Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
PG-13
4.5 Stars out of 5
Director/Writer Christopher McQuarrieCinematography Robert Elswit
Music Joe Kraemer
Tom Cruise Ethan Hunt
Jeremy Renner William Brandt
Simon Pegg Benji Dunn
Rebecca Ferguson Ilsa Faust
Ving Rhames Luther Stickell
Alec Baldwin Alan Hunley
Sean Harris Lane
“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” is the fifth in the Mission:
Impossible series using the movie format, all starring Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt.
It is possible that this entry is the best to date. But how does one separate
out one movie in such a series; a series that features missions labeled as
impossible and has a hero/superman that specializes in just such missions? One cannot
look to great acting (unless one considers stunts as a sub-category of acting)
or thoughtful writing featuring deep underlying themes that illustrate human
needs. Moral quandaries that drive the human condition are not going to be part
of the discussion. And yet Christopher McQuarrie as both writer and director
has created a film that manages the pace of the thrills and intervening set up
scenes in such a manner that the excitement and tone are so superior to its
contemporaries, that Rogue Nation definitely stands above most movies in the
action/spy genre.
Like the preceding entries in the Mission Impossible series,
Cruise as Ethan Hunt leads a team that consists of two colleagues, Benji (Simon
Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames); both seem to be hackers or electronics experts
of some sort; the nerds that support their heroic and athletic leader, Hunt. In
each entry, Hunt and pals must confront some arch-villain intent on destroying the
existing world order. They must penetrate some impenetrable fortress employing a
rich variety of awe-inspiring stunts (often done by Cruise himself), use all sorts
of advanced electronic gear and at some point, they must wear masks that allow
someone to impersonate someone else (ala Scoobie Doo). All of these elements
will be used in Rogue Nation; so why does it stand out? For movies
of this sort in general and in the case of Rogue Nation in particular, the
movies that stand out will also introduce some amazing stunts/chase scenes that appear
almost as a highly choreographed dance that maintain the tone and intensity of
the movie, they will have unusual co-heroes (extra points for female heroes),
and most particularly for Rogue Nation, such movies will introduce some embedded
tropes that help illustrate some aspect of the story. Rogue Nation nicely does
this latter point by using Puccini’s 1924 opera, Turandot; an opera describing
a princess and a suitor that must past three riddles in order to marry her or
face death if he fails.
Obviously, to over-interpret the use of Turandot in a spy
movie is a move that should be avoided by the amateur critic, and yet, I still
think it is a nice touch. In this theme, Rogue Nation brings in a female
character/spy/superhuman in the form of the amusingly named Ilsa Faust (Rebecca
Ferguson). It goes without saying she is very attractive, showing off her leggy
beauty at almost every turn. One clever aspect of her character is to whom does
she owe her true loyalty: Hunt’s IMF team, the British spy agency MI6, or to
this movie’s arch villain, Lane (Sean Harris)? What Lane wants as the villain
is of no note in this movie, though quite frankly I did puzzle over it as the
movie progressed, and I never came to a conclusion. He’s just a bad guy, and
Ilsa either works for him or pretends to – it really doesn’t matter very much.
Adding to the pseudo-complexity of the movie is the sub-plot that CIA Chief
Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) has convinced the US government to shut down the IMF
group, their leader William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) and Hunt/Cruise.
As the movie rolls through the Hunt stunts and the complicated
machinations of Lane and Hunt as they oppose one another, the female Ethan Hunt
character, Ilsa Faust proves to be in every way Hunt’s equal in skill and
intelligence. She saves him, compromises him, helps him, and proves to be at
least superficially of unknown loyalty; but we know, don’t we? And of course
Ethan Hunt knows her true self, no matter that she periodically appears to be
at cross purposes with him. I do like the apposition of Faust to Hunt. It’s not
mind bending in a particular way, but it helps set Hunt and Faust up as the
supermen they are and to hint at some impossible love in the making. Being
godlike in their abilities, there relationship must remain pure, platonic and unrequited,
or so I imagine.
In any event, “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” is a very
entertaining movie for a movie in this genre. From the amazing opening stunt on
the side of an airplane to the one in the depths of some kind of memory storage
unit underwater (requiring Hunt to hold his breath for three minutes – surely no
one but Hunt, Faust and other supermen could do that?), to the best chase scene
(this one on motorcycles) I have seen in years, this movie delivers its
quotient of amazing stunts. There is cleverness in the presentation of the gun
fight within the Vienna opera house and in the allusion of Turandot’s story to
the competing spy-craft of Hunt and Faust. But best of all, is the way the
excitement introduced by the stunts, chase scene and fights are presented to
the audience in such a way that the tension brought about by these elements are
paced so skillfully throughout the movie. For aficionados of this genre, “Mission:
Impossible – Rogue Nation” is a great example of the action movie.
