Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

cinema, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) film

Having bashed out my thoughts after coming back from seeing the film, I planned to go through and edit them after a little more thought, time for the film to sit cogitating at the back of my mind. This worked for 'Interstellar,' which for a good week afterwards was often on my mind, but I think it's telling that with this film I never thought much about it afterwards. This is a shame, but it may be I'm expecting too much from this type of film - it's considered a popcorn experience, almost a ride to go on and then be forgotten. Except that's not how I felt about the first two, and even, to an extent, the third, which did stay with me, and I didn't have to struggle to recall the events and the story. Not to say my views have changed, I still think 'Rogue Nation' was a fairly enjoyable continuation of a film series I've liked for fifteen years, I just hope that the already-announced sixth film is more memorable and stylish, with a stronger ending. Having since found out that the ending was altered during shooting because they weren't happy with it, I have to say that it feels that way. I'm glad that there wasn't a stereotypical Ethan on bad guy fight as a climax (they couldn't top the desperate chase, ridiculously over the top motorbike charge and martial arts battle on the beach of 2, or the mad events atop a train in 1, as evidenced by both 3 and 4 having lacklustre final fights with either a baddie that was an intelligent opponent rather than a fighter, or an old man that Ethan struggles with at the parking garage), but neither was there a satisfying conclusion, though I can see they were trying to show the team were important when they face the enemy on all sides. But more on the end later…

I didn't used to think we'd get to a fifth film, it just wasn't something I considered likely since it was so long between each instalment, and Cruise isn't getting any younger (he's almost not apparently getting any older, either!). Not until they announced shortly after 'Ghost Protocol' that another film would be coming and it would be out quicker than the usual five year gap (1996-2000, 2000-2006, 2006-2011, 2011-2015), back to only a four year wait. On the other hand, knowing that 'Mission: Impossible' wasn't dead and, a sure bet to return, and added to the fact that 4 was a letdown, I didn't think much about it - my mission, should I choose to accept it, was whether to visit the cinema or wait for the DVD (as I did with 3). Nor did I keep my ear to the ground for bits of news, pay attention to the trailer, or even listen out for its release. It was just a wait and see job, although a couple of weeks before it came out, for some reason I got in the mood to see more 'M:I' and began to look forward to it, if only in small part. I didn't have high expectations, nor any expectations, I was just grateful the series continued, and that Ethan and Luther would be back. I wasn't keen on Benji and Brandt returning, as I've made clear in my 'M:I4' review, I'm not a fan of either the actors or the characters they play, in this or other franchises (Marvel, Trek, Bourne).

So that's where my thoughts were, if I had any: we knew from last time and the success 4 had, that that team would be returning, or at least Renner and Pegg would be, not Paula Patton as Carter. I can see the logic there, you want at least one new person, I suppose, but I was hoping she'd return and would have preferred Renner or Pegg to be replaced. Renner was set to take on the stunt reins from the ageing Cruise, and Pegg had already snatched the role of friendship and tech wizardry from Ving Rhames' Luther, so already there was a slight problem. But I was looking forward to how the team would interact with Luther back, and to what connections they might include to previous films in the series. To this end I was much disappointed (or I would have been if I'd allowed myself expectations), that we didn't see Hunt's wife, or have any mention of her. The only reference you could point to as an indirect influence, was that Hunt and Ilsa Faust, the disavowed British Intelligence operative whom he finds himself both working with and against, have a chaste friendship, which isn't the norm in this kind of film, and was one of the positives. If Hunt hadn't been married you would have had something going on between them, and you could read a slight undertone in her performance that she likes this guy, but he doesn't react to her because he's married, but if you didn't know that you might wonder at his atypical restraint and professionalism.

We really should have seen Julia, and I genuinely expected after first seeing 4 that she'd play a big role in 5, just because she's part of his life and so why wouldn't such a big role figure into the new plot? But they went the opposite route, ignoring her entirely, his IMF life completely separate from his home life, and here we're just seeing the IMF life in action (and to be fair, I probably did complain a little when they went down the route of seeing his home life in 3, as it took away from the heroic side). A phone call or mention from one of the other characters would have been enough, but she was irrelevant to the plot, and might confuse new viewers if she was suddenly talked about. So no Julia. But also no characters from any other films! I'm not counting Ethan or Luther, they're the stars of the show, but in 4 we had the arms dealer that lights cigarettes from the first film, as a great little Easter egg - yes, it didn't improve the story, but created a jolt of appreciation that the 'canon' was being recalled, in a series where every film is (supposed), to be very different thematically and stylistically. All we had were references to the infiltration of CIA HQ from 1, and the Kremlin from 4 - Hunley's role the perfect place to bring in a grizzled old Kitridge, or his underling from 1, perhaps Anthony Hopkins, even Laurence Fishburne. I thought the IMF was a branch of the American secret service, FBI or CIA, because Kitridge says in 1 that they taught them to be ghosts, etc. Here there's clear delineation, Hunley trying to shut IMF down, although it's spun at the end as a plan to smoke out the villain, when Hunley realises IMF's value. Hunt (or anyone else), never even assumed 'the position' (limbs outstretched), a visual hallmark in every film, unless you count when he's swirling around inside the cooling tank…

For much of the film I was left waiting for the team to start working together, because Luther, at first, seems like he's in just a cameo again with his minor assistance in the first mission, taking an age for them all to get together. Even then, Luther, I realised sadly, has become redundant. He was Ethan's friend and co-agent, the technical genius who could do anything with a computer, but since 4, Benjamin Dunn has taken over both those roles - he stands up to Ethan when he wants to send him home, and is markedly less irritating in general, but at the same time, I don't care about Benji and his quest to become a proper agent, which he achieved at the end of 4 - what I care about is the friendship of Hunt and Stickell, and that isn't explored except in the briefest of surface moments: Luther warns Brandt how loyal he is to Ethan, and if he ever shows the slightest sign of not being on the same side, it's not going to go well for him! Shame he wasn't around to see Brandt seemingly turn against Hunt (though actually he wasn't, it was a twist). Similarly, Luther helps Benji when he can't handle it, and every time he does anything more than standing around, it's great to have him, his distinctive, gruff voice such a part of this franchise. But in truth, the actor is twice the man he was (physically), and sadly people do age, Tom Cruise notwithstanding.

Maybe he can't run around so much, but he could have been included a lot better than he was, as more than just a spare wheel, there because they could get him. I'm still not sure why he wasn't properly in 4, but I am pleased that he was part of the team this time, even a minor part that was barely used. Switch Pegg and Rhames and things would have clicked a lot better for me - tell me Luther's life is in danger and it means something, especially as you'd think they might well kill him off, but Benji doesn't mean much, so his life being threatened is less dramatic, even if he is always the underdog we're supposed to root for. I entertained the thought that this might be Cruise's last appearance, perhaps dying tragically to save someone, but I'm so glad that didn't happen, because the film would have been unworthy of it - 3 was the last in the series I consider to be a properly good film, and I could have borne Hunt's death in that one, as it even seemed likely and imminent, and would have fitted with Philip Seymour Hoffman's excellent Owen Davian, a villain worthy of Hunt, to get this parting victory, though I don't believe the series could have continued without Cruise in some form (perhaps flashbacks, etc). However, when the films aren't that great I'm just happy the world continues, because you never know, one day they might make another fantastic film in the franchise to rival 2 and 1.

The truth is that Cruise is ageing and he won't be an action star forever - fortunately he's agreed to a sixth, but I have the feeling that could be the last, although some people, like Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis and Liam Neeson have made a career out of old action men, so who knows? As long as he stays fit and active and has the appetite to carry out the daring and imaginative stunts that drew him to the series in the first place, and as long as people want to see them, they'll keep doing them. 2016 may be the year they film it, which could mean it comes out for 2017 or 2018, an incredibly quick turnaround for the standards of the series (a mere 2-3 years!), though as this film felt more like the pilot to a TV series, and one I could have watched on DVD as comfortably as at the cinema, perhaps TV would be just as well for the future of it? I could imagine Cruise as a Jim Phelps role, the old Ethan masterminding the missions with a limited run of several TV films… The stunts are, I believe, what Cruise loves about the films, because he likes to do his own and the only image I had of the film before going in was that of him hanging off the side of an airplane for real. Knowing that, made the stunt much more impressive, although I was surprised it was at the very beginning of the film as I assumed it would be deep within the story.

One complaint I have about the recent films, 3 onwards, is that, because they're all by Bad Robot, JJ Abrams and his minions, they're not diverse enough: look at 1 and 2 (and 3), which are so different in tone and style, from directing to music. I couldn't tell you the director, I'll have to look it up (Christopher McQuarrie) - before going in I'd heard the name, but promptly forgot it, and don't even recall seeing it on screen! I like that they have a different director each time, but it needs to be a fully confident, probably well known creative with a specific visual style, as De Palma and Woo had. With Abrams it was like a step down and we've never had a big name director since. Same with the music - the first two films had wildly different versions of the theme, but these last three have let me down. And I'm so disappointed that they don't have the theme pound out during the action - I assumed it was Michael Giacchino who does one good theme in his films, then the rest is vanilla wallpaper, which is a real lack in the tapestry of the film, but checking the credits I see it was a Joe Kraemer, so obviously his style wasn't in any way distinctive. The bike chase would have been so much cooler (as well directed as it was, with a good impression of speed and risk - I was bothered when Hunt was safe inside a comfy car in the chase, thinking he should be on a bike, even though he used the car to great effect, so I was pleased he did get in on bike chase, too), if the theme had belted out, but I suppose these days it would be considered cheesy to do stuff like that. I wanted him to pick up the shades as the visual cue he was about to do something reckless and exciting, then the music kicks in and he roars off - that's the trouble with many modern films, they shy away from heroic actions too much, perhaps considering them cliche or silly, but to me risky heroics and self-sacrifice are what makes them worth watching.

Hunt was heroic, but there wasn't much of him sacrificing ease for keeping people alive. Not entirely, because he does risk his life and fails in the cooling tank, having to be rescued by Ilsa, even though I don't need to see the main character rescued by a woman to reinforce equality, it was well staged and she was terrific. At least the stupidity and things falling apart to make people look more laughable than heroic was kept to a minimum, even if I feel 'M:I' is its own thing and shouldn't follow the Bourne/Bond mould of more realism. It should be flamboyant and over the top, dignified, but cool, and perhaps the realistic nature has been taken too far in the recent films. But at least this time it isn't about gadgets failing or Cruise's failings being something to laugh at, as they were in 4. Things do go wrong, but the best moments are when we see the heroes adapt. Case in point, the sequence I felt was the cleverest of the film: faced with an impossible situation of two assassins about to take out a high-ranking official at the opera, Hunt can't take them both down, so he… shoots their target himself! That made me smile. It shows quick-thinking, wits, and ingenuity, as well as his willingness to take risks, not to mention marksmanship expertise (reminding me of 3 - how many bullets do you have left? Enough [shoots one bullet, hits target]). It's a surprise, and I don't often get that in films any more! It didn't matter that Ilsa planned to do the same thing, grazing a flesh wound to knock him out the way, it was just a great solution. In a lesser way I liked Hunt's escape from the pole he's cuffed to, Ilsa throwing him the keys, then he pulls himself upside down and shimmies up the pole upside down in order to pull his arms over the top - an incredible show of agility for a man in his fifties!

That was something else I liked about the film, it confounded my expectation that Brandt would be taking over the stunt side of things, as he's in the senior, coordinating role that I assumed Hunt would take after 4. I forgot that Cruise makes the films because of the stunts, so why would he let Renner take the glory and the fun. For his part, Renner gets a main role in a successful franchise, though I'd be more than happy for Brandt to vanish and never be seen again, like Julia, or all the one-shot wonders that played team member roles in the other films. I'd have loved at least one of them to have been recalled in some way - maybe get the chinese character from 3 back (if only Thandie Newton hadn't turned down the opportunity to return for 3, things might have been so very different!). With every film shifting locations and characters you never get a sense of home or place for Hunt and friends to inhabit. Saying that, I was delighted that London was a major location - just as seeing Bourne walk through London Paddington train station was a great novelty, it's good to see Hunt in front of Tower Bridge or the Tower of London. But I felt they really missed a trick in this whole part of the film, and sadly the last third was the weakest.

They've broken into Langley, they've infiltrated a villain's island lair and the top secret skyscraper of a major company, then they did the Vatican and the Kremlin. What could they do next? Oh, we need to kidnap the Prime Minister of Great Britain. Wow! How cool and exciting could this be? Oh, they just walk into an ornate hall, have a little chat, then shoot a dart at the PM. How disappointing. Kidnapping the PM could have been incredible, evading MI5 and MI6 (how I wish they'd retained numbers in the title instead of dull subtitles -they could have tied it into British Intelligence, and in 6, a crossover with Bond, maybe? No, it wouldn't happen, but a similar character to Bond, perhaps…). They could have used the Tower of London as a base after having to do a daring break-in… They'd have to be careful not to dent the PM's dignity in the interest of international relations, but the possibilities were immense! I can't say I liked the casting of Tom Hollander in the role, because after watching him in 'Rev.' everything he says and does is coloured by that, and it was worsened by the Dean (or whatever he was), Simon McBurney as costar, the other top-ranking English role, Atlee, head of intelligence! How can you take those two seriously, interacting as they did, after seeing them in the comedy series?! It also made the British secret service look very old-fashioned and uncool, old men in horn-rimmed glasses, while the Americans are casual and stylish! Perhaps a purposeful dig at one of their rivals, the Bond films?

The masks. I always have to comment on these, because they're so integral to making a great story, but it's another of those things that Abrams and his team seem to treat as a bit of a joke, another cliche that doesn't deserve respect of being used intelligently. Yes, they were used (once in Benji's imagination of finally getting to wear one - you can bet he'll do it in 6; and second, Hunt's impersonation of Atlee), but never in a really clever, impressive way that makes you go "Aah, I see." So we have most of the elements of the series (Luther, masks, the theme), but none of them are used effectively, and now we've gathered up other recurring elements that could just as well be shed, or how will we get new characters? It's like Cruise was driving a super car in the first one that, modded and souped up in 2, then got slightly dented in 3 and has never been to the garage for a tune up since. He likes this old car and keeps driving around in it, but although there are fluffy dice dangling from the rear view mirror, and maybe new alloy wheels, it's looking more and more dented. I missed the camaraderie of 2 and 3, with Luther and Hunt never really getting a moment together, Hunt's real connection being with Benji now, and Ilsa, for this film. I can't imagine Luther ever getting his position back, and I suspect he won't be in 6 if they do get rid of somebody, because he's just a weighty guy in the background that can also do computer tricks, and that thick accent and cool demeanour weren't used anywhere near their full potential.

The villains have been hit and miss (my ranking would be Sean Ambrose, Owen Davian, Jim Phelps, Soloman Lane, then that other guy), with 4 finally getting a weak opponent after three good ones, and now this. Lane wasn't as boring as the old guy from 4, and as I said, I was so relieved it didn't end in a punch out between Hunt and Lane, (or Brandt and Lane, or even Dunn and Lane!), trapped in a glass cubicle (what happened to the bullet impacts that he fired into the glass - in the closeup after he's finished firing, you can't see them any more!), triumphantly surrounded on all sides by IMF agents. He was mean and nasty, it's true, killing the IMF substation girl, and his own guard because Ilsa made a fool of him by getting his gun (and I must say, her signature move of snapping the legs round the neck of her opponents to bring them down was most impressive and gave her a little more character), and strapping a bomb to Benji, but, like the guy in 4, his motives were nebulous, more about the impression his organisation has made than showing what they've done - I thought it was a mistake for Hunt to unlock $50 million for him as an example of what he could get from the list of secret funds for the Syndicate, because that's still a weighty sum. He relied on the man's greed, which proved correct.

Cold and calculating, Lane just wasn't very characterful, so another thumbs down in the baddie department, although there were a couple of Bond-type sub-baddies for Ethan to tackle, the best being in the gantry fight above the opera (Kagan), as well as The Bone Doctor, taken out by knife fight with Ilsa. She was a good character, intriguing and with more to her than the female leads in 3 and 4, though the director did his best to leer at her whenever possible, which wasn't really in the spirit of the film. There was very little bad language, and the action was, regrettably, of the 'shake the camera and hope nobody sees what's going on' school of action filming, where I prefer to see or get an impression of action, in order for people to be seen as impressive in what they can do. There were little things I liked, such as Hunt's sketching ability being useful again, and it was interesting that Hunt is assumed to be foolproof and never likely to need any help, something of a downside for a spy working in a team, because no one's perfect! Luther says Ethan can take care of himself and Benji talks about the cooling tank mission as difficult, but he'll be fine, because they've seen what Ethan can achieve. Good job Ilsa didn't take that attitude or Hunt would have been a dead man! There were also little niggles like Benji, clearly an Englishman, using Americanisms (like closet for wardrobe, or cupboard, as an example), which with a very few tweaks wouldn't have mattered.

For the most part it was an acceptable instalment let down by some scripting issues, the ending, and failing to fully live up to the first third or so, of the film. It didn't take the routes I'd dreaded after seeing 4, but neither did it pull off anything dramatically different, and I always get tired of seeing people say each new film is 'the best one yet.' I'll be intrigued to see where they go with 6, whether they do bring back this accumulating cast (my advice: drop Benji and Brandt, keep Ilsa and Luther, get one or two new people, and bring back Julia), and whether they can sustain the intelligence and swift action that they managed to do for part of the time here. Will I go and see the next one at the cinema? Tough one, I think I'd need to know a little more about the cast and how much they get to do, but at least I feel a little more interested than I did when I came out of 'Ghost Protocol.' Oh, and that's another thing, what about calling it 'M:I5'? If not, at least give us a strong subtitle!

**