(Ethan, meet Ilsa. Ilsa, meet Ethan. Let the games begin...)
CAST: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Sean Harris.
DIRECTOR: Christopher McQuarrie
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and very good reasons for James Bond to be worried - straight ahead.
IT'S LIKE THIS: Every few years, it seems our two favorite super-spies, Brit James Bond and Yank Ethan Hunt, seem hell-bent on engaging in a colossal dick-measuring contest to see who is Top Dick, er, Top Spy around the world. In 2012, SKYFALL and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL squared off to see whose, erm, member was more golden. Even though, SKYFALL made more money than MIGP globally, the truth is both films were equally good. Now give it a rest and put your penises away, guys.
Alas, it's three years later and the Espionage Dick-Measuring Olympics begins anew in 2015. Yes, folks, this summer sees the release of the next Ethan Hunt MISSION IMPOSSIBLE epic, subtitled ROGUE NATION. Sure enough, not too far behind on its heels for a November release is the next James Bond adventure, promisingly titled SPECTRE (ahem). Gee, what's that sound? Sounds an awful lot like zippers being yanked down with resolve again.
Anyhow, this time around, Ethan finds himself running afoul of the "Syndicate" - a shadow organization that is made up of disavowed former operatives (read: spies gone very, very bad) who seek to undermine global order and you, know, fuck shit up. The Syndicate is headed by Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), who must have popped out of the womb already looking like a total baddie, undoubtedly scaring the shit out of the docs in the delivery room. Further complicating Ethan and his cronies' efforts to bring down Lane are their own people: CIA asshole Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) is sure the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) is simply concocting the Syndicate to justify their existence. Ha!
Even more vexing is the sexy, mysterious Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who can't seem to run away from Ethan fast enough - but yet is always the first person by his side, ready to help him, whenever shit hits the fan and everyone else goes running for cover to save their own asses. I think these two are going to have to sit down and have a heart-to-heart about their, um, relationship. That is, when they are not shimmying down the face of tall buildings while being pursued by police or enemy agents.
Ah, love....
THE DUDE OR DUDETTE MOST LIKELY TO SAVE THE DAY: Everyone on Ethan's team pretty much steps up when needed. However, this award must go to Ilsa - who saves Ethan so many times, I was starting to wonder if this was really her movie. Go, girl...
MOST INTENTIONALLY EXCITING SCENE: The whole opera sequence in Vienna wherein Ilsa, Ethan, and a couple of enemy agents play a sly game of backstage cat-and-mouse at a lavish production of TURANDOT.
MOST UNINTENTIONALLY EXCITING SCENE: The whole opera sequence in Vienna wherein Ilsa parades around in a stunning yellow/gold evening gown, cut down to here and slit up to there. Yowza!!!
AND THE "EYE CANDY" AWARD GOES TO: Rebecca Ferguson, straight up. YOWZA!!!
INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW: What is the Syndicate up to? And can Ilsa help Ethan and his trio of Musketeers (Jeremy Renner, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg) bring it down? Is she loyal to Lane and serving as his mole? Or has Lane been ahead of them all this whole time? What will that windbag Hunley do to throw a monkey wrench into Ethan's program? How will all this end? How!??!
FINAL ANALYSIS: The last MISSION IMPOSSIBLE adventure in 2012 (GHOST PROTOCOL) was a very strong entry into the series, considered by many to be the high-water mark of the films. For me, however, the first film from 1996 was the best - that is, until this summer when MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL was released. This new film, without a doubt in my mind, represents the true high-water mark of the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE series. It is a grand adventure, full of dazzling stunts and edge-of-your-seat suspense - and peopled with memorable characters and interactions.
Tom Cruise has always emphasized the humanity in Ethan Hunt, and that serves to make the role very likable and almost relatable. Although most of us won't know what it's like to truly be a government operative, Cruise's dead-on portrayal of Ethan ensures that we are with him every step of the way - and not at a distance, as sometimes happens with the weaker James Bond films (most from the Roger Moore era), wherein Bond seems more like a cartoon character than a human being. A key facet of Ethan's accesibility is Cruise's own.
Cruise is also very modest and gracious and understands the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE films are essentially ensemble films that require everyone to shine in order to work. Past MI stalwarts like Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, and Jeremy Renner once again get their fair share of screen time here as Ethan's loyal comrades-in-arms. Alec Baldwin is his usual fine comically-serious self as a grumpy CIA bureaucrat who has the IMF in his sights. The ending promises his character's return and that is very welcome indeed. Meanwhile, Sean Harris makes for a solid low-key villain whose understated menace is a nice contrast to the over-the-top situations that abound in the story.
Unequivocally stealing the show, however, is Rebecca Ferguson as mystery lady Ilsa Faust, who is definitely Ethan's equal, if not more. In the Bond films and past Hunt adventures, the female agent leads are often labeled as "Bond's equal" or "Ethan's equal" - only to be tossed into tired damsel-in-distress scenarios (like Wai Lin in TOMORROW NEVER DIES, Jinx Johnson in DIE ANOTHER DAY, and Anya Amasova in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, Lindsey Ferris in MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 3). WIth Ilsa Faust, however, we have the first heroine who is truly her male co-star's equivalent and gets herself (and often Ethan, too) out of peril. The script puts the character so front and center that it feels just as much as her movie as Ethan's - and it is.
However, the wrong actress could've fumbled Ilsa's combo of cool mystery, sexy intensity, and muted vulnerability. Fortunately, Ferguson is definitely not that actress - she rolls up her proverbial sleeves and attacks the role with gusto. She's so effective that whenever she's not onscreen, you miss her and can't wait for her to show up again. Cruise also has the best chemistry with Ferguson that he's ever had with an MI leading lady, and their characters' connection is further underscored by the "love theme" that composer Joe Kraemer weaves into the score which echoes the "Nessun Dorma" theme from the Italian opera TURANDOT, the opera wherein Ethan and Ilsa reunite (after their first memorable encounter at the beginning of the film).
This whole Vienna opera sequence also wins, by a hair, the title of "Best Setpiece". By a hair, because all the other setpieces are almost as terrific: a hair-raising motorcycle chase in Morocco, the "heist" in the submerged spinning data warehouse, the final confrontation in London which includes a brutal one-on-one knife fight betwen Ilsa and one of Solomon Lane's henchmen, and other sequences. This combination of stellar action and intriguing character dynamics makes MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION one of Summer 2015's winners - if not the best film, period.
Oh, and I should also add that Ferguson's star-making performance was so popular with audiences and critics, that she will also be returning in the next film as Ilsa - the first time ever a leading lady has returned to reprise her main role. (Michelle Monaghan's tiny cameo in GHOST PROTOCOL after her lead turn in MI3 doesn't count because it was so fleeting)
In closing, please hear a snippet of the score from wonderful opera action scene, courtesy of YOUTUBE, in which Ethan, Ilsa, and various other assassins squabble backastage at a producton of Giacomo Puccini's TURANDOT. Great music by composer Joe Kraemer.
