Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation: An Anti-IMF Review

Last Friday we went to see Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. Part of me wants to criticize the movie for being a tentpole action movie, but that's really a criticism for the studio since they decided that's what they wanted for the franchise after the first film. So I'll try my best to not compare Rogue Nation too heavily to the first film in the franchise (which by the way is fantastic, and you should watch).

This installment of the franchise sees Ethan Hunt and the team take on their toughest mission to date, finding and dismantling the Syndicate – an International group of rogue agents hell-bent on world chaos.

There are a few problems with Rogue Nation, visually. Some of the indoor scenes are downright ugly, like the filmmakers didn't bring enough lights, and the hand-to-hand fight scenes are shot and cut in a way that you can't really tell what is going on. What's weird about that the film is helmed by Christopher McQuarrie, whose previous film Jack Reacher had very visible action sequences, and the cinematography is done by the renowned Robert Elswitt. Couple this with the fact that the chase sequences and outdoor photography are fantastic, it left me sort of annoyed and wondering what happened.

Despite some ham-handed visuals, it's always the story and performances that make the Mission: Impossible movies really stand out. Rogue Nation follows suit with a story that moves at a brisk pace, twisting and turning, pulling Ethan Hunt and his team deeper into their enemies' evil plot. The dialogue is snappy, tense, and very funny at just the right times. The actors understand that with the franchise comes a little bit of melodrama, and they all nail it perfectly. Simon Pegg's character Benji Dunn gets a larger role, and even though he has a few moments where he gets to show off his dramatic acting, it's Pegg's chemistry with Tom Cruise that really makes their scenes pop. Alec Baldwin and Ving Rhames should be applauded, not only for their own performances, but by making the dreary Jeremy Renner incredibly tolerable and actually funny a couple times. Relative newcomer Rebecca Ferguson also shines with Cruise and company as the Double/Triple/Quadruple agent Ilsa Faust, adding a great emotional context to a difficult role.

I do have another problem with Rogue Nation’s overall story and execution: It's sort of a superhero movie. Since the first film, Ethan Hunt and his team went from being very good spies to being a supergroup that can't seem to lose. Rogue Nation tries to remedy this with a thick plot filled with mini-failures and dialogue that reinforces that, and even though it's a no-brainer to understand the good guys will always win, you never get enough good moments where you question that. The action in the film may be tense, but that tension never really makes you hold your breath the way the filmmakers intended.

Despite its faults, I really enjoyed Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, and even though it's an uneven visual mess, it provides what Hollywood is frequently missing nowadays: A fun time at the movies. See it eventually.