[four-star-rating]Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Jeremy Renner, Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin[/four-star-rating]
Typical of the Mission: Impossible franchise, Rogue Nation drops us into the middle of the trouble right from the get-go.
Like the secret agent at its center – Cruise’s Ethan Hunt – we won’t know or understand everything. We take a lot for granted, we figure things out as we go along, and we have a blast doing it. Think about the incongruities, clichés, and plot holes later. Just enjoy the show!
At the end of the last episode, Cruise’s international super-spy uncovered a population of other international spies ready to take down all peaceful governments and rule the world. Of course, this rogue nation’s first target is the agency that Cruise, Pegg, Renner, and Rhames all work for.
While trying to get intel on his enemy, Cruise is captured and tortured. He meets a double agent, the very British Ferguson. Now, besides bringing down a secret organization, Cruise has to figure out whose side this sexy spy is on!
For this fifth flick, the franchise has brought in writer/director Christopher McQuarrie. Though this script isn’t as brilliant as his for The Usual Suspects – or even his writing for Cruise’s Edge of Tomorrow – it’s still tighter than one would expect from M:I. McQuarrie cannot quite avoid the frequent cliché – an assassination at an opera – but at least he tries to tweak it a bit. As a director, McQuarrie is more utilitarian that Brad Bird (the Incredibles director who oversaw Ghost Protocol, the fourth film), but he’s also not as wildly crazed as Bird either.
That’s OK, because there’s enough here to keep us guessing and on the edge of our seats.
For example, Cruise hangs off of an airplane door as it takes off. His team on the ground – steady Rhames and hilarious Pegg – is trying to get the door open as Cruise gains altitude.
Later, Cruise has to jump into an enormous whirlpool and hold his breath for an indeterminable time to switch out a computer card in a secret, watery, underground chamber so that Pegg can sneak into a high-security compound and steal some data without being killed. Also, Cruise cannot be wearing any metal. It’s confusing and convoluted, but fun.
Though the mystery at Rogue Nation’s core is nonsensical, the action sequences are thrilling, the special effects are top-notch, and the fights are well choreographed. On top of that, the production values are spot on, while the film bounces across the globe – as these films should.
[rating-key]
At the risk of sounding bitchy, Cruise is 53 now. He’s been playing Ethan Hunt for 19 years. One wonders how long he can keep doing his own stunts and pulling off this rakish role. I’ll admit, though he is still ripped, Cruise’s face in close-up has certainly lost all his boyish vigor.
Still, your mission – should you accept it – is to ignore the inconsistencies and familiarities and hang on for the ride!
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