Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) - Review

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) - Review

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation is the franchise's crowning achievement and one of the finest spy thrillers ever made, a film of such extraordinary dramatic intelligence and action craft that it surpasses every previous entry in the series and stands as the definitive expression of everything the franchise has been building toward across its first four films. Christopher McQuarrie's 2015 entry is not merely a great action film. It is a genuinely great film, a work that combines the suspense intelligence of the original, the ensemble chemistry of Ghost Protocol, and the dramatic seriousness of Mission: Impossible III into something distinctly its own, and that introduces in Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa Faust the finest new character in the franchise's history and one of the most compelling figures in the spy thriller genre. Rogue Nation is the franchise at its absolute best, and its best is extraordinary.

At a Glance

Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Runtime: 131 minutes
Starring: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Sean Harris, Alec Baldwin
Release: 2015
Critics Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars, the franchise's crowning achievement)
Audience Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars, a landmark of the spy thriller)

Review Breakdown

Plot

The IMF is disbanded by the CIA, and Hunt goes rogue to pursue the Syndicate, a rogue intelligence organisation of former agents believed to be a myth. He is aided by Ilsa Faust, a British agent whose loyalties are genuinely ambiguous throughout the film. The plot is the franchise's most elegantly constructed since the original, a spy thriller of real narrative complexity that uses its double and triple crosses with a precision and confidence that makes every development feel both surprising and inevitable. The Vienna opera sequence is the film's most celebrated set-piece and one of the finest sequences in the franchise's history, a demonstration of suspense filmmaking of such extraordinary dramatic intelligence and physical precision that it matches and occasionally surpasses the original's CIA vault sequence as the franchise's most purely cinematic achievement.

Characters

Ilsa Faust is the franchise's greatest character addition and one of the most compelling figures in the spy thriller genre's history, a woman of extraordinary capability and moral complexity whose ambiguous loyalties give the film its most dramatically interesting and emotionally engaging secondary thread. Ferguson plays the character with a physical authority and emotional intelligence that makes Ilsa feel genuinely credible, and her performance is the finest in the franchise's history after Cruise's own. Hunt is given the franchise's most dramatically complete treatment since Mission: Impossible III, a character whose determination and resourcefulness are tested by an antagonist that mirrors the IMF's own methods. Sean Harris's Solomon Lane is the franchise's finest villain since Hoffman's Davian, a man of extraordinary intelligence and menace whose stillness and precision make him the most frightening antagonist in the series since the original. Pegg's Benji is as reliably enjoyable as ever, and his comic energy gives the film a lightness and wit that prevents the more dramatically serious elements from becoming oppressive.

Tone

McQuarrie pitches the film at a register of suspense and dramatic intelligence, and the approach is wholly successful. Rogue Nation has a tonal precision the franchise had not previously achieved in quite this register, combining the suspense craft of the original with the ensemble chemistry of Ghost Protocol and the dramatic seriousness of Mission: Impossible III into something distinctly its own. The action sequences are staged with physical clarity and a sense of consequence that makes them the franchise's most satisfying since the original.

Meaning / Themes

At its core, the film is about loyalty and identity, about the institutional obligations that define Ilsa's situation and her moral convictions about what is right. The treatment of the Syndicate as a mirror of the IMF gives the franchise's central concern with deception and identity its most complete and satisfying expression. The suggestion that the line between the IMF and the Syndicate is thinner than either organisation would acknowledge gives the film a moral complexity the more straightforwardly heroic entries never pursued.

Direction

McQuarrie's direction is the franchise's finest to that point, with a command of suspense mechanics, ensemble chemistry, and action geography that makes Rogue Nation the most completely satisfying entry in the series. The Vienna opera sequence is the film's directorial masterpiece, a demonstration of suspense filmmaking of such complete spatial intelligence and dramatic control that it stands as the franchise's finest sequence and one of the great set-pieces in the spy thriller genre's history. The Moroccan motorcycle chase is the film's most purely kinetic directorial achievement, a sequence of such complete physical clarity and dramatic consequence that it gives the second half a momentum and urgency that carries through to its conclusion. Joe Kraemer's score is the franchise's most atmospherically precise, a propulsive and emotionally intelligent work that gives the film a sonic identity as distinctive as its visual one.

Cultural Reception

Rogue Nation was a major critical and commercial success on its release, widely regarded as the franchise's finest entry and as a demonstration of McQuarrie's complete command of the spy thriller genre. Its reputation has only grown in the years since, and it is now consistently ranked among the finest spy thrillers ever made and as the definitive entry in the franchise alongside Fallout.

Who Should Watch

Everyone, without reservation. Rogue Nation works as a standalone film and as a franchise entry, and Ferguson's Ilsa Faust is compelling enough to reward viewers with limited prior knowledge of the series. Those who have followed the franchise from the beginning will find the ensemble chemistry and the dramatic payoffs considerably more rewarding.

Final Verdict: The franchise's crowning achievement and one of the great spy thrillers ever made. Ferguson's Ilsa Faust is the franchise's most significant character addition, Harris's Solomon Lane is the franchise's finest villain since Hoffman's Davian, and McQuarrie's direction gives the material a suspense intelligence and dramatic precision the franchise had not previously achieved in quite this register. Rogue Nation is the franchise at its absolute best. Its best is extraordinary.

The Mission: Impossible Series

0 comments

Leave a comment