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#481 - Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
Christopher McQuarrie, 2015
A secret agent discovers that there is a clandestine organisation of former spies carrying out acts of worldwide terrorism and works to stop them.
It's one thing for a long-running franchise to admit that it's getting old, but the best examples at least try to incorporate that into the plot in an interesting way (case in point - the second and sixth Star Trek films). After the cold-open that features the infamous plane stunt that manages to not lose all its impact despite being constantly featured in every possible advertisement for the film, Rogue Nation then dives into a tribunal where Alec Baldwin's gruff bureaucrat seeks to hold the IMF responsible for the carnage they've perpetrated over the course of the past two decades (notably skipping over the events of the second and third films for obvious reasons) and have it be shut down completely, which of course draws some comments about how it's outdated and obsolete. Of course, it is around this time that daredevil superspy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) discovers that the shadowy terrorist "Syndicate" he's been obsessively tracking has turned out to be real all along and he is soon captured by them. After escaping with the help of one of the Syndicate's members (Rebecca Ferguson), he not only has to stop the Syndicate but also avoid being captured by Baldwin and his cohorts, who are not convinced of the Syndicate's existence.
2011's Ghost Protocol provided the franchise with a much-needed shot in the arm by choosing to focus on providing the greatest possible examples of stuntwork (especially those involving Cruise himself in precarious positions) to prop up the elaborate scenes of action and suspense that have always been the series' biggest drawcard more so than the convoluted spy-versus-spy plots. Rogue Nation doesn't stray too far from those fundamentals as it peppers in elements of the first film (namely, Hunt and his crew being pursued by both the good guys and the bad guys). Familiar faces are brought back - Simon Pegg once again serves well as the comic relief, while Jeremy Renner and Ving Rhames are serviceable enough as the remainder of his team (even though they don't get all that much to do). Ferguson's character is a good addition to the story - her constantly-shifting loyalties to both Hunt and the Syndicate are enough to keep one questioning her for just the right amount of time and she plays the role well. The only real weak link in the casting would be Sean Harris as the film's primary villain - even considering the fact that his indistinguishable appearance and off-beat mannerisms are supposed to reflect his mysterious nature, it's still an underwhelming performance. Though I had my problems with the third film, there's no denying that Phillip Seymour Hoffman's performance set a high standard that none of the franchise's other villains seem able to reach.
More importantly, the action scenes on deliver tend to be par for the series. Aside from the opening plane sequence, there is a well-executed piece of work taking place backstage at an Austrian opera house that literally makes good use of music (whether it's weapons disguised as instruments or the ways in which the action is timed to the opera itself). A less plausible but no less thrilling sequence involves Hunt having to spend several straight minutes underwater in a sequence that is all the better because of its lack of music, even if some of the techniques involved feel artificial enough to counteract Cruise's own commitment to doing the stunts himself. It gets to the point that the film loses some momentum when it has to resort to doing more "generic" action set-pieces such as car chases or hand-to-hand fights. Even so, I'm willing to give Rogue Nation the benefit of the doubt for the time being; though I'm obviously not expecting it to hold up all that well, we'll see if it does.
Christopher McQuarrie, 2015
A secret agent discovers that there is a clandestine organisation of former spies carrying out acts of worldwide terrorism and works to stop them.
It's one thing for a long-running franchise to admit that it's getting old, but the best examples at least try to incorporate that into the plot in an interesting way (case in point - the second and sixth Star Trek films). After the cold-open that features the infamous plane stunt that manages to not lose all its impact despite being constantly featured in every possible advertisement for the film, Rogue Nation then dives into a tribunal where Alec Baldwin's gruff bureaucrat seeks to hold the IMF responsible for the carnage they've perpetrated over the course of the past two decades (notably skipping over the events of the second and third films for obvious reasons) and have it be shut down completely, which of course draws some comments about how it's outdated and obsolete. Of course, it is around this time that daredevil superspy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) discovers that the shadowy terrorist "Syndicate" he's been obsessively tracking has turned out to be real all along and he is soon captured by them. After escaping with the help of one of the Syndicate's members (Rebecca Ferguson), he not only has to stop the Syndicate but also avoid being captured by Baldwin and his cohorts, who are not convinced of the Syndicate's existence.
2011's Ghost Protocol provided the franchise with a much-needed shot in the arm by choosing to focus on providing the greatest possible examples of stuntwork (especially those involving Cruise himself in precarious positions) to prop up the elaborate scenes of action and suspense that have always been the series' biggest drawcard more so than the convoluted spy-versus-spy plots. Rogue Nation doesn't stray too far from those fundamentals as it peppers in elements of the first film (namely, Hunt and his crew being pursued by both the good guys and the bad guys). Familiar faces are brought back - Simon Pegg once again serves well as the comic relief, while Jeremy Renner and Ving Rhames are serviceable enough as the remainder of his team (even though they don't get all that much to do). Ferguson's character is a good addition to the story - her constantly-shifting loyalties to both Hunt and the Syndicate are enough to keep one questioning her for just the right amount of time and she plays the role well. The only real weak link in the casting would be Sean Harris as the film's primary villain - even considering the fact that his indistinguishable appearance and off-beat mannerisms are supposed to reflect his mysterious nature, it's still an underwhelming performance. Though I had my problems with the third film, there's no denying that Phillip Seymour Hoffman's performance set a high standard that none of the franchise's other villains seem able to reach.
More importantly, the action scenes on deliver tend to be par for the series. Aside from the opening plane sequence, there is a well-executed piece of work taking place backstage at an Austrian opera house that literally makes good use of music (whether it's weapons disguised as instruments or the ways in which the action is timed to the opera itself). A less plausible but no less thrilling sequence involves Hunt having to spend several straight minutes underwater in a sequence that is all the better because of its lack of music, even if some of the techniques involved feel artificial enough to counteract Cruise's own commitment to doing the stunts himself. It gets to the point that the film loses some momentum when it has to resort to doing more "generic" action set-pieces such as car chases or hand-to-hand fights. Even so, I'm willing to give Rogue Nation the benefit of the doubt for the time being; though I'm obviously not expecting it to hold up all that well, we'll see if it does.