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.
