Rogue Nation Brings in Ilsa Faust and the Franchise Gets Even Better
The setup
With the IMF under threat of being dissolved, Ethan Hunt goes after the Syndicate, a secret network of highly trained rogue operatives led by the calculating Solomon Lane.
The opening sequence from Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation is insane! Tom Cruise runs at a plane, grabs the side, and basically just hangs there as it flies away. Not only that, but it doesn’t relate to the rest of the film! You can tell that they had some pretty crazy ideas on what to do for an opening sequence. They probably set up a green screen and Tom said, No way. You strap me to the actual plane instead! Absolute lunatic.
One of my favourite things about these movies are the amount of effort and danger Tom Cruise puts himself through just to keep our minds entertained for two hours. Rogue Nation differs slightly from the previous outings as it isn’t quite about saving humanity from an end of days scenario. More like a cat and mouse game between Ethan Hunt and his latest opponent, Solomon Lane.
Whilst Lane may not be able to scare you with the sheer size of his physical presence, what does make him frightening is how one step ahead of everyone else he seems to be at all times. A modern day Moriarty to Ethan Hunts’ Sherlock Holmes.
I was impressed with how well they managed to create all the different organisations, but also the Syndicate is another excellent concept its essentially anti IMF which is composed by highly trained operatives designed to destabilise everything.
Rebecca Ferguson plays Ilsa Faust. She is brilliant. Basically she is a British female Ethan hunt. You are always trying to figure out whether she has your best interests at heart but then she does kick the living hell out of pretty much everyone that stands in her way. Simon Pegg is once again brilliant as Benji while Ving Rhames reprises his role from previous movies as Luther. Finally, Jeremy Renner returns as Brandt. In summary, if you are looking for a solid espionage movie with lots of high octane action scenes you can’t go wrong with Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation
Positives
Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa, Sean Harris as Solomon Lane, the opera sequence, the plane stunt, excellent spy thriller pacing.
Negatives
The final confrontation is intentionally smaller than the action before it, a few IMF politics scenes slow things down.
Verdict
A confident, clever sequel that adds two of the franchise's best characters and starts an incredible run for Mission: Impossible.
