Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames go rogue with Rebecca Ferguson in the explosive "Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation".Paramount
How hard is it to make a really fun summer blockbuster? Judging by some of this season's movies, it's pretty difficult -- but not, as "Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation" proves, impossible.
The fifth film to transform the beloved 1960s espionage TV series into an extravaganza of stunt-filled, two-fisted, big-screen action, "Rogue Nation" is also the latest in a line of sequels filling theatres this summer. And where "Jurassic World" and "Terminator: Genisys" struggled to capture the magic of earlier films, "Rogue Nation" shows there's still fuel in the tank of the "Mission: Impossible" series. Fuel that's about to blow up and burn Tom Cruise's shirt off, probably.
Cruise returns as athletic superspy Ethan Hunt, hunting down a shadowy secret army of evil spies with the help of old friends Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Jeremy Renner. Alec Baldwin is the stuffed shirt trying to shut the team down, and whisperin' Sean Harris from "The Borgias" and "Prometheus" is suitably scary as the bad guy. Cruise's "Jack Reacher" director and "Edge of Tomorrow" writer Christopher McQuarrie is in assured charge.
Cruise is always watchable and, as in the sadly underrated "Edge of Tomorrow",
seems capable of poking fun at himself, adding a fun extra dimension of humour to the stunt-tastic carnage.
As in "Mad Max: Fury Road", our hero meets his match in a rival who proves to be as resourceful and capable as he is. Anglo-Swedish actor Rebecca Ferguson lights up the screen as British intelligence badass Ilsa Faust, coolly playing both sides against the middle in an impossible mission of her own. It would be nice if the camera didn't spend so much time lingering lovingly over her scantily clad lower half, but at least she doesn't need to be rescued every five minutes.
She's also the only female character in the movie: the IMF team is all impeccably suited movie star dudes, the bad guys are all impeccably suited glowering dudes, and the politicians are all impeccably suited grey-haired dudes. It wouldn't have killed them to have a bit of variety in there -- just look at the diverse cast of the "Fast and Furious" series.
How hard is it to make a really fun summer blockbuster? Judging by some of this season's movies, it's pretty difficult -- but not, as "Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation" proves, impossible.
The fifth film to transform the beloved 1960s espionage TV series into an extravaganza of stunt-filled, two-fisted, big-screen action, "Rogue Nation" is also the latest in a line of sequels filling theatres this summer. And where "Jurassic World" and "Terminator: Genisys" struggled to capture the magic of earlier films, "Rogue Nation" shows there's still fuel in the tank of the "Mission: Impossible" series. Fuel that's about to blow up and burn Tom Cruise's shirt off, probably.
Cruise returns as athletic superspy Ethan Hunt, hunting down a shadowy secret army of evil spies with the help of old friends Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Jeremy Renner. Alec Baldwin is the stuffed shirt trying to shut the team down, and whisperin' Sean Harris from "The Borgias" and "Prometheus" is suitably scary as the bad guy. Cruise's "Jack Reacher" director and "Edge of Tomorrow" writer Christopher McQuarrie is in assured charge.
Cruise is always watchable and, as in the sadly underrated "Edge of Tomorrow",
seems capable of poking fun at himself, adding a fun extra dimension of humour to the stunt-tastic carnage.
As in "Mad Max: Fury Road", our hero meets his match in a rival who proves to be as resourceful and capable as he is. Anglo-Swedish actor Rebecca Ferguson lights up the screen as British intelligence badass Ilsa Faust, coolly playing both sides against the middle in an impossible mission of her own. It would be nice if the camera didn't spend so much time lingering lovingly over her scantily clad lower half, but at least she doesn't need to be rescued every five minutes.
She's also the only female character in the movie: the IMF team is all impeccably suited movie star dudes, the bad guys are all impeccably suited glowering dudes, and the politicians are all impeccably suited grey-haired dudes. It wouldn't have killed them to have a bit of variety in there -- just look at the diverse cast of the "Fast and Furious" series.
