Review of Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) by Filmphonic — 06 Aug 2015

2015 could easily be dubbed the “Year of the Spy” with the subversive and entertaining ‘Kingsman’, hit Melissa McCarthy comedy ‘Spy’, the upcoming Guy Ritchie 60’s romp ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ and the 24th “Bond” ‘Spectre’ later in the year, but with the 5th ‘Mission Impossible’ installment ‘Rogue Nation’ Tom Cruise reminds us he’s still in the fight.

By now we all know what to expect from a Mission Impossible movie and ‘Rogue Nation’ ticks all the boxes, a simple plot featuring an appropriately menacing villain, gadgets, double-agents and superbly executed action set-pieces throughout.

But aside from the impressive stunts performed largely by Mr. Cruise himself as we’re often reminded, it’s the comic sensibility and sense of adventure that makes ‘Rogue Nation’ entertaining, taking the audience to far-flung locales from Belarus to Washington DC, Vienna to Morocco and focusing much of the narrative in London.

Despite its entertainment value however ‘Rogue Nation‘s’ appeal is limited by the same factors that limit other ‘Mission Impossible’ films and spy sequels in general, after a strong start the story loses steam and starts to look like a blueprint for threading huge action set-pieces together.

There are only so many impressive stunts you can take and still maintain a high level of engagement and the predictably menacing villain with an unconvincing motivation doesn’t help, still despite its limitations ‘Rogue Nation’ is entertaining enough to hold your attention for over 2 hours and after 5 films in the franchise, star and producer Tom Cruise & Co. have fine-tuned the formula.

The Bottom Line….

Action-packed, adventurous and entertaining, ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’ can’t quite break the limitations of the genre but it’s a worthy summer blockbuster if you know what to expect when going in… and by now we all should.