Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
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Review #1,200 |
THE SCOOP
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames
Plot: Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate - an international rogue organization as highly skilled as they are, committed to destroying the IMF.
Genre: Action / Adventure / Thriller
Awards: -
Runtime: 131min
Rating: PG13 for sequences of action and violence, and brief partial nudity.
Distributor: United International Pictures
IN RETROSPECT (Spoilers: NO)
“Desperate times, desperate measures.”
The
movie opens with an audacious airplane sequence that sees Tom Cruise hanging on
for dear life outside a plane that is taking off. That's him alright. No visual effects or a stand-in
stuntman. His enthusiasm for doing
stuntwork himself even at an age of 53 is very rare in Hollywood. And it is with this knowledge that we as
audiences find a different kind of thrill in this latest ‘Mission: Impossible’
flick.
It
is a thrill marked by fear (for Cruise's safety and well-being) which
translates into awe and suspense. This
has been a hallmark of the franchise, with Cruise's continuous involvement as
the main star more valuable than you think.
In
contrast, CGI-laden blockbusters owe their excitement (or lack thereof) to what
is conjured up on the green screen – that is the thrill of imagined spectacle,
not of visceral fear. All these point to
another M:I movie that is uncommonly tense, and a throwback to the old-school
way of making big movies.
Christopher
McQuarrie, writer and director, clearly knows what the old-school way is. After all, he was responsible for the
underrated 1970s-inspired action picture Jack Reacher (2012), starring Cruise in a vintage V8-powered Chevrolet Chevelle.
In Rogue Nation, he gives Cruise’s
character Ethan Hunt a mission seemingly impossible to pull off without dire
implications. Plot-wise, it may be more
of the same for someone like Ethan, but the stakes are raised terribly high,
and you might think his luck would finally run out. But he is a man of incredible faith and
loyalty to his cause and friends.
Cruise's
physical performance is exciting to see, as McQuarrie throw almost every action
movie staple at him, but not without elaborately devising some truly
breathtaking sequences of suspense, the latter best exemplified by an
underwater task that is the equal of the unforgettable Dubai skyscraper segment
in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011).
Another
sequence of note involves a live opera, as Ethan tries to stop snipers from
assassinating a state leader during the performance, giving me fond memories of
the finale in Hitchcock’s The Man Who
Knew Too Much (1956). In sum, Rogue Nation is a reminder that this
franchise still has wits and legs.
Verdict:
Tom Cruise's exciting fifth outing as Ethan Hunt is a reminder that this
franchise still has wits and legs.
GRADE: B
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