Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ and I’m Tim Bradley!

For four nights over the past weekend, my Mum and I have been enjoying the last four ‘Mission: Impossible’ films directed by Christopher McQuarrie, starring Tom Cruise, at Cineworld in Cardiff. That wasn’t planned since we intended to just see two ‘M:I’ movies.

Originally, we were going to see the fifth and sixth films ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’ and ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ on Friday and Saturday. But as we enjoyed the films very much, we decided to check out the seventh and eighth films the following days.

This included ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning’ on Sunday and ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ on Monday. We greatly enjoyed seeing the last four ‘M:I’ films at the cinemas, especially when their storytelling and tone is pretty consistent.

Cineworld seemed the only place where the ‘M:I’ films were being shown, as they were doing a season of limited re-releases on all eight ‘M:I’ films for people to check out. My Mum and I didn’t get to see the first four ‘M:I’ films due to time and other commitments.

Mind you, with that said, I rate the last four ‘M:I’ films more highly compared to the first four. Not that I would dismiss the first four films entirely. Far from it. It’s just they had different directors attached to each film compared to the last four films handled by one director.

I also felt emotionally invested in the characters in the last four films compared to the first four. It was very fascinating to see how the storytelling and character development was handled with great care and effort, and my attention was constantly maintained.

At this point, I’ve already done in-depth reviews on the first six ‘M:I’ films and have yet to do in-depth reviews on ‘Dead Reckoning’ and ‘The Final Reckoning’. Hopefully, I can find time to do in-depth reviews on the final two films in 2026, which I’m looking forward to.

It’d be fitting to do in-depth reviews on the final two films in 2026, due to the 60th anniversary of ‘Mission: Impossible’ coming up. A thing I’ve noticed about the last four ‘M:I’ films is how intense and action-packed they are, containing jeopardy and tension. 🙂

It’s something I’d like to see ‘Doctor Who’ try to do nowadays, as the jeopardy levels aren’t so high in recent episodes compared to what’s in the ‘M:I’ films. The violence levels need to be considered, but it isn’t too gory and bloody in the ‘M:I’ films compared to the ‘Die Hard’ films.

The first three ‘Die Hard’ films anyway. 😀 When people complain about action and violence mixed in with each other in films and TV shows, it’s often mistaken for callous action and violence, as you need to balance it out with stories and characters that you care about. 🙂

In watching the last four ‘M:I’ films, the characters are very likeable, especially when Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt and his team players like Luther, Benji, William Brandt, Ilsa Faust, Grace, Paris and Theo Degas are keen to save the world and stop those intending to cause harm.

The villains are also very compelling with the likes of Soloman Lane and Gabriel when they have ambitions to control the world and you’re anxious for the heroes that do everything they can to foil their plans. It makes for very compelling drama and storytelling.

If it wasn’t for me being introduced to ‘Rogue Nation’ as a ‘M:I’ film, I probably wouldn’t have taken the ‘M:I’ films seriously in being worthy forms of entertainment. I don’t think that worked for me with the first ‘M:I’ film. I found that film underwhelming on first watch.

It’s been great to check out the last four ‘M:I’ films recently, especially with visits to Cardiff and having meals at KFC, McDonalds and Burger King beforehand. 😀 A pity this wasn’t at more than one cinema, as Cineworld was the only place to see these films for Mum and me.

But I’m glad we were able to find time to check out not just two films but four ‘M:I’ films at Cineworld recently. The Christopher McQuarrie-directed ‘M:I’ films have been the most compelling so far. I’m glad it was worthwhile to see those films on the big screen recently.

Concerning the future of the ‘M:I’ film series, it does seem that ‘The Final Reckoning’ is the closing chapter of Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. Whether that’s the definite end of the ‘M:I’ films is another matter. Only time will tell regarding what will happen in the future. 🙂

If I was given another chance to check out the ‘M:I’ films and possibly see all eight of them instead of just the last four, would I take it? Well, perhaps. I’d have to think about it and make sure I can find the time to view them. I’d prefer to see them weekly. Not day-by-day.

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now!

Tim 🙂