Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation Movie Review (Free Review)
Ethan Hunt is back; tracking the Syndicate while Brandt is fencing off takeover attacks from the CIA. As the IMF is pushed into a corner, Hunt uses his last chance to stop the “anti-IMF” organisation and goes rogue.
Genre: Action / Adventure / Thriller
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Jens Hultén, Simon McBurney & Alec Baldwin.
Run Time: 131 min.
US Release: 27 July 2015
UK Release: 25 July 2015
German Release: 6 August 2015
Well this is it, the last entry in my Mission: Impossible review series. Rogue Nation is a fun, thrilling and action packed spy flick that merged the best parts of all M:I movies. Personally, I found this to be the best entry of the franchise so far!
The series does not stop surprising me. It defies the laws of cinema and just keeps producing high quality sequels. Rogue Nation received positive critical response and was praised for Tom Cruise’s performance and it’s highly addictive action sequences. Rebecca Ferguson was complimented for her strong female role and her chemistry with Cruise.
The plot revolves around Ethan Hunt, who is trying to prove the existence of an international rogue organisation named the “Syndicate”. While mean, Brandt needs to deal with the repercussions of the fourth film in D.C., as the Central Intelligence Agency director Alan Hunley (Baldwin) demands the IMF be dissolved and integrated into the CIA. Hunt and his team go rogue, after no one believes them, in the hopes of stopping the Syndicate.
From the first scene that flickers onto the big screen, the viewer is thrown straight into an action intro. It immediately emitted that sense of urgency and suspense, something this movie manages to uphold along its runtime.
Like I said before, this spy flick includes the best parts of each Mission: Impossible. It has the suspense and tension of the first, the great villain and fantastic mid-action sequence of the third, the gorgeous looking stunts and capturing storytelling of the fourth and left out everything, except for that cool motorcycle scene, from the second movie.
This is what sets this M:I film apart from the others. McQuarrie did his homework, studied the previous entries of the franchise and even took inspiration from other classic spy movies such as Bond, some of Hitchcock's films and I even sensed a little bit of the Italian Job, during the car chase on the narrow streets of Morocco.
One of the biggest inspirations though must have come from one of his own written works, because the use of twists in this movie reminded me of The Usual Suspects.
The dialogue and story structure were written brilliantly. I really did appreciate the addition of Easter eggs that linked this sequel to the previous movies and the old Mission: Impossible TV series. It was very respectful towards the fans of the different M:I formats. The only complaint I have was that similar to Ghost Protocol, M:I-5 suffers some pacing issues.
Although this is a one-man mission during the first half of the movie, you really feel Hunt’s need for his team. I liked the fact that, even if separated most of the time and not in touch, every team member contributed to the mission and was important to accomplish it successfully.
Luther Stickel’s return added so much to this film, simply because it is not a real Mission: Impossible without Ving Rhames! And I was glad to see they did not change his character. Yet at the same time, we get to see a side of him we never truly saw before his unshatterable loyalty to Ethan Hunt.
Simon Pegg was brilliant. Benji was once again the comedic relief of the movie and had some of the best lines, but it never came into conflict with the mission aspect of the film. He was also given a far more important role compared to his last two appearances. The villain was great, McQuarry took the best part of M:i:III and implemented it into Rogue Nation. Sean Harris was so convincing as the soft-speaking Solomon Lane, a baddie that is convinced what he is doing is not evil but necessary. Lane is a terrorist working from within the shadows and he felt like a real threat that needed to be taken down.
Rebecca Ferguson gave a top-notch performance as Ilsa Faust, she filled the role of a badass woman and her fight scenes were up to par with Tom Cruise’s. I did miss Paula Patton’s character though and it annoyed me that it was never explained where she was or what had happened to her.
This is a beautiful-looking film, with some solid cinematography as each scene was given a sense of importance. The use of practical effects, minimising the use of CGI, and the stunt work done by Cruise, especially that insane aeroplane stunt, made this spy flick more realistic. One of the best chase scenes ever shot was in this movie, when Hunt goes after Ilsa, riding a bike on the roads of Morocco.
Verdict: Mission: Impossible -Rogue Nation has it all. Thrilling suspense, addictive action scenes, gnawing twists and the most insane stunt made for a Western action film. The cinematography was perfect, the script was brilliant and it was everything I wanted from a Mission: Impossible movie, knocking off the first one from the top of my list. I give this movie a 9.0 out of 10. Which one is your favourite Mission: Impossible film? Did you watch this film yet, & if you did what is your opinion of it? Leave a comment below & thank you for reading!