MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION (2015) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

mission: impossible - rogue nation (2015) movie

Genre             |  Spy-Fi Thriller

Classification   |   M

Running time   |   131 minutes

Released         |   30 July 2015

cast

Tom Cruise ... Ethan Hunt
Jeremy Renner ... William Brandt
Simon Pegg ... Benji Dunn
Rebecca Ferguson ... Ilsa Faust
Ving Rhames ... Luther Stickell
Sean Harris ... Lane
Simon McBurney ... Atlee
Alec Baldwin ... ​Alan Hunley

director

Christopher McQuarrie

writer

Christopher McQuarrie ... (screenplay)
 
Christopher McQuarrie ... (story) and
Drew Pearce ... (story)
 
​Bruce Geller ... (television series)

cinematographer

​Robert Elswit

music

​Joe Kraemer

film editor

​Eddie Hamilton

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box office result

Worldwide             $​​​682,714,267 ​   

Australia                 $​11,288,400

North America       $​​​195,042,377

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the best dialogue

Chairman: And you Mr. Brandt, how can you justify this deception?
William Brandt: I can neither confirm nor deny details of any operation without the Secretary's approval.

Alan Hunley: Hunt is uniquely trained and highly motivated - a specialist without equal - immune to any countermeasures. There is no secret he cannot extract, no security he cannot breach, no person he cannot become. He has most likely anticipated this very conversation and is waiting to strike in whatever direction we move. Sir, Hunt is the living manifestation of destiny - and he has made you his mission.

Ethan Hunt: [Ethan, Ilsa, Benji, Luther and Brandt have captured Lane in a glass box] Gentlemen, this is Solomon Lane. Mr. Lane, meet the IMF.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION (2015) MOVIE IMAGES

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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION (2015) STORY SYNOPSIS

​With the IMF now disbanded and Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) out in the cold, a new threat -- called the Syndicate -- soon emerges. The Syndicate is a network of highly skilled operatives who are dedicated to establishing a new world order via an escalating series of terrorist attacks. Faced with what may be the most impossible mission yet, Ethan gathers his team and joins forces with Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), a disavowed British agent who may or may not be a member of this deadly rogue nation.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION (2015) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 29 July 2015
​Pop Movee Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE ROGUE NATION successfully returns the enduring Tom Cruise Spy-Fi franchise to a style of story and film-making not seen since the original 1996 Brian De Palma M:I movie. Writer/Director Christopher McQuarrie has provided a platform for Cruise and his co-stars that blend action and intrigue, as the Impossible Missions Force are forced to go underground to battle a new global threat. As much as the story delivers everything a Spy-Fi fan would want from a Mission: Impossible film, it’s the execution on screen that sets Rogue Nation apart; mostly eschewing CGI for more real practical effects, keeping the look of the film grounded in reality and the action close and intense.

ROGUE NATION opens with the much-publicised Airbus A400 plane stunt scene, with Cruise’s Ethan Hunt clinging to its side as the cargo transport takes to the air. In support are Simon Pegg’s Benji and Ving Rhames’ Luther, both coordinating technical interference in the aid of Hunt boarding the aircraft in time to prevent its cargo from being delivered to terrorists. Back in Washington, Jeremy Renner’s Brandt is directing operations and running interference for the IMF team as Alec Baldwin’s CIA Director Hunley looks to fold Hunt and his crew into mainstream operations. After successfully completing his mission, Hunt returns to London but is lured into a trap created by ‘The Syndicate’, a shadow spy organisation operating beyond any government’s control and seemingly bent on creating global chaos.

The story really gets rolling as Hunt escapes his ‘Syndicate’ captors with the assistance of the beautiful, but deadly, Ilsa played by Rebecca Ferguson. Having his worst fears of the Syndicate’s existence confirmed, Hunt himself is forced to go rogue, as Hunley benches Brandt and Benji back in Washington. Brandt warns Hunley that Hunt will disappear and that the CIA will never find him… His prediction turns out to be correct, as the action jumps forward six months. In the intervening period, Hunt has pieced enough information together to lead him to Vienna, where the Austrian Prime Minister will be attending a performance of the opera Turandout. Hunt enlists Benji as an unwitting assistant and the pair uncover the Syndicate are planning to assassinate the Prime Minister.

Christopher McQuarrie’s script, written with IRON MAN 3’s Drew Pearce, is not without its problems. The pair employ a certain amount of contrivance to position the characters in the right place at the right time; especially in the first half as the Syndicate’s back-story is laid out for the audience. Viewers familiar with the M:I series, as well as the Bond and Bourne films, tend to take coincidence with a grain of salt in these films, as to question every action would see the story unravel pretty quickly. It’s the second half of ROGUE NATION that really dazzles, as McQuarrie (with his Director’s hat on), takes full advantage of Roger Elswit’s cinematography to deliver dazzling set-pieces and excellent close-up action. The car-motorbike chase through the streets of Casablanca is extremely well staged, and the ensuing high-speed chase of Isla by Hunt is a great example of how to blend physical stunt work with some visual effects without allowing the effects to take control of the viewer’s conscious processing of what is happening on the screen in front of them.

The performances in ROGUE NATION are all-round winners. McQuarrie wisely chooses to dial-down Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and allows both Simon Pegg and Jeremy Renner to do the dramatic heavy-lifting throughout proceedings. Renner is especially good and, once again, demonstrates that he is as comfortable in a supporting role, as he is in a leading one. Ving Rhames adds a sentimental connection as the only actor (other than Cruise) to appear in all five movies. Newcomers Rebecca Ferguson and Sean Harris add an under-stated sense of intrigue and menace, while Alec Baldwin - the original Jack Ryan – engages in some mild scenery-chewing as the new CIA Director.

In the past, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE films have been centred upon Tom Cruise the Movie Star. ROGUE NATION successfully repositions the franchise, leaving Ethan Hunt as the key IMF Agent, but making him part of a team and, in doing so, creating an M:I film that is the closest in tone to the TV series from which the film franchise was developed. There’s still a level of uncertainty about whether Tom Cruise can still draw audiences. Even when he delivers great films, such as 2014’s EDGE OF TOMORROW, audiences have failed to turn up in sufficient numbers to justify calling the film a “success”. If audiences don’t show up for ROGUE NATION it won’t be through a lack of effort by the cast and crew in delivering an exciting action adventure film whose main aim is to entertain in spades.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION (2015) USEFUL LINKS

​Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation - Wikipedia
​Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) - IMDb
​Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation (2015) - Rotten Tomatoes

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