Why So Blu?

Tom Cruise Defies Gravity Once Again in ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’ (Movie Review)

There was a period of time in my life back in the middle 2000’s where I just wasn’t a fan of Tom Cruise.  Maybe it was his relationship with Katie Holmes, or maybe it was all his scientology crap, I don’t know, but I just couldn’t watch his films for awhile.  I remember catching Mission: Impossible III one late night on a Dell Latitude laptop (yuck!) while working third shift in a data center, but other than that I had no idea what I was missing out on.  Then came news of Tom scaling one of the tallest buildings in the world in Dubai in the fourth entry of this series, and that was all it took.  My butt was definitely in a theater chair to see that.  Ever since that Tom Cruise can do no wrong in my books churning out incredible flicks left and right like Oblivion and Edge of Tomorrow, just to name a few.

So here we are.  It’s 2015.  Who could have ever predicted this franchise go beyond three films, nonetheless the fifth one we are gathered here today to talk about.  Well it’s true.  There is a fifth Mission: Impossible film, believe it or not, and it’s dubbed Rogue Nation.  It’s written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie and I for one am glad to see Brad Bird not returning to the chair this go around.  After Tomorrowland he should be making movies with M. Night Shyamalan or the Wachowski brothers.  I digress.

In my opinion, what makes all the difference in the world here is the fact that the fictional character of IMF Agent Ethan Hunt is back and played by none other than the ageless vampire, Tom Cruise, and that they didn’t do a switcharoo like they did with us in the Bourne films.  I can definitely get behind that!  Thank you fellow filmmakers and Tom Cruise.  And fret not fellow Mission: Impossible fans.  Word on the street has a sixth picture in the franchise already being developed.  Wow!

The cast of Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation rounds out with the likes of Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris, Alec Baldwin, America Olivio and more.  However, let’s not kid ourselves.  Sure the chemistry of the cast is important for a good time in these adventures, but what makes these films are the death defying stunts Mr. Tom Cruise puts himself in.  Who needs a stunt double for a vampire?  I know, right!  All you need is a huge insurance policy and Mr. Cruise will hang out of windows of planes for you.  I kid you not.  Let’s talk about that some more because if nothing else than a casual fan of the series, these death defying stunts that Cruise performs are really what draw me in.  I’m not going to lie.  I’m a sucker for these.

So yes, Tom Cruise hangs out of a real moving airplane that’s REALY taking off.  And yes, that’s him hanging from the airplane up in the air.  Alright, there’s plenty of cables and harnesses secretly holding him in like Spider-Man, but that’s actually the vampire of the hour here performing his own stunts, not a double.  The word impressive doesn’t even come close to describing how remarkable Tom is.  I don’t even want to think about how much scenes like this cost to insure.  I did not do any research to see what kind of agreement Tom commits to when doing these kind of death defying stunts, but the man is crazy.  He has to be to do something like that with all his fame and notoriety going for him.  And then there’s another scene too where Tom defies life itself once again.  It’s rumored that Tom trained with diving specialist Kirk Krack to learn how to hold his breath for over five minutes straight.  I don’t know how possible that really is, but there is an underwater sequence here which supposedly was filmed in a single long take.  If true, the word impressive doesn’t even cut it again.

I don’t know how to sugar coat my next statement so I guess I’m just going to come right out and say it.  Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is exactly the kind of movie I wish the last two Bond films were post Casino Royale.  It has it all: charm, action, wit, adventure, a whiff of romance, a mad, crafty villain and most importantly, humor and infused fun.  And best of all for me, as I mentioned up above, no energy zapping, which Brad Bird does to me.  I stayed awake for this one and wow did the motorcycle chase ever put me on the edge of my seat.  Bravo, Mr. McQuarrie.  Bravo!  That was heart pounding.  When Tom scrapes his knee leaning into a turn I felt that.  This is by far the most action packed flick behind Mad Max: Fury Road.  Therefore, I dub Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation the “#2 Action Movie of the Year.”

So let’s do this.  Let’s spend a paragraph talking about what its all about.  Then I’ll go into what I loved and didn’t like too much about the film, which SPOILER ALERT — isn’t a lot in the latter category.  Finally, we’ll cap things off with a nice summary of everything covered here.  How does that sound to you?  Sound like a plan?  Good!  I’m glad!  Now let’s get started!

The IMF agency we have all come to know and love over the past four films has now, I guess you can say once again, come under threat yet again (yes I know I used the same word twice in a sentence).  This time it’s from the Syndicate, a “mythical” organization of assassins and rogue operatives who were thought to be deceased, killed in action, MIA or all of the above.  This makes Ethan Hunt (Cruise) a fugitive.  Jeremy Renner and Simon Pegg’s characters on the other hand are now working with the CIA to track Ethan down.  But are they really?  Are they really on the side of the CIA or are they out to help their best friend, Ethan?  Meanwhile, Ethan surfaces and needs help in bringing the Syndicate down and obviously needs to avoid being caught by the CIA too.  Therefore, he assembles his rogue team for what could be their final and most difficult IMF mission.  They desire to not only prove the Syndicate’s existence, but bring them down by whatever means possible.  Without venturing into spoiler territory, that’s pretty much the nuts and bolts of the story at least.

So as I kind of already mentioned up above, what Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation has going for it most of all is its FUN Factor.  It’s just a good time folks.  It’s hard to have a bad time with this one.  Unless lightning strikes the theater or the projector suddenly stops and the movie can’t be screened further, I don’t see you walking out of this one unsatisfied.  It has something for everyone from the remarkable chemistry and hysterical looks the trio of Pegg, Renner and Cruise all give each other to the badass female antagonist (or is she a friendly) who movie reviewer Craig Kandiko nailed it this morning when he quipped, she should have been pegged as Wonder Woman in the new DC Comics movie universe.  I couldn’t agree more with his sentiments there.  No offense to Gal Gadot, but Rebecca Ferguson has all the right goods in all the right places and man can she ever kick a$$.  She would fill out that Wonder Woman outfit nicely (see the yellow dress scene in new Mission: Impossible movie), but I digress.

I made mention up above that this complaint paragraph would be very small, and I’ll deliver on my promise.  I guess if I had to pick just one, my biggest complaint about Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation would be that it feels like a re-hash of the other films.  I mean how many masks can you employ?  How many times can one escape from a prison?  How many times will IMF be underwater?  You get the idea, BUT if no one minds a second Death Star, then who the hell cares, right?  It’s all about having a good time and I promise that if you can get past these similar storylines from the other films, you’ll still manage to have a helluva good time with this one.  Just sit back, pop some popcorn in your mouth and enjoy the non-stop action ride Cruise and gang takes you on.

Now let’s not forget the good ones that have come before this summer movie season like Mad Max: Fury Road, Jurassic World or even Ant-Man, but ladies and gentlemen this is next and final summer 2015 blockbuster you’ve been waiting for.  It’s the real deal.  Leave it to Tom Cruise to once again deliver (see last year’s Edge of Tomorrow).  His stunts alone are worth the price of admission.  But you’re not here just for Cruise are you?  No!  You’re here for Pegg, Renner, a memorable villain, maybe a sexy a$$-kicking vixen and a wild, high-octane, thrill ride story to boot.  Check, check, check, check and check!  Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation leaves no stone unturned.  Run to the cinema this weekend and God dammit, have a lot of fun with this one.  There’s no Brad Bird to weigh things down and make things feel never ending and bloated.  This is the Bond we deserve.  No wait!  This is the Mission:Impossible we deserve.  Get it while its hot!  Enjoy!