McQuarrie takes reins for ‘Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation’ (2015)

May is the month of “M:I,” as we look back at the six “Mission: Impossible” films from May 2-10. Next up is the fifth entry, “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” (2015):

A public good?

“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” crafts a story around a question hinted at previously in the saga: Is the public better or worse off by supporting off-the-books government agencies?

Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie, whose skill lies slightly more in the former category, explores the toll of undercover work on not only the world’s citizenry, but more specifically the truly heroic agents – namely Ethan Hunt (a particularly tired-looking Tom Cruise) and fascinating newcomer Ilsa Faust (Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson, in her blockbuster debut).

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The action in this fifth “M:I” film – set mostly in London — isn’t as memorable as its predecessor “Ghost Protocol,” which set a high-water mark for the saga. But speaking of water, “Rogue Nation” features a tense stunt wherein Hunt must hold his breath for three minutes and insert a disk into an underwater computer vault in Morocco so teammate Benji (Simon Pegg) can achieve his end of the mission.

As with the original film, their prize is a list of agents, but in this case it’s enemy agents who make up a terrorist group known as The Syndicate. (No, not that one. Although wouldn’t that be a neat twist?)

Stunts remain impeccable

This isn’t Cruise’s best acting work in the saga, but his stunts remain impeccable, starting with the famous opening segment where he’s hanging onto the side of a plane as it takes off. Doing delicate work, Ferguson is the show-stealer here as a viewer can never be sure what side Ilsa is on.

In the film’s most thrilling sequence aside from a highway motorcycle pursuit, Ilsa takes aim at the Austrian prime minister at the Vienna Opera while two other gunmen likewise target the PM.

McQuarrie (working from a story he developed with “Iron Man 3’s” Drew Pearce) delivers a nice bit of symbolism here, since the killing of an Austrian PM started the First World War. The Syndicate – led by Lane (distinctly voiced Sean Harris, who out-creeps Philip Seymour Hoffman from “M:I 3”) – is made up of disavowed secret agents from many nations who desire some world-shaping political power to go with their skills.

The notion of forces for good creating forces of evil through their very existence goes beyond metaphor when we learn that Great Britain’s MI6 – led by Atlee (Simon McBurney) – did indeed spawn The Syndicate.

Less appealingly, our heroes once again have to work against their own government(s). Alec Baldwin’s CIA chief Alan Hunley wants to disband IMF and absorb the tech and agents into his agency. He aims to arrest Hunt, who is disobeying orders by pursuing The Syndicate. It’s too bad Hunley couldn’t work with Hunt’s team on this important mission instead of playing political power games.

Shuffling the roster

As has become a habit for this series, the team makeup is yet again unique, but other than Ilsa, everyone returns from previous entries. We get good interplay between alpha males Luther (Ving Rhames, who mostly sat out part four) and Brandt (Jeremy Renner) for the first time, although Pegg is the standout among the supporting cast. Benji continues to wish he could wear a mask on one of these missions.

Despite its smart commentary on the pros and cons of secret agencies, “Rogue Nation” winks at the audience more than in previous entries. For example, Benji kills time at work playing “Halo” and has a warning system set up if someone is coming toward his desk. After being absorbed by the CIA, the daily grind for Brandt and Benji consists of pretending they don’t know where Hunt is.

The tech is always a treat in these films, but this is the first entry where it goes too far. Lane can talk through the mouth of Benji when communicating with Ethan in the final showdown. I might guess this is a case of Pegg playing the scene wrong – acting like Benji is being controlled like a puppet rather than reluctantly repeating the villain’s words – except that McQuarrie is both the writer and director.

So apparently Lane has tech that looks like a simple earpiece but actually takes control of a person’s brain. That blows away even the masks in sophistication.

“Rogue Nation” isn’t as great as “Ghost Protocol,” but it’s cool to have Ilsa on board as the British undercover answer to the USA’s Ethan Hunt. “Mission: Impossible” remains a top-shelf action series as it hands writing and directing control to one person for the first time. McQuarrie would go on to helm the sixth movie, and he has chosen to accept the mission of making the seventh and eighth as well.

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Schedule of reviews

Saturday, May 2: “Mission: Impossible” (1996)

Sunday, May 3: “Mission: Impossible II” (2000)

Wednesday, May 6: “Mission: Impossible III” (2006)

Thursday, May 7: “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol” (2011)

Saturday, May 9: “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” (2015)

Sunday, May 10: “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” (2018)

Also of interest: Shaune’s rankings of the six “Mission: Impossible” films

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