I knew, without question, that I was going to see Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation in theaters. I’m a fan of the series and though this trailer didn’t really grab me like M:I:III or Ghost Protocol did, I had to go. They’re like Bond movies, you just go see them. But is Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation worth the price of admission? Or is it more like M:I:II which was the biggest flop of the series. Here’s my review.
Since Mission: Impossible came out in 1996, the franchise has gotten bigger and flashier with each installment. That’s not always a good thing. Look at the Transformers movies. Each movie got bigger and shittier. Luckily Mission: Impossible managed to stay on target and became a fun and enjoyable series. They’re not great, but they’re action packed and fun to watch. Though popular opinion says otherwise (namely that 2 was the worst in the series) I believe the movies have gotten better with time. That means the lowest on the list is the first one and thus, the best one so far is Rogue Nation. But not by much.
Let’s be honest. You don’t see a movie like this for the acting. On the flip side, if there’s bad acting it can even ruin a mindless popcorn flick. The good news for Rogue Nation is that Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, and Jeremy Renner are great at what they do. Add relative newcomer Rebecca Ferguson to the mix and ol’ steady Alec Baldwin and it’s all gravy. I feel like a broken record when I review movies like this. I find myself saying “the acting is exactly what the film needed” and you know what? That’s still the case. The acting helped keep me glued to the screen until the very end.
The action scenes in Rogue Nation were fantastic. They looked great, they weren’t totally unbelievable, and best of all there wasn’t any obvious CG. That’s probably because Tom Cruise did a lot, if not all, of his own stunts and there were a lot of practical effects. The already famous plane scene was all him. If you didn’t already know, he was really strapped to the outside of the plane and it really did take off with him on it. Computer graphics are fantastic and allow movie makers to do the impossible. But there’s something amazing about practical effects. Something exciting and timeless that adds priceless feelings of wonder to a scene. Rogue Nation is full of these and while it’s not real, the suspension of disbelief is easier to obtain thanks to everyone from director Christopher McQuarrie (Edge of Tomorrow, The Usual Suspects) to the stunt coordinators/ stunt people, to Mr Tom Cruise himself for doing his own stunts. The action in this movie is a joy to watch.
One of the quintessential parts of any Mission: Impossible movie, or any spy movie for that matter, is the fancy technology they invent and this one was full of it. It’s really fun to watch Ethan Hunt or James Bond bring out some magic device that lets them get passed heavy security or hack into a computer or get passed a locked door. The tricky part with spy tech is coming up with something new OR re-imagining something that’s already been done. Whoever designed the gadgets for Rogue Nation did a pretty good job. The thing they used to pick locks was even new and fancy.
The plot for Rogue Nation is good, but I feel like at times it’s a little too similar to Ghost Protocol. This isn’t by any means a deal breaker. I think it was a well written and well thought out script but I wish that a couple things were done differently. I’d love to give specifics but that goes into spoiler territory and I pride myself in writing spoiler free reviews. Let me just say that the plot as whole is different and unique but one key element is the same from the last movie. I think this was an oversight more than anything and not even a bad one at that. But with all the thought and planning that went into the rest of the movie I just wished they would have tweaked this one part. Movies like this are the kind where you know the good guys are going to win. The fun in it is seeing how they do it and what, if anything, they lose along the way.
I’ve been going on and on about how much this movie did right and how great it all was but it’s still not worthy of an 11. Even so it’s still a lot of fun and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Don’t go into Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation expecting a mind blowing experience. You’ll be let down. If you’re going to see it then just go in expecting a fun, flashy, and thrilling movie. This movie isn’t going to win any awards, it’s not going to be remembered as one of the best movies of the year, but it’s worth a watch. If you fancy a trip to the theater and this is on your radar, then by all means, see it. However you’re not going to miss out if you wait to watch it at home. You’ll get the same experience, just without the movie theater popcorn and prices.
Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation gets a 8.5 out of 11.