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Tom Cruise is impossibly fit in his latest Mission: Impossible film
BMission: Impossible Rogue Nation is the best argument ever for the creation of an Academy Award for stunt work. Tom Cruise and his cadre of fellow stunt artists put on a dazzling display of death-defying daredeviltry in several astonishing set pieces. In a world of complete CGI artificiality, these set pieces astound and also serve, like a magician’s showmanship, to disguise the thin nature of the story connecting them.
That story has top Impossible Mission Force operative Ethan Hunt (Cruise) in hiding after discovering the existence of secret group of rogue agents engaged in a cleverly concealed worldwide terror campaign. The blowhard CIA director (Alec Baldwin) wants Ethan caught, but Hunt is able to enlist the aid of fellow IMF operatives Benji (Simon Pegg), Luther (Ving Rhames), and Brandt (Jeremy Renner). He also gets help from mystery woman Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who shows up in the nick of time to save Ethan’s life on more than one occasion.
Christopher McQuarrie takes over the writing and directing duties for this installment of the Mission: Impossible series, and, having worked with Cruise previously on Jack Reacher, understands his role perfectly. He creates scenarios that allow Cruise (and to a large extent Ferguson as well) to shine. The best sequences are a full-blown car-and-motorcycle chase through the streets of Casablanca and an attempted assassination at the opera that recalls Hitchcock‘s The Man Who Knew Too Much. And, of course, there’s the almost throwaway pre-title scene featuring Cruise himself dangling on the side of a cargo plane that’s taken off. In addition, with the presence of Ferguson alongside pros like Pegg and Renner, the producers have finally found a supporting cast that actually support Cruise rather than merely occupy space on the screen. Unfortunately, the plot is merely a variation on the time-worn espionage chestnut: Who can you trust? Unlike the situation in McQuarrie’s Oscar-winning The Usual Suspects, it’s ridiculously easy here to figure out who can be trusted. Rogue Nation also lacks a villainous character like Keyser Soze or a villanous actor like Kevin Spacey to add intrigue. With too much exposition resulting in too little payoff, the story drags, especially in the last third, and the film lacks a suitable capper finale. Still, Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation delivers more than enough terrific action in the early parts to thrill even the most jaded audience and to allow it to coast through the last few scenes.
Continue reading on Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation: Mini-review
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