MOVIE REVIEW: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION (2015)

Storyline

With the IMF disbanded, and Ethan (Tom Cruise) out in the cold, the team now faces off against a network of highly skilled special agents, the Syndicate. These highly trained operatives are hellbent on creating a new world order through an escalating series of terrorist attacks. Ethan gathers his team and joins forces with disavowed British agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who may or may not be a member of this rogue nation, as the group faces their most impossible mission yet.

Rating: PG-13 (for sequences of action and violence, and brief partial nudity)

Genre: Action & Adventure

Directed By: Christopher McQuarrie

Written By: Drew Pearce, Laeta Kalogridis, Will Staples,Patrick Lussier, Dylan Kussman

In Theaters: Jul 31, 2015 Wide

Runtime: 2 hr. 12 min.

Paramount Pictures - Official Site

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Of course you saw Tom Cruise hang on to the door of the plane in the trailer but to get there he had to do this. ©Paramount Pictures

This is the fifth Mission Impossible film...

Truth time. I haven't actually followed this franchise, in other words I've not seen some of the films in the franchise. I know I didn't catch Ghost Protocol. Heard it was good. So what's this movie about? Well, if you haven't seen it or the trailers or aren't very perceptive, it's about our hero Ethan Hunt and his team trying to hunt an organization that's similar to theirs but whose intentions are quite the opposite.

The movie opens of course with Ethan Hunt doing something ridiculous just to show how amazing he is as an IMF agent then leads to him somewhere in London visiting a vintage record shop just as it closes. There there's a bit of cloak and dagger repartee between him and the manager which ends with her giving him a record which he takes into a listening booth. Inside he places his hands over the record player which scans him with a laser before he puts the record she gave him on it for it to play his message and maybe next mission. The message shows up as a green hologram. It's cool but when you start to think about it it's a little silly. Anyway, the message isn't from the IMF but the rogue organization called the Syndicate which Hunt has had his suspicions of for the past year. The message is a trap and before he realizes it the booth fills with knockout gas and when he turns to escape he finds himself locked and sees the manager standing with a gun to her head. Before Hunt is knocked out she is shot. 

Of course to show how bad the bad guy is and that he means business he has to kill an innocent person in front of the hero. ©Paramount Pictures

When Hunt wakes up he's been captured and about to undergo some painful interrogation when the only female in the gang of baddies helps him escape. While this is happening back in the US the CIA director is trying to get the IMF disbanded and is successful. So now there is no IMF and when Hunt calls his buddy Brandt after he escapes he's told of the news and goes underground. 

Anyway, to cut things short Ethan keeps hunting for the guy that killed the vintage record shop manager because he believes he's the clue that will unravel the Syndicate. The female that helped him escape the painful interrogation shows up quite a lot to help things along but has her own agenda. The people that are her handler also have their own agenda. Lots of things blow up, there's a car chase and a bike chase, Ethan Hunt does some incredible things that would only make sense in a Marvel or DC movie also there's some amazing futuristic gadgets that look very cool but when you start to really think about it are quite silly and improbable. Ethan Hunt is triumphant, the bad guy gets caught and the IMF are back in business after the CIA Director gets his own hero story at the end and becomes the new Secretary of the IMF. And if you hadn't heard yet there's already plan for another Mission Impossible which is rumored to start shooting next year. 

Here's a man who's been trained to be covert undergoing a lie detector test. Does that make sense? ©Paramount Pictures

Did I enjoy the movie?

Yes. Yes I did. Very much so. There's really nothing new or fresh about the story. Everything you need to know about the story you can get from the trailer. Even without the trailer the title should give you a huge clue to what it's about. It's a done formula but Rogue Nation has re-used it quite well. Tom Cruise is as expected brilliant in his role. And his team are just as fun to watch especially Simon Pegg who in this one gets quite a lot of screen time. Jeremy Renner does a pretty good job too. And Rebecca Ferguson was very good as the double agent. All in all a solid cast over all.

The story as I said before isn't anything new. It sort of expected for this genre actually. Find me a book or a story of the cloak and dagger nature without it going in this direction, I dare you. Even James Bond has one I believe, in fact I think the upcoming Bond film Spectre has elements of it too which is why Mission Impossible was released before Spectre since they didn't want it to clash or get overshadowed by it if that movie turned out to be good. The thing that sets this movie apart is the characters. They've worked together for so long that the chemistry is definitely there and it really shows in this one between Cruise and Pegg. 

I think it's now standard in his contract that there should be a scene where he runs at or past the camera and that there's a motorcycle scene somewhere in the movie. ©Paramount Pictures

The action in this movie was very good. The chase scenes were exciting regardless of whether they were on foot or on two wheels or on four wheels. It was very entertaining. 

The only thing that sort of brought it down a few notches for me where the tech/gadgets in this movie. I don't know why but it felt like they took it a little too far. They other thing that sort of bugged me was how some scenes just didn't seem believable. Like scenes where no one is conveniently around when they're about to do something when clearly they're out in the open and obviously doing something odd. Especially when it happens to be at a supposedly highly secure site or an a public area teeming with people. But that's just me. 

It wouldn't be a spy movie if the hero isn't in a tuxedo at least once in the entire movie. ©Paramount Pictures

Anyway, no point picking at it. Like I said before I did enjoy this movie. It's a good action movie. A good way to waste a couple of hours watching Tom Cruise run, ride, drive and kick ass. Also fun to watch Simon Pegg and Rebecca Ferguson. The story moves along quite well and does a good job of getting you on to the next exciting action scene. I give this movie a good 3.5 out 5. 

Go watch it if you haven't. It's a good way to blow a couple of hours this weekend.