Spy movies have always been a dime a dozen over the years and why shouldn't it be when it provides the perfect box office bait for willing fans to see attractive woman, crazy explosions and sinister plots. I always felt that the Mission: Impossible movies hit their marks though as a series that has some pretty crazy doomsday level threats, Bond era bad guys and some out there but believable gadgets. Rogue Nation continues with this style of story as Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and the rest of his team at the IMF continue their world wide efforts in stopping terrorism and global threats with the slightest chances of success.
The story wastes no time with it's ramping up the action right out of the gates, we see Benji (Simon Pegg), William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) and former Mission: Impossible star Luther (Ving Rhames) attempting to stop a terrorist group from escaping with dangerous nerve gas missiles to an unknown source. Just a usual day for the IMF but it also sets the stage for the new level of exceedingly perilous stunts that you will see come up throughout the entire story. You thought the Kremlin mission was insane in the last film? Well, the series of new stunts will blow you away. But, this brings up the critical point that the story tries to bring across for Rogue Nation's story and that is, are these missions worth undertaking when they have such a low success rate? It appears many high ranking officials believe this and despite being a legend at the IMF, Ethan's string of success could be misconstrued as nothing more than blind luck.
This is certainly the view of CIA Director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) who has a brilliant but small role to play in Ethan's plans but he is a welcomed addition nonetheless especially if he ends up in any future films. For the moment though he has effectively brought an end to the IMF and all their further actions but Ethan isn't one to leave a mission half complete and he sets out to put an end to the shadow organization known as the Syndicate. This group is basically the anti-IMF and Ethan has been chasing them down for the past couple of years with no luck at finding out who they're or what they're after. What he does know is that they have been manipulating world and geopolitical aspect for years by way of assassinations and other small attacks that go under the radar but actually have a huge ripple affect. This brings into question Ethan's sanity however as people question whether or not an organization like this could exist without anyone other than Ethan knowing about it and maybe this is all just in his head.
This was an interesting factor to bring up as most people that meet Ethan are probably perplexed by the actions he takes and all the insane stunts he tries to pull. People like Benji and Luther know who the real Ethan is but to an outsider his antics could be misconstrued as the exploits of an adrenaline junkie who can't survive in a world without danger or an enemy to face. It's a nice idea but you never truly question that factor as you watch Rogue Nation because if you've watched the series up until this point then you know who Ethan is just as well as Benji or anyone else. You never once question his motives or the fact that Ethan will not succeed in his attempts to take down the Syndicate.
Of course, the Syndicate never proves to be much of a challenge to begin with once you start to get to know them more and more. The regular agents of this group amount to nothing more than the nameless thugs that Ethan and the IMF have taken on countless times before, they aren't an anti-IMF when you get down to it because they don't have the skills that the IMF has. They do however have their own Ethan Hunt and she is one of the only real treats to come out of the Syndicate. Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson) is a virtual unknown for most of the film as she appears to be on the side of the Syndicate but helps Ethan at every turn as well. She matches him in fight sequences as well as the heavy action moments though and her inclusion in the story really becomes the driving factor for the whole thing. The Syndicate's leader certainly doesn't pull that off as Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) doesn't make a full appearance until the films almost finished and by then what's the point? He is calm, cool and menacing but no level of performance can make up for the Syndicates poor showing for the majority of the story.
If you were looking for a successor to the previous Mission: Impossible film then I don't believe Rogue Nation fits the bill but it does continue to provide the same level of action that I come to expect from the series and really, what more could you ask for? The show still belongs to Ethan in many ways as Benji, Brandt and Luther take to their side roles but hey, the shows always belonged to Ethan anyways and they all still play their parts exceedingly well. If it weren't for the Syndicate proving to have a poor showing then I would have loved Rogue Nation all the way through as it kept to what I have come to love from the entire series thus far.
Good:
- Out of this world stunts
- Ethan/Tom Cruise hit his high note yet again
- Wonderful supporting cast of characters especially new comer Rebecca Ferguson
Bad:
- The Syndicate was a weak group of enemies to face
- The unbelievable aspect of Ethan going rogue and possibly crazy too
Scully Rating: 7.0 out of 10
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