The Couch Critic
The Couch Critic is your laid-back guide to movies and TV shows that deserve your attention—or maybe don’t. Nathan dives deep into storytelling, character development, and cinematic style with a sharp eye and a wry sense of humor. Whether it’s a blockbuster hit, a hidden gem, or a cult classic, Nathan’s relatable approach ensures every episode feels like a cozy chat with a friend who just happens to love film. Perfect for casual watchers and cinephiles alike, The Couch Critic brings thoughtful critique without the fluff. Grab your favorite snack, settle in, and let Nathan guide you through the world of screen entertainment.
The Couch Critic
Mission Impossible's Last Stand and a Lukewarm Holiday Safari
Ever had that moment where a movie franchise you've loved for decades suddenly can't keep you awake? That's exactly what happened with "Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning." After faithfully following Ethan Hunt's adventures since 1999, I found myself dozing off during what's supposedly the grand finale of Tom Cruise's signature action series.
What went wrong? The franchise that once delivered compelling stories and breathtaking stunts has gradually lost its edge. "Dead Reckoning Part One" started the downward spiral with an increasingly outlandish storyline, and this supposed conclusion doesn't improve matters. Despite moments of enjoyment that earned it a 2.5/5 rating, the film largely feels like an obligation rather than entertainment. Most frustrating is how it fails to provide closure, leaving the door open for more installments despite being marketed as the final chapter. Meanwhile, Tom Cruise continues to excel in other projects like "Top Gun: Maverick," suggesting perhaps it's time to let this particular franchise rest.
The episode's second feature, Netflix's "Holiday in the Wild," fares even worse. This Rob Lowe and Kristen Davis vehicle barely qualifies as a Christmas movie (earning just 1.5/5 on the Christmas scale) with only a brief mention of holiday cards in the opening scene. The predictable romance between a recently divorced woman and an elephant conservationist in Africa follows the Netflix/Hallmark formula to a tee, resulting in another movie that couldn't keep me awake. Despite Rob Lowe's charismatic performance, the film's formulaic approach and lack of compelling storytelling earned it a disappointing 1/5 overall rating.
Looking for more honest movie takes? Join me this Cinema Saturday for a double feature review of "Karate Kid Legends" and "Ballerina" from the John Wick universe – and I'll tell you why I enjoyed the latter despite its poor critical reception. Then next Tuesday, we'll unwrap "Four Christmases" as our holiday movie journey continues. Subscribe now and never miss an episode where every movie gets its close-up!
On the couch. We're laughing, crying, feeling it all, Breaking down the big screen, the hits and the flaws. Grab your seat, press play, let's take the pic. Lights, camera action, it's the Couch Critic.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone, welcome to a brand new the Couch Critic episode. I am your host, nathan, and first of all I want to apologize for not having a Cinema Saturday this past, not having a cinema Saturday. This past Saturday, my wife and I did go see Mission Impossible the Final Reckoning. We were hoping to sit down and talk about it, but hashtag, parent life hashtag, end of the school year hashtag just crazy busyness. We did not, unfortunately, have time to make time for us to just sit down together and talk about our thoughts on Mission Impossible, the Final Reckoning. So this is going to be a double feature episode. Congratulations. Here's a little gift for you, in a way of me saying sorry for being late and not releasing an episode when I promised I was going to and I made like a really cool visual for it and posted on our social media, which you can follow us on Facebook Couch Critic. You can follow us on Instagram search, the Couch Critic podcast. You can follow us on all those social media platforms and we release little teasers of what we're going to be talking about and then the next day, the day of the release, we post our thoughts and tell you to listen to know even more of our thoughts. So, without any further ado, let me talk about the first, the movies mission impossible, the final reckoning. This is apparently the last mission impossible movie.
Speaker 2:This movie has been going on, or this franchise has been going on, for like 20, 30 something years. The first one came out in 1999, I believe Somewhere around there. So these movies have been around for a while and up until Dead Reckoning Part 1, which originally was supposed to be a two-parter, but that one didn't do well. Up until that one I enjoyed every single Mission Impossible movie. I thought the stories were always compelling, the acting was always great, the stunts were always fantastical and just you invested so much time in these characters that you cared about them so much. And so I never saw a Mission Impossible movie I did not like.
Speaker 2:Until Mission Impossible did Reckoning Part One and my wife and I both agreed that they kind of jumped the shark on it. They kind of did a storyline that was so out there it just didn't make any sense anymore and it wasn't like heartbreaking. But it was very disappointing Because, again, up until that point I had liked every single one. So, going into this one, I was cautiously optimistic and I fell asleep a couple of times during this movie. I got to be honest, after did Reckoning Bar one, the Mission Impossible movies kind of lost their interest to me. I just didn't care anymore.
Speaker 2:I went to go see this one because I'm the type of person that when you see every single movie in a franchise, you kind of feel obligated to watch maybe possibly the last one. And so that's what this one felt like to me. It felt like a movie that my wife and I felt obligated to go watch because we watched the other ones together. She had watched all the ones up until mission impossible dead reckoning again with me, because I believe I did like a ranking of all the movies last season and so, yeah, we saw the trailer for it, for this one, and we're like sure let's go see it because we've seen all the other ones and and it was disappointing, it was very disappointing, it was boring, it was nothing really new, it was strictly continuation of a movie I did not like anyway and it was just really boring. Even the action scenes, they didn't really add anything. They didn't really add any excitement. Yeah, I was just really disappointed in this movie.
Speaker 2:I was looking forward to it because I was hoping they would bring back that magic. But I it's, it's gone and I really do hope this is the last one, because Tom Cruise has had a good ride with these movies, you know. And then he made top gun Maverick, which was fantastic. So keep on making those, maybe fantastic. So keep on making those, maybe, or just leave franchises alone and just take a breather. Man, you, you, you did your job, you did well. You're a little crazy, so take some time, take a breather.
Speaker 2:So I'm not really going to go in depth on my thoughts of this movie. It was just boring to me. If you want to go see it, because you're like me and you've seen all the other mission impossible movies and you just want to see how this one ends and that's another frustrating thing it kind of leaves it open there is no distinct ending to this movie kind of leaves it open for another one if they wanted to make it. I think Tom Cruise has even said that he's thought of other people that could take the reins of it. You know, if they want to continue the movies, yeah, I'm going to give Mission Impossible, the hopeful final reckoning, a 2.5 out of 5. Two and a half Because there were moments that I out of 5. 2.5. Because there were moments that I kind of enjoyed but not enough to get higher than a 2.5. So, unfortunately, those are my thoughts on Mission Impossible, the Final Reckoning.
Speaker 2:Now let's talk about the movie that I originally was going to be talking about just by itself Holiday in the Wild. So this is part of the continuation of Christmas movies that I'm going on a journey for this season, sometimes by myself, sometimes with my good friend Katie. This is one that she saw and was like, nah, you can take it, and also it's on Netflix and she doesn't have Netflix. So before I can talk about my thoughts on Holiday in the Wild, let me give you the synopsis.
Speaker 2:Jilted by her husband, on the eve of embarking on an African safari, a woman travels to the continent solo and meets an elephant. Conservationist, yeah, conservationist. So this movie stars Rob Lowe as Derek, kristen Davis as Kate, fazil Meple as Jonathan and John Owen Lowe as Luke. I did not know that. I think that's her son in this movie and I think he's related to Rob Lowe. So that's kind of interesting and weird a little bit. So, yeah, like the premise says, this woman who is married to this guy, her son's about to go to college and once her son goes off to college, her husband decides that he wants a divorce. And the only remnant of christmas in this movie is that at the beginning of the movie they are taking a christmas card picture in august to get ahead of the curve. That's the only mention of Christmas in this movie and just like Mission Impossible, the Final Reckoning, I found myself falling asleep a little bit during this movie.
Speaker 2:There's not enough to make me want to stay up and watch it. I thought Rob Lowe was fine. I think Rob Lowe is an underrated actor. I think he's. He's funny, he's charismatic. You know, this is kind of like a Netflix Hallmark movie kind of thing. You know, woman, down on her luck, goes on a vacation by herself and meets mr right and he just so happens to want to save the elephants and so they bond over elephant rescues and stuff like that. Yeah, this again. This is gonna be a short episode. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:Both these movies I'm talking about weren't that exciting, they weren't that great, they weren't anything to write home about. I found myself falling asleep. I'm a 38 year old guy who has two kids, so that could be a factor as well that I'm getting older and I have two young children and so that might affect my ability to stay up while watching something. But I stayed up watching Scrooge and other movies that we've talked about the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I stayed up till one watching that and I was listening to the audio book for it. So I don't necessarily think that's a 100% excuse for me not to be able to sit through a movie without falling asleep. So Holiday in the Wild isn't really a Christmas movie to me. So I'm going to give that probably a one and a half for Christmas, just because they do mention it at the beginning. But again, if I never saw this movie I would be okay and general. I'm going to give holiday in the wild a one out of five. I thought it was boring. I didn't think it was that interesting. It was very predictable. Again, it's like a Netflix Hallmark movie which they're trying to put out a lot of that stuff because I guess they think people really, really like it. Yeah, it was boring to me, sorry, roblo. So those are my thoughts on Mission Impossible, the Final Reckoning and Holiday in the Wild.
Speaker 2:This Cinema Saturday, I promise no matter what, I will be releasing an episode talking about another double feature Karate Kid Legends and Ballerina from the world of John Wick. I'm just going to say right now, the Ballerina movie has been getting a lot of trash by critics and the box office. It didn't do well in the box office, but I thought it was exactly what it was meant to be and I'll dive even more into those thoughts. This cinema Saturday and then next Tuesday. I believe it might be me and Katie, it might be just me, I don't know. We'll be talking about four Christmases. Hmm, I wonder if that movie has anything to do with Christmas. You'll find out next week on the Couch Critic, where every movie gets its close-up.
Speaker 1:It's not just a movie, it's a way of life. We'll watch it together, day or night, so settle in close and don't miss a flick. This is the moment for the couch critic.
