Anyone who knows me will not be surprised to learn that I went to see the latest Mission Impossible movie. But keep reading, because the outcome of the review might actually surprise you.
My friends and I recently underwent a mission of our own, to watch all four previous Mission Impossible movies on the run up to the release of the new one. You might think that this was a relatively easy task but trying to factor in four busy people's schedules, summer holidays and other commitments made it rather taxing. We fit the first movie in no problem. I even baked us an MI Pie.
Movies 2 and 3 we did as a double bill, and in the end I watched Ghost Protocol with one of my group of friends after seeing Rogue Nation. I'd never seen MI2 before and I have to say that it's my least favourite of the franchise. But we're not here to discuss MI2, or MI3, or even Ghost Protocol. But if you do want to know what I thought of that movie you can read the review here. It was prior to me joining the Renner fandom so any bias towards him was purely coincidental.
Rogue Nation pretty much carries on from where Ghost Protocol left off, as if you recall, at the end of Ghost Protocol Ethan (Tom Cruise) is listening to his next mission parameters which include infiltrating a shadow organisation known as the syndicate. Initial jaw dropping plane stunt aside (which is merely the opening gambit), that's what Ethan is trying to do in this movie. All whilst the future of the IMF hangs in the balance. Brandt (Jeremy Renner) goes up against Huntley (Alec Baldwin) of the CIA to try and keep the IMF in place, but when Ethan's mission is shut down his old team of Brandt, Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames) must try and assist Ethan without being disavowed themselves. Throw in a new baddie played by Sean Harris, and a woman who has questionable loyalty (Rebecca Ferguson) and you have a twisty turny plot that never lets up.
Then there are the stunts. Mission Impossible movies have upped the anti on stunts since the first movie when Ethan Hunt gets thrown off a helicopter in the channel tunnel onto a moving train. MI 2 saw Ethan dangling from Dead Horse Point in Utah, MI 3 saw him jumping from buildings in Shanghai and of course who could forget the Burj Khalifa scene from MI GP? Rogue Nation has quite a few death defying stunts for Cruise to tackle. The first being the plane sequence, the second the underwater sequence and the third is the spectacular bike chase. Similar to MI 2 but still impressive to see that it actually was Cruise doing his own riding, without helmet and even flinching at one point when his knee came perilously close to the tarmac.
As a Renner fan though I was disappointed that his character didn't have more to do. In his first outing in Ghost Protocol we saw him as an analyst and also a kick ass field agent, doing his own err, well, lunges. This time out he had a lot less to do which was a shame. Having said that, I think my favourite sequence from the new movie was one that didn't actually feature agent Brandt at all, and that was the opera scene. I loved everything about it, all of the backstage snooping, the fights, the music, everything. And if you aren't humming Nessun Dorma for days after then I don't know how you managed that.
The only downside for me was that Rogue Nation was a little too complex a storyline, and I admit that I didn't really understand it fully until the second viewing. The story did feel a little rushed but then when you have to move your release date forward by 5 months, that's going to happen. But it doesn't detract from an otherwise entertaining film. It was also nice to see a lot of the London locations used for this one.
My friends and I recently underwent a mission of our own, to watch all four previous Mission Impossible movies on the run up to the release of the new one. You might think that this was a relatively easy task but trying to factor in four busy people's schedules, summer holidays and other commitments made it rather taxing. We fit the first movie in no problem. I even baked us an MI Pie.
Movies 2 and 3 we did as a double bill, and in the end I watched Ghost Protocol with one of my group of friends after seeing Rogue Nation. I'd never seen MI2 before and I have to say that it's my least favourite of the franchise. But we're not here to discuss MI2, or MI3, or even Ghost Protocol. But if you do want to know what I thought of that movie you can read the review here. It was prior to me joining the Renner fandom so any bias towards him was purely coincidental.
Rogue Nation pretty much carries on from where Ghost Protocol left off, as if you recall, at the end of Ghost Protocol Ethan (Tom Cruise) is listening to his next mission parameters which include infiltrating a shadow organisation known as the syndicate. Initial jaw dropping plane stunt aside (which is merely the opening gambit), that's what Ethan is trying to do in this movie. All whilst the future of the IMF hangs in the balance. Brandt (Jeremy Renner) goes up against Huntley (Alec Baldwin) of the CIA to try and keep the IMF in place, but when Ethan's mission is shut down his old team of Brandt, Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames) must try and assist Ethan without being disavowed themselves. Throw in a new baddie played by Sean Harris, and a woman who has questionable loyalty (Rebecca Ferguson) and you have a twisty turny plot that never lets up.
Then there are the stunts. Mission Impossible movies have upped the anti on stunts since the first movie when Ethan Hunt gets thrown off a helicopter in the channel tunnel onto a moving train. MI 2 saw Ethan dangling from Dead Horse Point in Utah, MI 3 saw him jumping from buildings in Shanghai and of course who could forget the Burj Khalifa scene from MI GP? Rogue Nation has quite a few death defying stunts for Cruise to tackle. The first being the plane sequence, the second the underwater sequence and the third is the spectacular bike chase. Similar to MI 2 but still impressive to see that it actually was Cruise doing his own riding, without helmet and even flinching at one point when his knee came perilously close to the tarmac.
As a Renner fan though I was disappointed that his character didn't have more to do. In his first outing in Ghost Protocol we saw him as an analyst and also a kick ass field agent, doing his own err, well, lunges. This time out he had a lot less to do which was a shame. Having said that, I think my favourite sequence from the new movie was one that didn't actually feature agent Brandt at all, and that was the opera scene. I loved everything about it, all of the backstage snooping, the fights, the music, everything. And if you aren't humming Nessun Dorma for days after then I don't know how you managed that.
The only downside for me was that Rogue Nation was a little too complex a storyline, and I admit that I didn't really understand it fully until the second viewing. The story did feel a little rushed but then when you have to move your release date forward by 5 months, that's going to happen. But it doesn't detract from an otherwise entertaining film. It was also nice to see a lot of the London locations used for this one.
As far as the franchise goes, my brother summed it up well when he said that 3, 4, and 5 are a great series of movies altogether. I'd agree with that, but 4 is still my favourite. 8 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 30th July 2015
UK Release Date - 30th July 2015
Cast Overview:
Tom Cruise ~ Ethan Hunt
Jeremy Renner ~ William Brandt
Simon Pegg ~ Benji Dunn
Rebecca Ferguson ~ Ilsa Faust
Ving Rhames ~ Luther Stickell
Sean Harris ~ Solomon Kane
Tom Hollander ~ Prime Minister
Alec Baldwin ~ Alan Huntley
Director ~ Christopher McQuarrie
Writer(s) ~ Christopher McQuarrie and Drew Pierce
Based on television series "Mission: Impossible" by Bruce Geller
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