It’s that time of year where Tom Cruise explodes onto the screen once again. Starring alongside Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson and Alec Baldwin in the latest of the Mission: Impossible franchise, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. The film pits Ethan Hawk and the few friends he has left in the world against a deadly shadow organisation, The Syndicate. M:I5 brings you exactly what you wanted and throws you into over two hours of furious action and fun like a good summer blockbuster does.
Easily the first thing that brought M:I5 past the standard was how on-form each and every actor was throughout. Tom Cruise was unsurprisingly Tom Cruise; at this stage you either like him or hate him and there isn’t anything here that strays from his usual onscreen portrayals. The film really shines with the cast that surrounds Cruise; particulary Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg and 
Rebecca Ferguson. The first and second acts consists of Hawk (Cruise) and Benji (Pegg) taking on various impossible missions. Cruise and Pegg click together nicely on screen and their relationship is fun and familiar.
Following the example of Brad Bird from M:I4, this film is not the Tom Cruise spy showcase. The story begins with Hawk on the backfoot (with no shoes either) and alone until Benji pulls him from his lone wolf mindset. From there, the team is back together and banter flows nicely throughout the story (not in the aggressive, overly quippy The Avengers: Age of Ultron fashion, mind you). Renner is decidedly the official side of it all, but in the charming sassy manner as only he does. Even Alec Baldwin (despite being the typical business-like stooge) has his moments and is placed cleverly against Renner for most of the film. Rebecca Ferguson cinches it as my favourite from the film (sorry Pegg). She’s got brilliant action scenes, makes for quite the wildcard and, thankfully, doesn’t fall into the tired role of the hero’s girlfriend! We’re more than familiar with Ethan Hawk at this stage and every character is woven well into the story, making for a balanced ensemble that plays as one of the film’s strong points.
As far as story goes, it is par for the course; what really lifts it is the characters and performances throughout. While minor loopholes tend to crop up towards the later side of the film, they’re somewhat justified by the fraying Ethan Hawk’s obsession with stopping the syndicate. It’s a neat way of dealing with detractors of the, “But why do that when he could’ve just…” variety, however I would’ve liked to have seen them go further with it. By this stage, Ethan Hawk is on an Avenger level where only near death phases him. The story is sequenced in a heavy handed way; it’s just shy of road signs saying ‘end of act two’ and, while this isn’t much of a detriment to the film, it does make it feel a bit like three episodes of the old TV series back to back to form a movie. That being said, there’s nothing choppy or loose about how it’s presented; it’s a shiny, well oiled production that slides nicely from scene to scene.
In terms of action, well… It’s Mission: Impossible. The film opens with Tom Cruise hanging on to an airbus taking off. To say the action peaks there is unfair’ while it showcases a jaw dropping set of scenes, the quality of fighting and chase scenes never slacks off. There’s a variety throughout that you’ll appreciate. The film never does the same thing twice in terms of spectacle. None of the action will be spoiled for you here, and it really is something to see. But the film moves at a lively enough pace that sometimes the dust doesn’t get enough time to settle. You’ve 
hardly any time to breathe before the story kicks off to the next high-octane threat. In a way, the action seemed disposable to me, despite being brilliantly done, but at times forgettable because of how quickly things progressed.
One of the aspects of the film that marks itself as notable is the villain behind it all. As always there’s a mastermind, a cloak for the dagger and all that. The villain (played by Solomon Lane) is a shade deeper than the usual two dimensional villain, with some nice character ticks and a demeanuor not unlike a rodent. He does a fine job of commanding the screen when he eventually shows his face, and is mastermind foil to Hawk’s gambler attitude. However the villain, and indeed the film itself, feels like an ode to James Bond. It has everything one would expect out of 007’s latest mission, down to the fancy car, obligatory tux in an opera and shadow organisation known as Spec – …the syndicate. It’s a heavy mixing of Bond with the classic Mission: Impossible formula and it’s hard to ignore.
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation runs smoothly and efficiently through its somewhat generic spy thriller plot and is boosted greatly by the characters throughout. While delivering consistently great performances and spectacular action, it never strikes deeper or pushes the limits. It’s been an incredible summer of blockbusters and it’s hard to say if Mission: Impossible will stand the test of time against them, but for the time being it’s worth your ticket in and makes for an afternoon well spent!
Fun, reliable action blockbuster.
