Showing posts with label rebecca ferguson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rebecca ferguson. Show all posts

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation


DIRECTOR: Christopher McQuarrie  LEAD CAST: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Jeremy Renner AUTHOR: Christopher McQuarrie, Drew Pearce  SCREENPLAY: Drew Pearce, Will Staples  FILM EDITOR: Eddie Hamilton  MUSIC: Joe Kraemer  GENRE: Action, Adventure, Thriller  CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Elswit  PRODUCED BY: Tom Cruise, JJ Abrama, David Ellison, Bryan Burk  PROUCTION COMPANIES: Alibaba Pictures Group, Bad Robot Productions, Skydance Productions, TC Productions  DISTRIBUTORS: Andes Films, Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures, United International Pictures, Westec Media Limited  FILMING   LOCATIONS: Austria, Morocco, England, Malaysia  RUNNING TIME: 131 mins.
Technical assessment:  4
Moral assessment: 3
MTRCB:  PG
CINEMA rating:  V14
            With the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) closed down, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) becomes a fugitive, bent on proving the existence The Syndicate.  As Hunt begins to investigate The Syndicate and its goals, he realizes the group is way ahead of him, with its network of highly skilled operatives launching an escalating series of terrorist attacks to establish a new world order.  Hunt is captured by The Syndicate but is helped to escape by Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), a disavowed M16 agent and syndicate operative.  She betrays him later on, only to reappear as Hunt’s savior again.  Is Faust a friend or an enemy?  A perplexed Hunt is kept guessing.
            Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation may be the most thrilling mission yet, where Cruise outdoes himself with his own daredevil stunts.  In Ghost Protocol, he clung to the towering Burj Khalifa; now the movie opens with him hanging on to the outside of a plane taking off.  Quite a feat when the actor is over half a century old, but Cruise pulls it off impressively, especially since he does it without benefit of a double or special effects.  The stunts alone make the film worth the price of admission, but Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation does one better—to the melee it throws in Ferguson whose Ilsa is just as lethal and menacing as Hunt.  Standing shoulder to shoulder with Hunt in the skills department, Ilsa is not just an equal to Hunt—the woman may even be superior, often rescuing instead of being rescued by the man.  Other bonuses are: the picturesque glimpses of Vienna, London and Casablanca where the movie was filmed, and a breathtaking chase in a theater as an opera is playing.  The few flaws (like inconsistent lighting) fade out in the brilliance of its overall technical merits, from acting to plot, directing to cinematography.
            If you are among those who are against violence being sold as entertainment but can’t resist this “entertaining violence”, be warned that this movie has loads of it: intense fistfights, knife fights, gunplay sequences, car and motorcycle chases, characters punched and kicked and flying out through windows and hit by cars or thrown off motorcyces, broken necks crunching, cars exploding with people inside them, people collapsing from knockout gas, etc.  The violence is almost completely bloodless, though, as if to remind viewers “It’s only a movie, guys!”   Despite the mayhem, however, positive themes underlie the hyperactivity: enduring friendship, courage in fighting for one’s convictions, loyalty to one’s country, respect for morals and dedication.  And despite its James Bond-ish coloration, the hero and the woman in the end, although accomplishing the impossible mission… no, no… no spoilers here.