MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION: Roguish Charm

Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Writers: Christopher McQuarrie, Drew Pearce
Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin, Sean Harris
Runtime: 131 mins.
2015

Mission: Impossible is a minor miracle of a modern action franchise. Much like the Bond films, M:I has maintained a commitment to old fashioned stuntwork. Even more impressive is Tom Cruise's manic insistence that he perform these insane stunts himself. The fifty-three year old megastar has weathered the sands of time and the fickle whims of the viewing public by maintaining a pressing desire that you and I should enjoy his movies, no matter what. It's easy for an actor to become withered and cynical after years of being churned through the Hollywood system, but Cruise has a vitality only matched by a younger Tom Cruise.

The unquenchable enthusiasm of perennial producer and lead actor Tom Cruise is certainly one of the primary forces that has transformed Mission: Impossible from a series of convoluted spy capers that exist only for the setpieces into a series of engaging spy capers that exist only for the setpieces. That doesn't sound like as much of a compliment as I intend it to be.

That Mission: Impossible has waited until the fourth entry, Ghost Protocol, to find a strong and entertaining identity for itself is only the second of three things to make the franchise a minor miracle in today's action climate. The final aberration is an unwavering devotion to tell 100% self-contained stories. Sure, there are recurring characters and plot devices, but I am absolutely certain that Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation would be no worse if you watched it as the first entry in the series. That may not sound miraculous, but consider how seldom we receive a franchise film that ends with an unabashed cliffhanger daring us to come see the follow-up film in three years. The Marvel machine has changed everything. Even previously self-contained one-offs like the aforementioned Bond films have been cementing a shared continuity for the entirety of Craig's run as the character, even going so far as to cripple Quantum of Solace with the unnecessary loose ends of Casino Royale.

With all that intact--a charismatic superstar at the top of his game, awe-inspiring stuntwork, an accessible self-contained narrative--it's no wonder Rogue Nation has been killing it at the box office, its second weekend even going so far as to beat the dismal opening of Fantastic Four.

I've seen most of the Mission: Impossible movies, though I was introduced to the franchise via the stellar 2011 entry Ghost Protocol. That film, the live action directorial debut of Pixar regular Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille, The Iron Giant), filled me with an elation I hadn't felt from an action film since, I guess, The Incredibles. Writer/director of Rogue Nation Christopher McQuarrie is a very different filmmaker, coming off of the calculatedly masculine wish fulfillment badassery of Jack Reacher rather than the cross-generational emotional mastery of Pixar.* It would be easy for me to turn the rest of this review into a compare and contrast between Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation, a comparison that would waffle back and forth but ultimately shake out in favor of the former. Instead, I think it's more fair to point out that Ghost Protocol succeeded in establishing a personality both for the franchise and the main character, and McQuarrie succeeded in taking that established personality and making it his own in ways that both harm and enhance the film.

*McQuarrie also wrote, but didn't direct, one of the most structurally brilliant films of 2014, Edge of Tomorrow.

I will say, however, that Bird is a superior visual director. None of the images in Rogue Nation hold a candle to the spectacle of Ghost Protocol. McQuarrie's visuals are merely functional, which is perfectly fine when you consider McQuarrie's true area of expertise: suspense. McQuarrie wrings thrills out of situations rather than images. There is a protracted underwater scene that couldn't be called spectacular in any way, but is a masterful example of building suspense; the floating camera, the silent soundtrack, the near-subconscious heartbeat, even the reluctance with which Hunt agreed to enter the scenario in the first place. McQuarrie sure can ratchet things up.

Fans of funny things will be glad to know that the trend of Simon Pegg's Benji receiving larger and larger roles in this franchise has continued. Benji either has second or thirdmost screentime, jockeying for position with newcomer rival spy Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson). With these two, and the addition of Jeremy Renner, Ving Rhames, and Alec Baldwin, we have what is known as a thoroughly entertaining ensemble. Except Renner, he was okay.

Pegg's genius and Ethan Hunt's put-upon attitude are not the only sources of comedy in the film. There's a sense of self-aware over-the-top absurdism that permeates the movie. The way Rogue Nation is shot and edited makes it feel like McQuarrie is laughing with us about how much we're enjoying the movie. It's a nice little hunk of tonal awareness that I appreciate. When Alec Baldwin calls Ethan Hunt "destiny incarnate," I can laugh at and with the movie at the same time.

Two more things well worth mentioning: Joe Kraemer's propulsive score, a bombastic striptease of a soundtrack that gives us glimpses here and there of the classic Mission: Impossible theme rather than knocking us over the head with it straightaway.

And the other, Rebecca Ferguson, a Swedish actress in what would seem to be her breakout role. Her superspy character matches Cruise at every turn, in both plot and performance. This is yet another admirable aspect of Rogue Nation which is done disservice by following the class act of Mad Max: Fury Road, as Ferguson's character cannot hold a candle to Furiosa, but Ilse is far from being outright disrespected by the film. Her action scenes put her on even ground with Hunt; one spectacular sequence in particular sees the two characters sharing a gun with near wordless coordination, evoking the mutual respect of the central relationship in Fury Road. Perhaps we can consider Fury Road to be a template for women in action franchises, and if so, Rogue Nation comes close to following that template, in no small part thanks to Ferguson's astounding charisma.

Every Mission: Impossible film has a signature setpiece, one that outlives the rest of the film in the public's consciousness. For Rogue Nation it could be the brief airplane sequence featured in all the trailers, just for the audacity of that stunt. But my pick is a sequence that happens in and around the backstage fly system at a theater during an opera performance. I'm a sucker for in-narrative music underscoring the proceedings. This sequence is amped up by the music, the creativity of the setting, and the many-moving-pieces set-up of multiple assassins and counterassassins. This sort of spinning plates game is exactly the kind of action filmgoers crave. Enough boring firefights or CGI hemorrhages: give us stakes, dramatic inversions, and character beats!

3.5 / 5  BLOBS