Review: Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
You've got to hand it to Tom Cruise. The man aims to entertain. He wants to make sure you get your money's worth, and he will put his life on the line to guarantee your satisfaction. Extreme and thorough satisfaction is what you get from the first to the last second of the fifth installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise, which opens with one of the most thrilling sequences recorded on film.
It frankly does not matter why Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt ends up hanging on for dear life as a military cargo plane ascends to the skies. The only thing that counts is the sight of Cruise himself, dangling from that aircraft, with no green screen or stunt performer to rely upon. It is that under-reliance on digital trickery (a trait this film shares with the similarly intense and non-stop Mad Max: Fury Road), coupled with a lean and sharp script, that establishes Rogue Nation as the best entry into this evidently durable film series.
The story couldn't be simpler: Ethan and his IMF team - analyst William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), tech whiz Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), and most trusted ally Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) - must take down the Syndicate, a shadow organisation behind ever-escalating acts of violence and civil unrest. Their mission is complicated by two things. One, the IMF has been dismantled by CIA boss Alan Huntley (Alec Baldwin), who successfully convinces a government committee that the IMF is a throwback to an era where there was no oversight. If the IMF's unorthodox methods have produced successful results, Huntley argues, it was only out of sheer chance and luck. Huntley's move renders Ethan a rogue agent in absentia as Ethan is currently in London, tied up and about to be tortured by the Syndicate's Bone Doctor (Jens Hultén).
It is during this time in captivity that Ethan meets the mission's other, more formidable complication: the aptly named Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), whose allegiance appears to switch at every turn. She claims to be a British intelligence agent sent to infiltrate the Syndicate, yet her actions suggest otherwise. Nevertheless, Ethan must rely upon her to get closer to the Syndicate's leader, one Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). As one character notes, "There are no allies, only common interests."
Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie, who scripted The Usual Suspects and Cruise's underrated Edge of Tomorrow, may not necessarily possess the same level of visual flair as his predecessors Brian De Palma and John Woo, but he is certainly no slouch at staging spectacular action set-pieces. The stunts rank amongst the best of the series. Whether it be Ethan's literally breathtaking underwater attempt to secure an all-important computer chip or a high-speed chase through the narrow Moroccan streets, every sequence is meticulously choreographed and thrillingly executed. Unlike the previous Mission: Impossible films, wherein often dense and nonsensical plotting served as pit stops between stunts, the action in Rogue Nation is organic and serves to move the story forward. There's a tremendously smooth flow from one cut to another, courtesy of editor Eddie Hamilton's light touch, which also contributes to the well-sustained briskness of pacing.
What is even more remarkable is how McQuarrie has tinkered with Ethan Hunt, a man for whom impossible is nothing. That indestructibility, as one running gag touts, is too often taken for granted. Here, it is Ethan who is in constant need of saving, usually at the hands of Ilsa. One moment even finds Ethan, still reeling from being resuscitated (don't ask), fumble an easy slide across the hood of a car. Ethan is made vulnerable here in a way the series has never allowed him to be before and, by casting him and his team out to the wind, McQuarrie establishes stakes worth the viewers' investment.
At 53, Cruise shows no signs of slowing down, remaining as impressive a physical performer as ever. Like the franchise, Cruise seems renewed and reinvigorated. He has always been a generous actor and he cedes much of the spotlight to Pegg and Ferguson. Pegg really comes into his own here, no longer functioning as mere comic relief but as an indispensable member of the team. Ferguson, best known for her superb turn as Queen Elizabeth in the television miniseries The White Queen, is strong, smart, and seductive as Mission: Impossible's most fully realised female creation. The charismatic Renner is mostly sidelined, but he has the most challenging job of all - acting against Baldwin, who entertainingly and unabashedly devours the scenery.
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Written by: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin, Sean Harris, Simon McBurney, Jens Hultén, Tom Hollander
