Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation: The Franchise That Keeps Getting Better And Better With Age

As I have just finished bashing the reboot of Vacation for how inherently lazy and irrelevant it is as a film, I have to now go in the opposite direction when speaking of the latest installment of the Mission: Impossible series.  There have been franchises throughout history that have a decent first movie, a decent second movie, then it sputters out a little bit, and is finally resurrected into something great.  The first one I can think of are the Bond films.  I mean, you have to be doing something right for a character to last over thirty years.  However, we know that there were some dark days (specifically the non-Goldeneye Pierce Brosnan films as well as anything involving Sir Timothy Dalton), but it was brought back with Daniel Craig, provided some actual depth to the Bond character and realism and they're better than ever (minus half of Quantum of Solace).  There's also the biggest franchise resurgence of the Fast and Furious films.  One was decent, two and three were balls, four was a decent resurrection and once they got Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, they had franchise Viagra and the last three films have been some of the most fun you can have watching an action movie.  But, where I'm going with this is-- the Mission: Impossible films haven't had that middle couple of movies lull that almost every long-winded franchise has had.  They keep getting better and better.  They pass on to a popular up and coming director to give provide their own unique life into the films and they're some of the best action movies that you can officially call reliable fun.

Say what you will about Tom Cruise the human being... Tom Cruise the action star is on point. Each Mission film he does is better and better.  And each one can stand on their own.  What's great about them is they don't have to spend a ton of time giving the Ethan Hunt character some new emotional and complex inner problem to work out and a lengthy back story.  We know the character.  We like the character.  So, each movie we can jump into the story without having to give a ton of set up.  The airplane scene that has been plastered all over trailers and posters (and my picture above) happens about two minutes into the movie.  This latest entry is almost entirely action and thrills... but it's done in a very smart way.  It's not action for the sake of action.  Every set piece and action sequence compliments the story and moves forward progressively and organically.  It's fun, but it's also very smart.  It's the best kind of action film.

This time around we have the IMF shut down by the director of the CIA (Alec Baldwin) and each member disavowed.  Ethan, who is on the run from the CIA has figured out that there is a secret syndicate of anti-IMF agents out to control the world (muwahahaha)... but it's not as stupid as it sounds.  It's a real problem that is presented very realistically.  So, now, Hunt, along with his team (thank god Simon Pegg keeps coming back... and yes, I guess Ving Rhames too) have to figure out who the syndicate is, hunt the down, stop them, avoid being killed by them, as well as evading the CIA who are also after all of them as well.  Throw in a German mystery woman with her own motives and you've got an exciting, complex, and entertaining action film.

For being over 50, Cruise looks like he's Ethan from the first movie (well, maybe the second movie).  We're not questioning his credibility as an action star (as we are with each Expendables film).  Simon Pegg is perfect as the bumbling sidekick who is there to solve complex problems, but also lend a humorous hand.  Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner, and Alec Baldwin all lend their own great performances that make up this lively film.  But, the best new character is Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust, an undercover British operative.  She's tough, she's badass, and she's capable of holding her own.  Holy shit... a male-driven action movie that actually writes a capable female character and doesn't succumb to the Bond-style love interest/damsel in distress tropes that are so pervasive in the spy genre? What a miracle.  One could argue, in this film, she's even more capable than Hunt, himself who ends up getting his life saved by her more often than he has to save her.

In the end, we've probably just gotten the last good popcorn blockbuster of the summer, but it's a good one to go out on.  This movie will appeal to everyone.  It's funny, it's smart, it's action-packed, and it's thrilling from the opening scene to the credits.  It's a nice little apology film for the mile-high garbage heap this summer has thrust upon us this year. I didn't get a chance to see it in IMAX, but if you have the means (and the funds) it will be well worth it.

One final note, I'd like to point out-- I've been spewing a lot of hate for sequels this summer because almost all of them have been complete butt.  But, as I was saying earlier, each of the Mission movies could stand on their own.  The only relationship they have to each other is the main character and the name.  Yes, they're sequels, but each one is very original.  It's not re-creating past franchise moments and trying to out-do them bigger and badder Michael Bay style (though this film does have a few very clever homages to the previous entries).  They stand on their own as original, creative property with only the name linking them to the franchise.  Yes, they're sequels, but they're doing sequels right.  They're moving the story forward without looking back.

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