoming the character so completely that you don't see him anymore, you just see Billy. Struggling father and athlete. You will have probably all heard that this is "the best boxing movie since Raging Bull" so I won't harp on about the actual boxing scenes, but they are very realistic and you can tell that everyone involved worked hard to make them so. 

I was also pleasantly surprised by Forest Whitaker. In the past I have found his performances a little hit and miss. Sometimes he's great and other times (more often than not) he can be quite over the top. His achievement here was to put in a grounded and believable performance, and his inclusion in the movie added an acting heavyweight to the ensemble rather than detracting from it. 

I'm only sorry that I've been so busy lately that this review has been on the back burner. It looks like this movie might have already left most cinemas, and with Mission Impossible Rogue Nation coming out, it has probably done so too soon for a lot of people to see it. If it is still on at a cinema near you though, and if you're a fan of the realistic boxing movie, or of an unexpected family drama, do go and see Southpaw. 8 out of 10. 

Viewing Date - 30th July 2015

UK Release Date - 24th July 2015

Cast Overview:

Jake Gyllenhaal ~ Billy Hope
Rachel McAdams ~ Maureen Hope

Forest Whitaker ~ Tick Wills

Oona Lawrence ~ Leila Hope

50 Cent ~ Jordan Mains

Director ~ Antoine Fuqua

Writer ~ Kurt Sutter

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

http://www.missionimpossible.com/

Anyone who knows me will not be surprised to learn that I went to see the latest Mission Impossible movie. But keep reading, because the outcome of the review might actually surprise you.

My friends and I recently underwent a mission of our own, to watch all four previous Mission Impossible movies on the run up to the release of the new one. You might think that this was a relatively easy task but trying to factor in four busy people's schedules, summer holidays and other commitments made it rather taxing. We fit the first movie in no problem. I even baked us an MI Pie.

Movies 2 and 3 we did as a double bill, and in the end I watched Ghost Protocol with one of my group of friends after seeing Rogue Nation. I'd never seen MI2 before and I have to say that it's my least favourite of the franchise. But we're not here to discuss MI2, or MI3, or even Ghost Protocol. But if you do want to know what I thought of that movie you can read the review here. It was prior to me joining the Renner fandom so any bias towards him was purely coincidental.

Rogue Nation pretty much carries on from where Ghost Protocol left off, as if you recall, at the end of Ghost Protocol Ethan (Tom Cruise) is listening to his next mission parameters which include infiltrating a shadow organisation known as the syndicate. Initial jaw dropping plane stunt aside (which is merely the opening gambit), that's what Ethan is trying to do in this movie. All whilst the future of the IMF hangs in the balance. Brandt (Jeremy Renner) goes up against Huntley (Alec Baldwin) of the CIA to try and keep the IMF in place, but when Ethan's mission is shut down his old team of Brandt, Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames) must try and assist Ethan without being disavowed themselves. Throw in a new baddie played by Sean Harris, and a woman who has questionable loyalty (Rebecca Ferguson) and you have a twisty turny plot that never lets up. 

Then there are the stunts. Mission Impossible movies have upped the anti on stunts since the first movie when Ethan Hunt gets thrown off a helicopter in the channel tunnel onto a moving train. MI 2 saw Ethan dangling from Dead Horse Point in Utah, MI 3 saw him jumping from buildings in Shanghai and of course who could forget the Burj Khalifa scene from MI GP? Rogue Nation has quite a few death defying stunts for Cruise to tackle. The first being the plane sequence, the second the underwater sequence and the third is the spectacular bike chase. Similar to MI 2 but still impressive to see that it actually was Cruise doing his own riding, without helmet and even flinching at one point when his knee came perilously close to the tarmac. 

As a Renner fan though I was disappointed that his character didn't have more to do. In his first outing in Ghost Protocol we saw him as an analyst and also a kick ass field agent, doing his own err, well, lunges. This time out he had a lot less to do which was a shame. Having said that, I think my favourite sequence from the new movie was one that didn't actually feature agent Brandt at all, and that was the opera scene. I loved everything about it, all of the backstage snooping, the fights, the music, everything. And if you aren't humming Nessun Dorma for days after then I don't know how you managed that.

The only downside for me was that Rogue Nation was a little too complex a storyline, and I admit that I didn't really understand it fully until the second viewing. The story did feel a little rushed but then when you have to move your release date forward by 5 months, that's going to happen. But it doesn't detract from an otherwise entertaining film. It was also nice to see a lot of the London locations used for this one.

As far as the franchise goes, my brother summed it up well when he said that 3, 4, and 5 are a great series of movies altogether. I'd agree with that, but 4 is still my favourite. 8 out of 10. 

Viewing Date - 30th July 2015

UK Release Date - 30th July 2015

Cast Overview:

Tom Cruise ~ Ethan Hunt

Jeremy Renner ~ William Brandt

Simon Pegg ~ Benji Dunn

Rebecca Ferguson ~ Ilsa Faust

Ving Rhames ~ Luther Stickell

Sean Harris ~ Solomon Kane

Tom Hollander ~ Prime Minister

Alec Baldwin ~ Alan Huntley

Director ~ Christopher McQuarrie

Writer(s) ~ Christopher McQuarrie and Drew Pierce

Based on television series "Mission: Impossible" by Bruce Geller