13 Things that would’ve made me (a hardcore obsessed fan of Mission) walked out satisfied after watching DR1.
Note 1: This points are written under the premise of Ilsa being a 100% dead.
Note 2: If she’s not dead, then the cuestionable decisions I’m mentioning here would actually make a lot of sense, but we’re only gonna know once DR2 is out.
Note 3: IMHO
Let’s start:
1. I would’ve loved a sequence of Ethan and Ilsa fighting together, shoulder to shoulder, both kicking ass in synchronised movements like (or better) than the one we got in Rogue Nation. That would’ve been exhilarating and successful in showing us, for the last time, their powerful dynamic. McQ could’ve sacrificed some of the Rome car chase and the train sequence (those were a little too long) for something like this.
2. During the Venice run, when The Entity says “But you could Ilsa…” GIVE us, more than the fraction of second we got, of Ilsa’s face trying to decide whether to escape or go to Gabriel, this movie was so fond of close ups… a longer quiet moment of Ilsa’s eyes/face (Silo style) would’ve being perfect.
3. Give us more than a fraction of second of Ethan’s troubled face or even have him saying something to Ilsa through comms.
4. Give us back that kickass line you took out in the editing room, before Ilsa engages in the fight.
5. Show us a “hard to win” fight for Ilsa… like, make us believe Gabriel is more competent with knives than the Bone Doctor.
6. Put corny flashbacks of ilsaethan during his run to save her (A deleted scene would’ve brought us fans, to ecstatic tears) Fan-service us McQ please! for the first and last time! For what I heard in those podcasts, you weren’t thinking about this group of fans who would appreciate some real mundane bonding between characters, you were only thinking about the fans who come for the action.
7. Make Ethan hold her. Get his shirt stained with her blood.
8. Don’t show us Grace appearing behind Ethan’s shoulder with that change of music. He is mourning Ilsa, Ethan even turns his face a little to acknowledge Grace. Like, there’s nothing more important than “the person you cared about the most” lying dead there. Show us Grace in a close up, looking at Ilsa with remorse instead, makes us feel she’s paying some tribute to the woman who saved her life.
9. Show us a close up of Ethan’s teary eyes in the Venice balcony. Add a shot of Ilsa’s calm face. Show us that Ilsa would’ve wanted Ethan to finish the job and only then show us him convincing Grace into the mission. Jumping so fast to the recruitment scene made us think of Grace as a replacement. She’s a great addition to the franchise, but McQ is making us hate her.
10. Luther said “Why else do you think the Entity wanted Gabriel to kill someone you cared about?…” Why wouldn’t he say “Why else do you think the Entity wanted Gabriel to kill Ilsa? My point is, no mention of her after she died.
11. Benji yelling “Ethan! It’s dead, it’s very very dead!” When the ‘mask making’ machine fries, is a tasteless remark considering the circumstances.
12. Don’t show us any face of any woman, before Ethan makes the motorcycle jump , that was unnecessary and corny (McQ tries to avoid that kind of stuff but when he decides to use them, puts those scenes in the wrong place)
13. When Ethan is over Gabriel with a knife on his throat, even though I saw Gabriel’s blood on the knife, I didn’t feel Ethan determined to kill Gabriel to avenge Ilsa or Marie. Maybe the flashbacks of them would’ve worked better at that moment.
All this would’ve being great to give us, fans, closure. I would’ve gone home slightly less frustrated and maybe return for more viewings.