BLUE JAYS DEAL LEFTY J.A. HAPP TO YANKEES FOR TWO PROSPECTS.
JAYS’ J.A. HAPP HEADS TO THE BRONX IN TRADE FOR TWO PROSPECTS
In the opening scene of Mission Impossible: Fallout, Tom Cruise became the first actor to pull off a HALO (high altitude, low opening) jump, parachuting out the back of a C-17 military plane. That meant an extended free fall at over 7,600 metres, his 5-foot-7 body flying through the air at 320 kilometres per hour with only an oxygen mask to protect him.
Cruise and the production team trained for and strategized over how to perform the two-minute stunt for more than a year, with the action star jumping a total of 106 times to get the three takes he and director Christopher McQuarrie wanted, and for which there were only three minutes of available light to shoot per day, giving them a single daily opportunity to get the shot.
It’s the sort of manoeuvre only performed by highly-trained military, and now, Tom Cruise. Naturally.
But the high-flying stunt-work that the Mission: Impossible franchise — and Cruise, as Ethan Hunt — has become known for doesn’t end after the opening sequence. The HALO jump is followed by, in no particular order, grisly bathroom fisticuffs, a heart-pounding and relentless Paris motorcycle chase and a London rooftop jump (in which Cruise infamously broke his ankle leaping from one building to another, making for a rare Cruise injury but a winning take that made the cut).
The film climaxes with its most epic yet (if you happen to believe anything can top Ghost Protocol’s Burj Khalifa climb or the original’s silent heist), featuring Cruise hanging off a helicopter above a mountain range in New Zealand (acting as Kashmir), which had the cast certain he was killed mid-stunt. It’s a long and visually sprawling sequence, with blink or you’ll miss it deathly swerves. For each unbelievable save throughout the film, there’s multiple precarious consequences that add up in just this one chain of events. Simply laying witness to it will have you burning calories in suspense.
That should be incentive enough to see Fallout. The plot is secondary to the action — and that’s just fine. The storyline has the expected entanglements of double-crosses, close calls and mini twists as we follow Hunt and the IMF team join forces with the CIA to steal a set of plutonium cores that have fallen into the wrong hands: a terrorist group that goes by the name of The Apostles. The baddies intend to set off a nuclear attack in the Middle East. Needless to say, there’s a tight clock on the mission.
It may all sound cliché, as actionmovie plots often do, but it’s masterfully handled by McQuarrie, who is the first director to captain more than one M:I film (his last being Rogue Nation). He stays true to the ethos of the original, but raises the action quotient. After all, Mission Impossible is an action franchise that has managed to reign supreme due to its classic structure, from it’s opening credits and iconic theme song to its seemingly miraculous ability to remain free of plot holes.
At 147 minutes, Fallout is the longest film in the series, but it manages to feel like the swiftest ride. That’s no easy feat, but the highoctane action moves along quickly thanks to a cast that features the ever-charming Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin and Angela Bassett. This instalment also marks the return of Rebecca Ferguson as the beguiling Ilsa Faust, who more than holds her own against Hunt. It also features Superman Henry Cavill as CIA assassin August Walker, who serves equal parts body and moustache, his sheer musculature an impressive action set-piece itself. Physically, he makes for a very worthy teammate for Hunt; fortunately, he’s spared much dialogue.
Nonetheless, the success or failure of the Mission Impossible movies always comes back to Cruise. It’s a strange relationship audiences have to the actor and character in which both seem to merge together. Watching Hunt race against Paris traffic and circle a roundabout on a motorcycle without a helmet is exhilarating — partly, because it’s a great action sequence, but also because you know that’s the real Cruise under there, his cheeks gently puffing, his leg kicking out to steady himself. And while we know Cruise will always make it out alive, there’s a degree of breathless disbelief that hangs in the air thanks to the wonderful confusion between actor and character instilled in us.
At April’s CinemaCon, Pegg said, quite seriously, “It’s a daily stress going to work with Cruise. You don’t know if you’ll see him tomorrow.” Until the day comes that we won’t, which is, let’s face it, impossible, Tom Cruise reigns.
He has loved his time in Blue Jays blue, but J.A. Happ is about to get fitted for New York Yankees pinstripes.
The veteran left-hander, fresh off his first appearance at the MLB All-Star Game, was dealt to the AL East rival Yankees Thursday in return for a couple of players in utility man Brandon Drury and outfielder Billy McKinney.
The deal didn’t include a high-end prospect — McKinney was ranked 20th in the deep Yankees system as a predominantly triple-A player — but has the potential of helping the Jays sooner rather than later.
With the loss of Happ, however, the Jays starting rotation is in tatters, losing it’s one and only reliable arm and one of the steadiest starting pitchers in the American League over the last three seasons.
The Happ deal was finalized hours after another trade became official: the swapping of reliever Seunghwan Oh to the Colorado Rockies for prospects Forrest Wall and Chad Spanberger.
Moving Happ had the biggest potential for a good haul, however, and had been rumoured for weeks. Jays general manager Ross Atkins had nothing but praise for the veteran, who weathered the speculation with class and professionalism.
“He’s been very consistent and extremely steady,” Atkins said of Happ. “It was really, really inspiring to be around him. He was focused and driven on being a Toronto Blue Jay.”
That the 35-year-old veteran was traded to a division rival is noteworthy in that the Jays are signalling they are nowhere near a point of being competitive with the Yankees or Boston Red Sox. This is no surprise and the possibility of Happ returning to Toronto as a free agent still exists.
It will be viewed as a bittersweet deal by Happ, who at last week’s All-Star Game professed his love for his adopted city. Then again, on a team that has been out of playoff relevance since May, going to a contender is a carrot to feed his competitive side.
Happ was considered one of the best starters available in advance of the July 31 trade deadline with the Yankees rumoured to be the most enamoured suitor. As speculation heated significantly over the previous 24 hours, the Yankees got their man Thursday afternoon.
Moving forward, the Jays get a pair of players that Atkins insists takes away some of the risk, while also adding depth.
Drury, who already has major-league experience with the Arizona Diamondbacks, will be in Chicago with the team Friday and there’s a good chance he’ll make his Jays debut against the White Sox, while McKinney is expected to report to triple-A Buffalo.
The team certainly has a glut of position players barring any future trades, depth Atkins feels will be beneficial going forward.
“We’ll have opportunities for guys to play,” Atkins said. “If it means someone goes to triple-A, that’s a good scenario for an organization. When an organization has those tough decisions, that’s where you want to be.
Drury is seen as a potential starting third-baseman, which has implications elsewhere in the organization. Josh Donaldson, buried on the disabled list for the majority of this season, has an uncertain future at best with the Jays. And then there’s Vlad Guerrero Jr., the super prospect who plays at the hot corner.
Drury, who has shuffled between the Yankees and triple-A this season, was acquired from Arizona last winter. He’s battled injury this season, but is seen as a versatile prospect, a potential super-utility player who couldn’t crack the deep Yankees lineup.
“Brandon hasn’t had the opportunity this year and we feel we can have that for him going forward,” said Atkins, adding second, third and the outfield are all possible spots for him.
Outfielder McKinney’s progress has been stunted by the Bronx Bombers’ depth at the position. Drury was essentially demoted to triple-A after rookie Miguel Andujar took over every day at thirdbaseman.
Part of the attraction in Drury is he’s under club control through 2021, which makes him a nice fit with the rebuild that will soon be hitting high speed.
Both players are considered to have some serious upside, but lacked the opportunity in the Bronx.
“You’re always balancing risk with upside,” Atkins said of acquiring players that had moved beyond the prospect stage.
“We feel there’s upside to these players.
“That does mitigate some of the risk.”
The Yankees, currently trying to keep pace with Boston in a two-horse race atop the AL East, believe Happ can help them in the pursuit. The teams meet 10 more times this season and Happ has a 0.84 ERA versus the Red Sox in two games this season.
The other factor — besides the appeal of having a proven lefty available for the rotation — is Happ’s ERA of 3.55 since 2016 is 10th best in the AL.
But as a rental player moving toward the end of his career, the Jays feel there is value coming back to the team in trading Happ.
“The fact that we are acquiring versatile athletes who can play multiple positions is exciting to us,” Atkins said.