Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is the latest movie from the Mission: Impossible franchise. It was directed and co-written by Christopher McQuarrie, who has written for several other Tom Cruise films. Before I go on, I must point out that I have not seen the three previous films in the series, but fortunately, that’s not necessary.
At the core of this, the Mission: Impossible team (or I.M. Force) is a covert counter-terrorist group, overseen by “The Secretary”, a member of the US Cabinet. Back when it was a TV show, their mission (if they choose to accept it) was to go beyond normal means to gather information and/or thwart activities that threaten the safety of the United States and the world as a whole. That’s still true, because they operate outside normal rules and regulations, and cover their tracks as they depart.
M:I-RN starts with the I.M. Force trying to prevent chemical weapons from bring delivered. There’s a thrilling chase to get onboard a cargo plane by Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his associates Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) assisting him. This cold open is much like what you’d see in James Bond films, and hits the ground running.
Of course, they’re in trouble with the CIA. They infiltrated the CIA in the past, and their director, Hunley (Alec Baldwin) wants them shut down. The I.M. Force’s inside man, William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) tries to defend their actions, but there is no appointed Secretary, so he cannot and will not reveal any information about how the group operates, so Congress shuts them down, and they are to be re-integrated back into the CIA for other work. Ethan Hunt does not comply, because he believes there’s a foreign agency, called The Syndicate, that is the counterpart to the I.M. Force, and even without proof, remains hidden until he can prove its existence.
Everyone else is back under the CIA’s guidance, and efforts to recapture Hunt are continually unsuccessful. Turns out, someone else is after Hunt, and captures him first, but he manages to escape. This renews Hunt’s determination to find the Syndicate and eliminate it. Through a deception or three, he manages to get the band back together to accomplish that goal.
What follows is an elaborate shell game. That is the core of any Mission: Impossible movie – keep moving forward in the con game, and it will eventually work itself out. Plans work, some fail, but the deception goes on to the thrilling conclusion. You aren’t sure of anyone’s loyalties, right up until the very end. I do like a film where the plot isn’t entirely spelled out in the beginning, and this movie kept me guessing. The action scenes were appropriately frantic, the deceptions were thrilling, and you definitely have to check your suspension of disbelief at the door.
Really. I’m not kidding. Check it before you go crazy. There’s stuff here that just doesn’t make sense, from a practical standpoint. I’m convinced that they came up with the idea “Let’s have a stunt where this happens, and then we can wrap some bogus movie logic around it. People won’t notice. It’ll be great!” However, like I said, don’t think too hard about those things, and you’ll enjoy this film a lot more. I know I did. I do recommend this action movie for exactly what it is. You won’t regret it.
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