Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is the fifth installment in a franchise that is almost 20 years old. It follows the story of Ethan Hunt(Tom Cruise) as he tries to bring down a terrorist organisation called the Syndicate. Which is kind of like the IMF(Ethan's employer),only, with a different agenda.First off, I don't think it is humanely possible for Tom Cruise to age. AT ALL. He''ll live on as a movie-star till the end of eternity. Or so I wish. Because this movie is one of the best fifth movie in a series I've ever seen. That's also partly due to the decision of getting a new director to take the mantle every time. This time, it's Christopher McQuarrie (screenplay for The Usual Suspects). Like every other in the series,this movie is different from the previous movies but has the feel of the same world at the same time.
It involves comparatively more espionage stuff than Ghost Protocol and has an even amount of thrilling action sequences as well. Trust me, that scene you saw in the trailers with Tom Cruise literally hanging on the edge of a plane won't even make it to the top 3 set pieces of the film. That's saying a lot. There's an underwater scene that'll make you hold your breath to see if you could ever be a spy. There's typical espionage-spy-stuff going down in an opera house and the scene is able to remain intense throughout.
And there's a beautifully crafted bike chase sequence that's one of the best I've seen in recent years.It will surely remind audiences why they love action movies.
It was nice to see Ving Rhames return to the Mission Impossible series in a way that didn't make him feel irrelevant. Jeremy Renner's role in the movie wasn't as critical as last time. Simon Pegg's character, Benji, however, gets an upgrade. I didn't mind that. They gave his character a meaningful story arc and Pegg handled it skillfully. He wasn't just there for comic relief (although, there WAS a fair share of that).
Then there's newcomer Rebecca Ferguson, who was a total badass almost throughout the entire movie(there was one particular romanticized moment that I felt was unnecessary.)She seemed to be Tom Cruise's perfect match. She can run, shoot, race, jump, punch, talk just as well as Tom.The fact that you're never sure who's side she's on is a nice touch.
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| The unsung hero! |
(On a side note: I don't want to comment on whether or not there should be another Ghostbusters movie, but if it were to happen, I'd definitely like to see Simon Pegg in the main cast. He doesn't get enough appreciation,I feel. Go watch Shaun of The Dead and Hot Fuzz. Brilliant stuff.)
Not surprisingly, the villain in this movie was 'so-so'. He wan't as purposeless as the one we got in Ghost Protocol, but he wasn't as memorable as Philip Seymour Hoffman in MI:3 either. Then again, I never think of the Mission Impossible movies as the 'good guy vs bad guy' type. No, it's more 'well, here's a make-believe problem. Now let's have Tom Cruise run around till everything is settled.' And in that, the movie succeeds. It's an almost perfect blend of a spy-movie and an entertaining action-movie.
In a year where we got Pixels, Terminator:Genysis, San Andreas, Jupiter Ascending and possibly many more, Mission Impossible:Rogue Nation is the go to action movie.(Well, apart from Mad Max, of course.)
So have you seen this movie?What did you think about it?What movie should I review next?Comment below.