Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Alec Baldwin, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris
Like the previous four Mission: Impossible movies, I doubt I could pass a test on the plot and the characters. Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is the one constant in each film. The plots are pretty much interchangeable. Hunt and his crew must stop a terrorist/rogue agent/madman from getting his hands on a disk/list/hard drive which contains the names of agents/list of potential targets/plans for doomsday. While carrying out his objective, Hunt and his crew will encounter car chases, a hailstorm of bullets (none of which ever hit them), leap from high places, and eventually have to break into a place that seemingly could not be broken into. Whatever Hunt and his crew earn as a salary, it is not nearly enough. Oh, and Hunt must also dodge the bureaucrat from his own government who wants to shut him down. In this movie, it's Alec Baldwin, who for reasons I can't fathom wants to shut down the IMF (the intelligence organization Hunt works for) and annex it into the CIA. Who exactly is Hunt's boss anyway?
Mission: Impossible movies have become like James Bond movies. They are technically superior and introduce neat gadgets with each passing film, but I don't really need to see any more of them. How many variations on a car chase can be dreamed up? I'll be honest. Car chases and gunfights don't really do it for me anymore. No matter how new and sleek the cars are, they still wind up in a chase and many of them get blown up. In Rogue Nation, the chase is on motorcycles, but the same rules apply. What good are the newest, coolest guns if you can't hit what you're shooting at? These organizations spend endless dollars on the latest weapons. Why go through all of the trouble? They don't make the person firing them any better of a shot.
In Rogue Nation, Hunt and his crew are after The Syndicate, a terrorist organization that crashes planes and assassinates heads of state to bring about change. The Syndicate is run by a raspy-voiced, bespectacled former British agent named Solomon Lane (Harris). The Syndicate, like the organizations that came before, all make the mistake of not simply killing Hunt when they have him tied up and in a compromising position. Don't they know that he will escape? Hasn't word gotten around about Hunt's uncanny ability to stay alive?
Rebecca Ferguson is on hand as a double agent who may or may not be working with or against The Syndicate. One thing I do know is she is stunning and can hold her own in a fight. She is a beauty with hypnotic eyes; more than a match for Hunt. The Mission: Impossible movies introduce female characters for Hunt only not to develop them much. There is smoldering sexual tension that is not acted upon for reasons only the screenwriters know. Ferguson stands on her own as the most interesting person in the movie and boy can she fill out a bikini.
Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation delivers a certain satisfactory level of fun and thrills, but it never rises beyond that level. Cruise is certainly a convincing action hero, but I've seen him in Magnolia, Born on the Fourth Of July, Jerry Maguire, and Rock of Ages. He can stretch himself when he wants to beyond the secret agent/alien fighter he has primarily become in recent years. Watching him play Ethan Hunt and performing a lot of his own stunts is like watching a classical pianist play Chopsticks. We know he can do it blindfolded, but shouldn't he be doing more? The box office grosses may dictate otherwise.
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