It is curious that, now that almost all the series reach the entire platforms, with all the episodes available at the moment, it is precisely its older brother, the cinema, that keeps alive a primordial, fundamental element of the serial format: waiting. This year, without going any further, we have seen how Vin Diesel and his offspring were left in a situation of mortal danger (apparently insurmountable) at the end of Fast
This is indeed connecting with the old, very old film serials for days that our great-grandparents consumed. From Mission: Impossible we have been watching (and enjoying like Cossacks) installments since 1996, but it was not until the seventh that those responsible decided to choose to divide it into two parts. It is a relief, since if we have always wanted the party to continue, this time we have the guarantee that it will continue, at least once more. And this is also curious, because the television original was made up of self-concluding chapters, without appealing to the “to be continued”.
For the third time in the hands of Christopher McQuarrie, this first part of Deadly Judgment is an explosion of energy and movement over two and a half hours comparable to the previous Fallout. When there are explanatory dialogues (or when dear Luther played by Ving Rhames becomes a philosopher), the thermometer drops several degrees. But when the action and suspense appear, which is almost always, the machine is a steamroller that sows pleasure and happiness in bulk.
Today it seems that action sagas exchange trading cards like children at school: if John Wick 4 took his frantic chase through Paris from Fallout, here Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) takes over the city of Rome as Vin Diesel in Fast
And, speaking of characters, here one of the first installment is recovered, Kittridge, played by the same actor, Henry Czerny (it’s a pity that, by the way, they haven’t recovered Vanessa Redgrave). And just like Brian de Palma’s masterpiece, the epic concludes on a train, now a more romantic train, not a high-speed train, but the Orient Express itself.
This long final stretch already deserves a throne of honor among the best sequences in the saga, it is a chemically pure super-show, where humor is not even lacking: Ethan Hunt’s entry into the mythical railway is a memorable gag and, yes, a very Vin Diesel, but enriched by the forcefulness of the shot and the surprise effect. And until next year, Mr. Hunt, we will be here waiting for you with great pleasure.
