“Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” is the maze that never ends.
Clocking in at 131 minutes, the Tom Cruise vehicle has enough twists and turns to confuse M. Night Shyamalan. The problem is that with all of these rapid and shocking developments, the movie forgot to be fun.
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the newest installment to the “Mission: Impossible” franchise picks up where the preceding film left off. Cruise reprises his role as Impossible Missions Force Agent Ethan Hunt as he tries to find the Syndicate, a criminal organization.
Along with Cruise, the movie has a phenomenal cast, with actors such as Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner and Alec Baldwin, who play Benji Dunn, William Brandt and Alan Hunley respectively.
“Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” starts on a high note as Hunt attempts to board a plane in flight. This scene is the perfect example of what the movie can be at its best: heart-stopping action, beautiful camerawork of a dangerous situation and witty dialogue between Hunt and his henchmen.
This opening sequence’s brilliance is spotlighted as the rest of the movie fails to hit such high marks.
As Hunt gets deeper and deeper in cover to find the Syndicate, the common spy motif of not being able to trust anybody is thrust into the forefront.
Hunt can’t trust Ilsa Faust, the female lead played by Rebecca Ferguson. She can’t trust her bosses at the Syndicate. Hunt’s lackeys can’t trust that Hunt still needs them. And the audience can’t trust themselves to stay awake as all of this backstabbing and needless dialogue is taking place in front of them.
It’s disappointing that the movie is bogged down in these stagnations because some of the action sequences are incredible. There are a few chase scenes that are set beautifully and insert humor in non-formulaic ways.
Along with the opening plane shot, the best part of the movie takes place in an underwater hyper-secure facility, where Hunt only has two minutes to dive underneath and break in. It’s heart pounding and one of the most gripping scenes of the year.
“Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” is an odd movie to review. There are parts of it that are as thrilling as any movie in the past few years, yet they are surrounded by unnecessary and complicating plot points that take away from the overall enjoyment.
In a year of great action films, from “Mad Max: Fury Road” to “Furious 7” to “Jurassic World,” the new episode of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise hits some of the same highs but has so many lows that detract from its overall package.
Greg Gottfried
