THE RABBIT’S FOOT - Mission: Impossible III

Some people say that it’s impossible to have a normal life if you work as a secret agent in a covert organization such as IMF. But this is Mission Impossible and I say nothing is impossible. Ethan Hunt finally found a girl of his dream and planned to get married. Nobody in the family knew or realized that Hunt was working for the IMF. The upcoming family matters would require him to reduce his role as a secret agent and became a trainer for new agents instead.

One night, when having a party with the family, duty suddenly called him to accept one of the most dangerous missions throughout his career. Between the job and the family, he must save his marriage and also accomplish the mission. He finally chose to accept the mission in order to save his former student named Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell).

Lindsey was captured by an international arms dealer named Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) – one of the most cunning villains Hunt had ever faced. This time Hunt was backed up by a solid team – but the question was how long could he keep his identity as a secret? – As Davian would try anything to strike Hunt back and also hurt the people he loves most.

The situation got worse when Hunt was able to catch Davian alive, but Davian managed to escape on the way back to IMF. There’re always many surprises in Mission Impossible and it seemed that you almost couldn’t trust anyone. Hunt faced a situation he feared most where Davian managed to overcome the situation by putting Hunt on a disadvantage.

Hunt always had balls to risk his own life to the very limit – But could he do the same with his loved one Julia (Michelle Monaghan)? The more Hunt tried to defeat Davian, the more dangerous Julia’s life would become. Between Hunt, Davian, and Julia stood a mysterious thing called the Rabbit’s Foot. What’s Rabbit Foot? It was a very important thing for Hunt in order to rescue Julia from Davian.

This impossible mission is packed with great actions as usual. Could Hunt and Julia survive until the end? But the most important question is, will there be another impossible mission for Ethan Hunt?

See also Mission: Impossible & Mission: Impossible II

Ivan the Freelancer

CHIMERA VS BELLEROPHON - Mission: Impossible II

What is the deadliest weapon in the world? If your answer is biochemical, I must agree with you. Biochemical can be in the form of anything that contains living things and also chemical substances – this time, the example was a virus, which used a name of a mythology creature named Chimera.

In Greek mythology, Chimera is monster which was made of the parts of multiple animals. It’s a mixture between a lion, a snake, and a goat – very deadly creature because of its strength and fiery breath. Chimera was defeated by a hero named Bellerophon. Bellerophon managed to slay Chimera by attacking its throat from the air.

Mission: Impossible II tells a story about Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) who was on a mission to retrieve a sample of the most dangerous virus called Chimera and also the antidote to neutralize Chimera’s effect called Bellerophon. In order to do this, Hunt would need help from a highly-skilled thief named Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandie Newton). Hunt had little time to waive his charm and prove himself worthy in the eyes of Nyah to recruit her in this mission.

Chimera virus or substance was able to kill a person in just few hours after infection. It’s even more dangerous if it’s released in the open air as it could infect all people within a vast radius. On the other hand, Bellerophon was the cure that was able to neutralize the diseases caused by Chimera.

Retrieving the Chimera and Bellerophon would not be easy as a ruthless terrorist and criminal mastermind Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) stood in the way. Things got more complicated when the trust and love sparks between Hunt and Nyah had to be put to the test, because Nyah had to play as Ambrose’s lover in order to accomplish the mission.

Mission Impossible always reminds me the importance of teamwork. Whether how many people are involved, teamwork always make the impossible become possible. Hunt tried not to put Nyah’s life in danger, but he didn’t have any choice but to let her risk her own life. Would they finally able to maintain trust and save each other’s life?

Mission Impossible is never simple but it’s always exciting and enjoyable. Hunt said to his boss when discussing the mission, “It will be difficult”. The boss replied, “Well Hunt, this is mission impossible, not mission difficult. Difficult will be a walk in the park for you”.

See also Mission Impossible and Mission Impossible 3…

Ivan the Freelancer

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE - Mission Impossible

To do the impossible mission, you’ll need an impossible team with impossible characters. Mission Impossible is very “classic” to me as I used to watch its TV version when I was little. The most familiar scene in my memory is the one-sided-conversation between a tape and a person named Jim. It always goes like this, “Good morning Jim… bla bla blaa… as always, should you or any other IM Force is caught or killed, we will disavow all of your actions. This tape will self destruct in five seconds. Good luck Jim.” Then Poof… smoke comes out from the burned tape, followed by that one and only “Mission Impossible soundtrack”.

Every Mission Impossible movies always come with unique scenarios and dangerous-thrilling-impossible missions. This big screen series is no exception either – this time it’s directed by Brian De Palma. Unlike James Bond who always work alone, these people always work as a team – as you know, working as a team has its own art and rules. This movie surely tells us to work smart – not hard.

Although Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) played an important role in the organization, the movie focuses its attention on a character named Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) as one of the IMF member. Hunt always play as a lead point in the missions – meaning he’ll be the one who face the most dangerous situations due to his excellent trainings and skills.

Trust, cooperation, and reliability are the number one traits that everyone should have in teamwork – but how about if there was no longer trust between the members? This is what happened in Mission Impossible 1, where the mission went sour and everyone had lost trust to each other.

Ethan Hunt was accused for the failure of the very important mission. Racing against time and his enemies, Hunt must find the real bastard without the help from his own organization. Few remaining IMF members still survive although in “disavowed” status, but could Hunt trust them? – And who to trust when everyone’s life was at stake?

Hunt tried to prove that although teamwork was very important, he was no less cunning and dangerous when working solo. It is Mission Impossible… But I believe nothing is impossible…

See also Mission Impossible 2 and Mission Impossible 3...

Ivan the Freelancer

COMING HOME - The Bourne Ultimatum

Bourne was tired… He’s tired of running… This time, he decided to strike back. It wouldn’t be easy, as his enemies would do anything in their power to stop Bourne from learning his true identity. The movie about a man who tried so hard to learn from his past just get more and more exciting with realistic fighting scenes, high speed car chases, and more importantly – interesting plots and great storyline.

As you watch this movie, be prepared not to miss the scenes even in a split second because everything moves with high speed – including the conversations. Also be careful not to let your eyes got to close to the screen as the scenes moved in a fast and quick rhythm and might make you feel a bit queasy. It seems like many scenes were taken using hand-held camera techniques, which produces rather shaky but terrific images / shots.

Bourne managed to eliminate few main actors in the agency in the previous series. But the true criminal mastermind hid himself behind the mask of CIA agency. As you can see from the previous series, not all people wanted Bourne dead. This time he got people helping him – although that didn’t seem to make his missions became less challenging.

The matters became more complicated as the news about Bourne’s runaway had somehow reached the press. A reporter knew too much about the case (Blackbriar) and his life was also threatened. Unfortunately, the reporter had an important clue about Bourne’s progress in uncovering the criminal mastermind. It would not be easy, as Bourne had to face the most deadly and well trained assassins, ready to pop his head.

I definitely should not tell you about the ending of this movie, as it will ruin your fun of watching it. Bourne finally learn something very important about his whole mysterious past – At last, it had come to a one big conclusion for him. Alone and still on the run… Is there going to be another Bourne’s movie coming up?

See also: The Bourne Identity ; The Bourne Supremacy

Ivan the Freelancer

WANTED AND HUNTED - The Bourne Supremacy

Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) thought it was over and so did the agency. Everyone thought it’s over but apparently the case was too risky to be closed, so that they opened another operation. The criminal mastermind easily conducted a legal operation (Blackbriar) to cover his previous illegal operation (Treadstone) – An operation to hunt down Bourne.

Bourne still suffered from his headache, amnesia, and terrible past. The memories about his previous missions made him restless. All he ever wanted was a normal life with his love, Marie (Franka Potente), but the agency didn’t want to leave him alone. He tried to run while protecting everything he got – until something bad happened. But Bourne proved that he’s not an easy target. Being fully aware of his skills and intelligence, Bourne tried hard to overcome the situation.

I cannot tell you much about this movie because I don’t want to reveal the surprises. Bourne learnt a lot about his past in this Supremacy series. He made many sins and mistakes – mistakes that would haunt him forever. He had a big question for himself, whether he was being brainwashed or not. It’s as if everything he had done were against his will. Something bad happened to him in the past, but he didn’t have any idea why.

Many people were involved in the agency but it turned out that not all of them had the same agenda. Few new people smelled that something was wrong but they didn’t know whether they should trust Bourne or not – and so did Bourne himself. As they say, you cannot cover the stench of a rotten fish forever.

It’s painful for Bourne to trace his identity, but he didn’t have any choice as he had to find out quickly why the agency wanted him dead. It’s a game of cats and mouse. It’s between highly-trained-hired assassins with everything to loose against a man who got nothing to loose. The movie ends with a great ending, telling there must be another Bourne movie coming up…

See also: The Bourne Identity ; The Bourne Ultimatum

Ivan the Freelancer

MEMORY LOST - The Bourne Identity

Bourne movies with its sequels are fantastic. I admire Bourne as action movies because of its own uniqueness and original story – based on the International bestseller by Robert Ludlum. It’s unique because most heroes in action movies have missions given by their superiors, but not for Bourne. He made his own missions by following his instincts about his rather-forgotten-mysterious-blurry pasts. That’s right, Bourne had amnesia, and it becomes the essence of this entire movies.

One thing to remember about this movie… is that you have to see it from the beginning and from the first series. Otherwise you cannot enjoy the whole stories because unlike any other action movies, each series of the Bourne’s are related to each other… Start from The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum – See also my stories about them.

Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) began his journey when found drifted and unconscious in the sea. He was rescued by one of the fishermen’s ship with two bullets planted on his back. Bourne woke up from his long sleep in a shock condition. It’s even worse that he didn’t even remember his own name. His memory was erased and now he’s walking around with amnesia and constant headaches. It’s quite spooky if you can’t remember who you are, and why you’re here.

Bourne finally made it into the city and his quest to find his true identity began. The only clue he had was from the two bullets taken out from his back. He didn’t expect the search for his identity would become very dangerous as there’re people who wanted him dead for some reasons.

Bourne soon realized that he was not an ordinary person. He is a gifted-strong-intelligent agent, has excellent fighting skills, speaks in many different languages, has great instincts to survive, and trained to be a perfect weapon. Bit by bit, little by little, and as time went by, Bourne struggled to learn about his past as he quickly harnessed his skills as a deadly agent.

The story got more exciting as Bourne met Marie Helena Kreutz (Franka Potente) who’s willing to help him. They didn’t know what they had gotten into as they tried to uncover Bourne’s clouded past. But would Marie have the nerve and courage to hang on along with Bourne?

It turned out Bourne used to work for an agency back then. The agency went corrupt and few people had to take the blame and had to be wasted in order to cover the corrupt and vile operations. It’s a high speed action and a race against time between Bourne and the people in the agency who wanted him dead.

The ending scene was great and it looked like everything went smooth for Bourne. Hmm, well… maybe not…













Ivan the Freelancer

EYES OF WATER

Do you choose your own life? Sometimes we choose our own path in life, but sometimes life itself chooses you for something you’d never expect. Like it or not, we all have to survive no matter what kind of life we’re living in. There’re times when our life is drifted by current. Fighting back seems useless, and yet we follow – follow but still wary, trying to grasp everything we can to hang on and survive.

Let me share you a unique story that can only happen in Japan. Memoirs of a Geisha tell a story about a little girl named Chiyo who became a mature girl named Sayuri. It’s a journey from Chiyo (Suzuka Ohgo) – a cute little girl who turned into Sayuri (Zhang Ziyi) – a skilled-stunning-beautiful Geisha. Chiyo had eyes like water – the eyes which gleamed, flew, and melt the heart of anyone who saw them. I like the idea of becoming like water. Water is strong and able to make its own way no matter what, even through walls or stones. Water is flexible, able to put off fire, and even destroy steels. You can bet that women have their own powers which men can’t ever have.

Little Chiyo was taken and brought into a life she would never expected. A drastic change in her life and suddenly being taken from a normal life made her cried and became desperate. Teardrops fell from her watery eyes with empty soul and no hope… until a man named The Chairman (Ken Watanabe) caught her weeping on a bridge. The Chairman quickly brought a smile upon Chiyo’s face and all the tears stopped. Suddenly life had a purpose again and hope emerged from the heart. The real struggle was just about to begin for little Chiyo.

Some people said a mentor will come if you’re ready. That’s what happened to the young Chiyo. An experienced Geisha named Mameha (Michelle Yeoh) taught Chiyo about how to become a woman – or should I say a Geisha. Many people had mistaken the profession of a Geisha. A Geisha is not a whore or a wife. They don’t sell their bodies, but they sell skills as they should master social and artistic skills. A geisha is a walking world of art – able to grasp the attention of men in one single glance. Just like any other profession, the bad image occurred not because of the profession, but because of the bad people inside it.

Growing up was never easy and it’s even more difficult to survive at adulthood. It’s nice to be a witness of this simple but entertaining movie. Men have honors, but women also have their own. Would Sayuri a.k.a Chiyo be able to become top number one Geisha – to become a respected woman? Would the path of becoming a Geisha also bring Sayuri to her true love? It’s a contest of agony and beauty, where beauty and agony walked side by side.

If you think it’s difficult to be a man, well, it’s not easy to become a woman either. Directed by Rob Marshall, this movie told not just a story about growing up, but also the war and struggles between women, with deep love story concealed in it. What is a man without a woman, and what is a woman without a man? They’re destined to fulfill each other’s life. It’s time that man and woman walked side by side – hand in hand – not first or second.

Ivan the Freelancer

VIGILANTE

Have you ever felt that you’re not someone you used to be? I felt that sometimes. As you grow up or gain experience in life, you become someone else, whether it’s the one you want or not. But you cannot be the one that you used to be. I often take it from the positive side that I become stronger and better no matter what happens.

This awesome movie called The Brave One is a mixture between psychological thriller, drama, and action. It’s wrapped up with a simple storyline but had deep and complex psychological plot to explore. The Brave One movie told a story about Erica Bain (Judie Foster) – a popular New York Radio host, who experienced a tragedy so bad that it changed her life forever.

Erica would never be the same person again as if there’s someone else living inside her. The tragedy drove her into another life but with the same daily activities. Driven by fear and anger, she strove for revenge. I’m not sure whether the fear or the anger that had bigger influence over her.

Someone told me that fear can be your deadliest weapon if you harness or grind it over and over. You cannot have courage without having the feeling of fear. Someone who is brave is not the one who is not afraid of anything. Someone who is brave is only the one who can overcome their fear.

Being restless and insecure, Erica tried to protect herself and struggle with her emotions. The cops weren’t fast enough to uncover Erica’s case as the city brought her deeper and deeper into the world of crime. As she started to deal with matters with her own way, people started noticing but had no idea about what was really happening.

The cops didn’t have any clue about Erica until one good cop; Detective Mercer (Terrence Howard) put a special attention to her. They quickly became friends and had sympathy toward each other’s case. Little did they know their path would cross each other’s. Would Erica manage to handle herself before Mercer found out what was really going on? Would they end up helping each other or hurting each other instead?

Like most people said, people become a product of their environment. That’s especially true in this movie. There was a very thin line between right or wrong, and sometimes we’re trapped between them. Are you the type of person who likes to do the right thing, or do things in the right way?









Ivan the Freelancer