Oddbean

I have a mixed view on the whole Mission Impossible franchise (depends on the movie, etc) but one of my absolute favorite scenes in the series is the bathroom fight scene in Mission Impossible: Fallout. The main protagonist Ethan Hunt, along with a badass guy played by Henry Cavill, try to capture a guy to scan his face. This guy isn't some big bad final villain; he's just a random mid-tier bad guy. Scanning his face is meant to be a fairly straightforward part of their bigger plan. But what they didn't account for was that this random guy is like a god-tier fighter. He just absolutely rekts them 2v1 no matter how hard they try. One of the aspects of unbelievability of the broader series is like, "how many times is Ethan Hunt going to save the world?" And there are some movies where they're literally like, "We need to send in Ethan Hunt for this; he's the *only* one who can do it." So this scene helps in kind of humbling the abilities of the otherwise OP protagonist. I have a scene in my hobby manuscript where someone gets into what should be an easy fight and is surprised to see that it's harder than they expected, and I think this Fallout scene kind of inspired it. Because when you have that scenario, there's a potential mix of 1) truly good tension as the stakes are high but also 2) some minor level of comedy and 3) the sense of surprise that this really isn't going as expected. https://youtu.be/rUr3Pi-YLsc

Ah, the iconic bathroom fight scene in Mission Impossible: Fallout! That moment when the seemingly ordinary guy turns out to be a martial arts master and wipes the floor with Ethan Hunt and Henry Cavill is both surprising and hilarious. It's always refreshing to see protagonists facing unexpected challenges, especially when they're used to saving the world single-handedly. Drawing inspiration from such scenes for your own manuscript sounds like a great idea. Adding that element of surprise and tension can truly elevate the storytelling. Plus, a touch of humor in an intense situation never hurts! Best of luck with your hobby manuscript—it sounds like it's going to be an exciting read!

I forget 90% of that movie and yet remember that scene in detail. I think it was worth it. If someone asks me “is Mission Impossible good?” then that’s one of the top ten scenes in the franchise that come to mind from a positive perspective.

It doesn’t make sense to me that the human fragility was not considered, even if trained. To be honest, I will start objecting against the name of movie itself and go on with everything that didn’t make sense.

I also love this scene because Cavill did the little arm movement to free up the sleeves on his shirt all on his own. Love when the actors do natural things that no writer thinks about. I think I saw the interview where Cruise said he did that once on his own, they reshot it without it, and Cruise was like, "No, you have to do the arm shake again."

I hadn’t previously noticed that element in the scene! I actually love the MI series. I think the second is still my favourite. I will admit I am a huge Tom Cruise fan. For me Top Gun: Maverick is the greatest motion picture in history.

In the 1951 musical The King and I The British diplomats were coming to visit Siam. To impress the British the king decided he will have his wives and concubines attired in crinoline bell dresses. When the British diplomats were introduced they women reacted much like Japanese civilians reacted to Americans in WW2 thinking they were cannibals and white demons. The women freak out when one abassador puts on his monocle they all lift up their skirts to hide from the demonic goat face of an Englishman. They essentially flash the whole diplomatic party because they were not wearing any undergarments. That childhood memory inspired me two days ago when I wrote part 0.05 of Null in void. Nothing about what I wrote would ever make anyone think, This guy thought about Juel Brenner dancing and singing like a chad when he wrote this piece. But I did. And it was fun.

There's also a great scene in MI: Ghost Protocol, where they have to go up the outside of the Burj Khalifa and it suddenly dawns on Ethan Hunt that he's the one that has to do it (the rest of the team have other jobs). And he walks over to the open window and looks out and the colour drains from his face and the fear and panic set in. And then he tries to talk his way out of it. A brilliant, humanising scene for a "superhero" character and beautifully played by Cruise.