I went to see the latest Mission: Impossible film recently. As with most of the entries in the series, it's a fun, fast-paced, thoroughly satisfying piece of escapism. I'm old enough to have seen all the films when they were released, and there's no way I'd have predicted after the first couple that it would run this long or this successfully. Kudos to all involved for shaping what should have been no more than a gimmicky, short-lived revival of an old TV series into something far more ambitious, rivetting and long-lasting than anyone (except perhaps Tom Cruise!) could have imagined.

Now, all that said, I did have one major gripe about the latest one. (And no, it's nothing to do with the running time in this instance, although I certainly think, as with many movies these days, that it would have benefitted by being trimmed by 15 to 30 minutes.) I'm going to talk about that below, but be warned, it does involve a huge SPOILER. I'm going to keep things as vague as possible, but still, there will be a very big SPOILER. So if you haven't seen the film yet, and are planning to, my advice is to turn away now!!!

Still with me?? Not worried about that MOVIE SPOILER?!? Ok, then let's continue...

One of the major characters dies in this movie. The character had been part of the series for quite a while, one of the main cast members, and their passing should have been a massive, somber moment. As anyone who's read my books will know, I'm a reader/viewer who appreciates a good death scene! I like when books and movies play by at least some of the rules of the real world. If you're going to create a storyline where your heroes dance the fine line between life and death, I think it's cheating if none of those heroes fall, if they ALL make it through to the end unscathed. In stories like this one, you HAVE to have some casualties, otherwise everyone can see that it's a stacked deck, and they never worry when your protagonists get into a sticky situation, as they know they're all going to pull through.

So, one the one had it's a big WELL DONE!! from me to the creative team for daring to kill off one of the mainstays this time round. BUT they let the death pass pretty much without pause, and that's where I felt they sold themselves short. Look, I get that the story has to keep moving, and I'm not suggesting they should have had the characters sitting around in black for half an hour, talking about how the loss of their friend has impacted on them. But there has to be at least a few moments of pause, to allow the characters and the viewers/readers to take in what has happened, to reflect on it and the fact that we're ALL on borrowed time, and that our moment will eventually come as well.

I've offered lots of advice to budding authors over the years, and here's a fairly big piece to add to that stash. If you have the guts to kill off a main character, don't ever do it lightly, and if you DO do it, make sure you let everyone understand the gravity of the loss. You don't have to belabour the point, but readers/viewers should KNOW that this is a major moment, and they should feel pain, and they should be given a little bit of time to deal with that pain. Don't move on TOO quickly, as the Mission: Impossible crew did, or you'll have snooty critics like ME coming along to criticise you and write long posts about it!!!! :-) :-) :-)