A Film A Day: Mission Impossible

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

Mission: Impossible is by far my favourite action franchise. With the exception of Mission: Impossible II which was a huge misfire, I loved all the entries and, I don't know how they do it, but each movie they make is better than the previous instalment, and therefore I was very excited about Mission: Impossible - Fallout. And kinda pissed too because the film's release date here was moved from the end of July to the end of August. Thankfully, the long(er) wait did pay off.

After choosing to save his team over rescuing three plutonium cores, IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is forced to work with CIA agent/assassin August Walker (Henry Cavill) to prevent the nuclear cores from falling into the hands of the Apostles, a terrorist group founded by the remains of the Syndicate.

Genre

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Director

Christopher McQuarrie

Country

USA

Cast

Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris, Alec Baldwin, Jean Hultén, Simon McBurney, Hermione Corfield, America Olivo, Rupert Wickham, Zhang Jingchu, Tom Hollander

Storyline

With the IMF disbanded, and Ethan (Tom Cruise) out in the cold, the team now faces off against a network of highly skilled special agents, the Syndicate. These highly trained operatives are hellbent on creating a new world order through an escalating series of terrorist attacks. Ethan gathers his team and joins forces with disavowed British agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who may or may not be a member of this rogue nation, as the group faces their most impossible mission yet.

Opinion

Yet another episode of the series, that besides seeing its main character further aged, has the daunting task of surprising and avoiding to be boring or repetitive. I guess I have to congratulate Christopher McQuarrie then, because this is the best film of the series.

Visually stunning, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation is a captivating, entertaining, and engaging film that mixes the thrills of spy films with some great action.

The plot is very simple - Eradicate the Syndicate - yet thrilling, it's well structured with some nice twists and helps with character developments. There is no introduction to the story or the characters, so it requires Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol to be seen - it's a sequel after all.

Now you may be wondering what makes of Rogue Nation better than the previous installments, and I'm here to tell you. First the characters. Previously mentioned in Ghost Protocol, the characters are no superheros. They are more humanized than ever, and even though Ethan Hunt runs and drives like no one, he will find himself in a situation where he really is in need. The villain, Solomon Lane, is intimidating and creepy, and even though he has more of a background role, he's great - I would have loved seeing Benedict Cumberbatch in this role. How about the side villain, the Bone Doctor? He will scare the shit out of you.

Also what makes this film so good is a. the almost complete lack of masks and explosions, the lack of weird gadgets able to do whatever you want, and b. down-to-heart action sequences paired with an outstanding musical score.

Tom Cruise keeps on amazing me. At his age of 52 not only never looks ridiculous as the IMF agent, but performs all, or most of, his stunts. And at the same time he manages to deliver a solid, fresh performance. Simon Pegg is a pleasure to watch. He is so hilarious, adds some comedy and helps into building some suspense as he really looks like he has no clue of what's going to happen next. Rebecca Ferguson is phenomenal, and the chemistry she has with Cruise is excellent. Jeremy Renner and Alec Baldwin do a good job. Sean Harris, who plays the villain, does a fantastic job.

Quotes

William Brandt: I can neither confirm nor deny any details about any operation without the permission of the Secretary.