A huge airplane is about to take off carrying chemical weapons. IMF Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) jumps onto one of the wings then sprints for the side door that is supposed to be open, only to have to settle for hanging on to the side of the plane as it launches into the air. Fast forward to a few minutes later. Hunt is captured by an evil group known as The Syndicate. One of the baddies is about to interrogate him using all sorts of hardcore tools, but Hunt makes a harrowing escape with the help of mysterious woman Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson). Both of these scenes were shown in the trailers for Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation.
And both of these scenes happened within the first fifteen minutes of the movie.
A film already earns crazy points with me when all the good stuff isn't given away in the trailer. Even those two aforementioned scenes had a couple of other neat, small-touches parts that you don't get to see until actually viewing the movie as a whole. And, if you think the thrill ride stops there, think again.
As in the previous M:I movies, the cast did an excellent job, save for one glaring bump that I will touch on in a minute. Cruise is at his best when he's running, jumping, and doing the usual stunts required for these movies. Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, and Ving Rhames shined in their reprising roles as well, aiding Cruise as the story progressed while providing some hilarious moments throughout. And about that glaring bump: I am by no means saying that Sean Harris did a poor job as main bad guy Solomon Lane. However, the voice thing just wasn't working for me. It was too Voldemorty for my taste. I kept waiting for him to scream, "Get back here, Potter!" Fortunately he didn't have a great deal of lines so it didn't kill the experience for me.
Unless you're a die-hard Tom Cruise fan, you're going to see this movie for the sake of the action and you're going to get a lot of it. Although not quite as hardcore, this movie is very reminiscent of Mad Max: Fury Road in the sense that it doesn't really give you a chance to sit still for that long. If they're not pulling off some intense scheme, they're plotting one. I don't know about you, but hearing them discuss the craziness of the plan is almost as intense as watching them attempt to pull it off. The action sequences had a good deal of originality while paying homages to some of the older movies. They don't disappoint.
The movie essentially follows Hunt as he and IMF try to expose and eradicate The Syndicate, a group of rogues that have been taking on the identities of dead agents (good agents, that is) from all over the world. The pacing is smooth and kept me engaged throughout the entire movie. Among other things, I appreciate the fact that the movie didn't try and force a love portion into the mix for the sake of doing it. The film identified perfectly with what it was and stuck to it consistently.
I give Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation an 88. That would make it the fourth best M:I movie, in my opinion, behind 3, 1, then 4. That's not so much a testament to the quality of this movie as it is to the outstanding greatness of the other ones. M:I is one of the best action series of all time, hands down.
