Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation (2015)

Movie Info

Hang on! We’re just taking off (literally)

IMF might have just done its last mission.  When Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) demands IMF be absorbed into the CIA due to their reckless nature, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) must go rogue to uncover the ties to rumored Syndicate.  With Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), and William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) secretly backing him, Hunt finds an unlikely and possibly dangerous ally in Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson)…but Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) has need of something that only Hunt may be able to capture!

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, Mission:  Impossible—Rogue Nation is the fifth film in the Mission:  Impossible series following Mission:  Impossible—Ghost Protocol in 2011.  The action film was released to positive reviews and a big box office return.

I never much was that into Mission:  Impossible.  The original series (and the ’80s relaunch) seemed pretty stodgy, but the 1990s movie rebirth has been fun (minus Mission:  Impossible 2).  With Mission:  Impossible—Ghost Protocol boosting the series to the next level, Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation had a lot to live up to.

Well this is going easy…I’m sure nothing will go wrong

Like the other Mission:  Impossible films, the movie is loaded with the appropriate twists and turns.  I think that the series has done a solid job mixing (unbelievable) espionage with a decent story for movies that become enjoyable rides.  I don’t see any of this playing out as it does in the movie, and everything works out too perfect (planning etc.), but you come to expect it due to the format set up in the other films.  Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation is no different.

Tom Cruise continues to be an action star despite being in his 50s (!?!?).  Like him or not outside of his films, he is good at what he does and puts others to shame in his level of physical fitness (he also does what stunts he can like the great opening scene).  Simon Pegg takes the co-lead in this outing by having a more active role and Jeremy Renner plays the suit man to try to keep things in control.  I wish that Ving Rhames had been in the film more since other entries have felt like more of a buddy-buddy relationship between Luther and Ethan.  I also welcome the arrival of Rebecca Ferguson because the team really feels like it needs a female member (even just on a practical espionage level).  Alec Baldwin plays the Alec Baldwin character (again) and Sean Harris is a creepy villain (who has the potential to return).

I just want to point out to you, don’t have feelings for me…I love a girl I left two movies ago…

The stunts of Mission:  Impossible continue to grow.  They are unrealistic, but they are done with such panache that it doesn’t necessarily matter.  As long as the danger is intense, the locations are great, and Ethan Hunt wins, the series manages to nail their action, but of course Hunt only has a little trickle of blood and can defeat death (literally in this movie) while pulling off the stunts.

Mission:  Impossible—Rogue Nation is another fun entry in a fun series.  If you liked previous Mission:  Impossible films, you’ll like Rogue Nation…if you didn’t, the movie offers nothing new or revolutionary.  Mission:  Impossible—Rogue Nation is followed by Mission:  Impossible—Fallout in 2018.

Related Links:

Mission:  Impossible (1996)

Mission:  Impossible 2 (2000)

Mission:  Impossible 3 (2006)

Mission:  Impossible—Ghost Protocol (2011)

Mission:  Impossible—Fallout (2018)