At 53, Tom Cruise proves he has not lost his action movie star mojo. From the introduction where he jumps on a moving plane (no stunt double was used, apparently) to chasing baddies in Casablanca on a mean bike and doing some hair-raising underwater stunts (again no double — was shot in a single take), Cruise’s IMF agent Ethan Hunt is the man to call if the world as we know it is in danger.
All that you expect from a Mission:Impossible movie is there — the jingly-jangly music, the face-off, the stunts and the tech. Ethan gets to know his mission on a vinyl record — retro and rocking as always. Brian De Palma’s Mission:Impossible in 1996 was an exercise in style and smarts. Rogue Nation walks the same path — with a clever, twisty plot (no one is what they seem, naturally) and mind-blowing action sequences. It is actually difficult to pick a favourite — the opening sequence, the assassination attempt at the opera in Vienna, the underwater sequence where timing is everything, the chases or the fire-fights.
A movie is as good as its supporting cast and Rogue Nation doesn’t disappoint. Jeremy Renner as analyst William Brandt, Simon Pegg as desk jockey turned field agent Benji Dunn, Ving Rhames as hacker Luther Stickell are solid.
Alec Baldwin as a fat cat CIA director Hunley has the greatest fun with his role. Rebecca Ferguson is Ilsa Faust, the disavowed MI6 agent who is playing some deep and deadly game of her own. The good of having a solid female character is somewhat negated with the gratuitous topless scene. Sean Harris as bad man Solomon Lane does what he can with the rather weak character.
Rogue Nation is a breathless ride through all the franchise’s checkpoints and an enjoyable one at that.
