(Ref’s Review) Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
Christopher McQuarrie
131 mins.
Action, Adventure, Thriller
July 31, 2015
Rated PG-13 for sequences of action and violence, and brief partial nudity. (MPAA)
(Be sure to check out our podcast episode about “Vacation” and “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” here.)
Oh, those summer crushes! It’s the time when you throw caution to the wind, knowing fully there’s no chance for lasting love, and indulge in the thrill of a summer romance. “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” is a bit like that summertime fling: fleeting but fun.
Tom Cruise, who lately is no stranger to reprising the roles of his box office hits (namely “Top Gun 2” and “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,” both coming soon), returns for the fifth time as Ethan Hunt, lead agent of the IMF. This time around, Hunt is in hot pursuit of a terrorist group, the Syndicate, which not only seems to be two steps ahead as they wreak havoc all over the globe, but also manages to deadbolt Hunt and his team. After a series of events, Hunt finds himself captured by the head of the Syndicate, creepily played by Sean Harris (who looks much better in his IMDB photo, by the way). Hunt seems to have met his match. However, to his rescue comes the beautiful and quite mysterious Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson), a new friend or possible enemy.
Once Ethan resurfaces, he finds that CIA Director Hunley (Alec Baldwin) not only wants Ethan and IMF shut down due to their costly and unorthodox methods, but also disavows Ethan, making him a rogue agent and a possible enemy of the State. Ethan must once again call upon the help of the ever-hilarious tech guru, Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and by-the-book agent, William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), both now forcibly working for the CIA under Hunley. Hunt’s mission, if he chooses to accept, is to clear his name and dismantle the Syndicate, without knowing whom he can really trust.
Listen, it’s no shock that “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” holds little surprises. What you think will happen happens. Writer-Director, Christopher McQuarrie, who frequently works with Cruise (“Edge of Tomorrow,” “Jack Reacher,” and “Valkyrie”), mainly sticks to the bells and whistles of the franchise, like: declaring that a facility is impossible to infiltrate, breaking into said facility and infiltrating it, calling in Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) to hack into impervious mainframes, wearing disguises (masks) and impersonating someone important, having Ethan deliver a detailed monologue chronicling the entire plot and plan of the movie, and then, of course, presenting the good guy vs. bad guy face-off. It’s all in there. The question is, though: Is this particular installment necessary to move the “Mission: Impossible” franchise forward? In other words, do we really need this movie? Well, that’s almost like asking whether you need to have a summer crush—not really, but it sure does make the time feel good when it passes by.
Even with Pegg’s witty one-liners, McQuarrie’s titillating chase scenes, and … well, having Tom Cruise in the movie, I still wonder why “Rogue Nation,” unlike franchise kick-off “Mission: Impossible,” stays in the fleeting-fling zone and not in the lasting-love zone. It seems that this movie wants to do something. It wants to look like the last couple of “Bond” movies with their use of gadgets and glamorous locales, but also feel like the “Bourne” series with its plot turns, stunts, and rogue-ness (and having Renner in the movie obviously doesn’t hurt). Quite frankly, it just falls short of my undying love. (However, I dare say, there is a particular fight scene with knives involving the graceful Ferguson that is masterfully choreographed.)
Like every summer fling, things must come to an end. “Rogue Nation” has the ingredients of a wild romance, but like all summer rendezvous, it quickly cools down once you get too involved. So, will I see you again, dear “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation”? Probably not. But it was sure fun while it lasted.
Verdict: Watch (Good)
About: (Source: roguenation)
With the IMF disbanded, and Ethan (Tom Cruise) out in the cold, the team now faces off against a network of highly skilled special agents, the Syndicate. These highly trained operatives are hellbent on creating a new world order through an escalating series of terrorist attacks. Ethan gathers his team and joins forces with disavowed British agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who may or may not be a member of this rogue nation, as the group faces their most impossible mission yet.
