In Rogue Nation Ethan Hunt and gang have to hunt down a secretive organized crime called the Syndicate, but as we know it the road will not be easy. Ethan is captured in the beginning but escaped with the help of a mysterious woman, Ilsa Faust. After a few months, he then asked Benji to come to Vienna and together they stopped an assassination. Next they track down Ilsa to Morocco and learned about Syndicate’s boss, Solomon Lane, hidden ledger that made Ethan jumped into an underwater power station to secure it. As if that jaw-dropping scene is not enough, they have to do a crazy motorcycle chase along Moroccan streets because Ilsa betrayed Ethan and took over the disk. What is the reason behind this? How to stop the Syndicate?
The fifth in the series, Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation is still a great action/spy movie. I was uncertain at first whether they can top or at least match Ghost Protocol, but director Christopher McQuarrie’s direction is very engaging. The first twenty minutes was a bit all over the place, but after the Morocco stunt I was sold. Why? because I felt Rogue Nation serves its purpose as a spy/action movie. The action is equally crazy as in Ghost Protocol and the mission is still fun. The scene in the train station is beautifully shot as well as the one with the British Prime Minister will guarantee to make you laugh. Although the action sequences are a mash-up of the previous Mission Impossible movies, I still find it entertaining. If I have any complains it would be regarding the plot. The IMF and CIA debacle gets pretty boring after a while and we need a better villain for the next installment.
Tom Cruise looks old in this film… but hey! he is still a bad ass. I think he is a great action star. Where else, Rebecca Ferguson (who I remember from The White Queen) is amazing and probably the best female character in the MI franchise. Her role as Isla Fraust is mysterious, sexy but not vulgar, and deadly. Simon Pegg returns as Benji Dunn, the goofy sidekick who has matured up in this movie. Ving Rhames as Luther and Jeremy Renner as Brandt have their moments, but their characters are just there for the sake of being there. While I think Sean Harris makes a fine villain as Solomon Lane, I think we could do better in this department. Alec Baldwin needs to return and be Ethan Hunt’s sidekick in the next film because that would be fun to watch.
Watch out for the scene when Ethan Hunt tries to take off the ledger from the underwater safe. Problem is, there is a giant moving turbine and Ethan has to dodge as well as to swim against the strong current while opening the vault. This scene is heart-stopping at best, but knowing that it was shot in a single long take without any edits makes it even more impressive to me.
Mesh The Movie Freak 