Hello dear reader. Just under twenty years ago Brian De Palma thought it would be a great idea to turn a TV series from the 1960’s into a film. Now back then this wasn’t as common as occurrence as it is now. These days you can’t go more than a couple of weeks, at most, without reading about someone in Hollywood wanting to relaunch, reboot and refranchise a show from the telly box. Recently we’ve had The Smurfs, 21 Jump Street and even the Man From U.N.C.L.E., grace our Multiplexes. However, back in the good old and glorious days of 1996 it wasn’t that commonplace. Movie goers were being offered everything from Independence Day to Fargo, Twister to Mars Attacks and Trainspotting to Scream without even a hint of cathode ray tube being the birthplace of inspiration.
To say the first Mission Impossible film was a gamble by Paramount is a bit of an understatement. Sure De Palma had a great track record at that point, Scarface, The Untouchables and Carlito’s Way are impressive films but when thinking about directors with a proven record for bringing action to the screen, he’s not the first name that would spring to mind. Then of course there are budget concerns. Throw too much money at it and you’ll never make a profit. Not enough and you’ll look like the company that didn’t want to take it seriously. Thankfully someone in Paramount liked the screenplay, written David Koepp and Steven Zaillian, enough to let De Palma go away and play with eighty million dollars. And that’s going back to a time when eighty million dollars was considered a lot of money. Three sequels later, that have been directed by the likes of John Woo, JJ Abrams and Brad Bird, we find ourselves looking down the barrel of film five in the series, Rogue Nation, and things seem to be showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Now I went into watching this Rogue Nation with high expectations. Its director, Christopher McQuarrie, is responsible for what is, in my humble opinion, the greatest screenplay ever written. Now I know that is a bold statement. Especially when you currently have the likes of Aaron Sorkin, Jane Goldman, Joss Whedon and Tina Fey wondering around, seemingly able to produce Oscar quality material faster than it takes most people to get up, shower and have breakfast. The screenplay I am referring to is of course ‘The Usual Suspects’ and if you haven’t seen the film may I suggest you do so this instant. May I also recommend (Warning: self-indulgent promotional plug ahead) you read my gloriously brilliant blog about the film too. Click here for awesomeness!
Rogue Nation is McQuarrie’s third stint sitting in the director’s chair. Following on from ‘Way of the Gun’ in 2000 and ‘Jack Reacher’ in 2012 and in many ways he’s still finding his feet. A lot of reviews I’ve read for this film have called it the best in the franchise, a masterclass in action etc etc but I came away from the film ever so slightly disappointed with what I’d just seen. Sure it does have great action, it has witty dialogue and most of the core cast returning but it doesn’t seem to be the great movie it’s trying so hard to be. It fails at being the sum of its parts. The stunts are visually entertaining but even having Mr Cruise stuck on the side of a nice and shiny green aeroplane as it takes off (and it really did have Mr Cruise stuck on the side of a nice and shiny green aeroplane as it takes off) just didn’t work for me. There are motorbike chases. A gun and knife battle that takes place in, around and on top of the Vienna Opera House and there’s also an underwater set piece that anyone who even remotely has a fear of drowning will find hard to watch. But overall I kept thinking ‘been there, done that’ as I watched it.
Where the film really works though is with the introduction of new characters. Alec Baldwin pops up as Alan Hunley. A CIA head honcho with more than a passing dislike for Ethan Hunt and all things IMF. However, the real gem in Rogue Nation is Rebecca Ferguson. She plays Ilsa Faust, an undercover agent that used to work for British Intelligence. Without going in to spoiler territory it’s quite hard to say much more about this character but I will say that she is every bit Hunt’s equal, both intellectually and physically. She can not only run with the big boys, she can get them to dance to her tune as well. But for every good side of the coin there’s normally a bad side too and Rogue Nations bad side comes along in the form of Sean Harris playing the chief big bad guy, Solomon Lane. Through no real fault of Mr Harris, you can only act with what you are given after all, Solomon comes across as a badly written James Bond villain or a comic character that’s never really made it to the ‘A League’. Solomon is also ex-British Intelligence but has an accent that could best be described as wandering. Solomon never really delivers on the whole aura of menace thing that is almost a contractual obligation these days when it comes to bad guys. This is partly down to a haircut that looks like it was done at home in front of a mirror and a wardrobe selection that looks like he got dressed in the dark. I got the feeling that Mr Lane would have looked and felt more at home in an episode of ‘The Great British Bake Off’ than running an international crime consortium. Which leads me to another big problem I have with the film.
The organisation that Solomon runs is called ‘The Syndicate’ and again without giving to much away is basically a branch of the Civil Service with muscle. This muscle also has access to money, which it uses to help fund terrorists, wrong doers and anyone else who has a vested interest in sponsored violence (Scouts, Salvation Army, Mothercare, etc). But as a premise it just doesn’t work. The plot of the film revolves around the Syndicate needing to get its hands on a computer thingy that will give them access to virtually unlimited funds. However, the British PM is the only one who can activate the computer to release these funds. This requires a voice print and about nineteen other levels of security that have to be cleared. But of course that’s why these films are called Mission Impossible.
On the whole it Rogue Nation isn’t a bad film but it’s certainly not the best of the franchise either. I enjoyed watching the fourth instalment ‘Ghost Protocol’ a lot more than this offering but it’s still head and shoulders above John Woo’s Mission Impossible II. That is not an easy watch and even forgiving the obligatory doves (why are there always doves in John Woo films?) It has Tom Cruise with long hair, a convoluted love story with Thandie Newton and more continuity errors than you can shake a stick at.
As I touched on before the majority of the core cast have returned here, Including Jeremy Renner as William Brandt and Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn. Both of whom carry the films lighter and comedic touches very well. Renner isn’t given a lot to do here apart from wear a suit and keep Hunley from capturing Hunt. Benji on the other hand is far more hands on in this film than he has been in his previous two outings. Honourable mentions should also go out to Tom Hollander and to Simon McBurney who help move the plot along as and when required and in closing I’ll say this. Rogue Nation almost certainly won’t be the last we ever see of Ethan Hunt and his crew. As long as the franchise continues to make money Paramount will always have a vested interest in green lighting sequels. My concern is that in order to keep the public interested that they’ll insist on going for bigger stunts and more incredible plots, so don’t be too surprised if you read in the not too distant future that Tom Cruise has been killed falling off the moon. He’s just crazy enough to try it…
Twitter Review:
Rogue Nation, Rogue plot, Rogue common sense. Great to look at but smoke and mirrors will only get you so far...
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Useful links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2381249/?ref_=nv_sr_1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmC6rZyByzk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afS5ks54tms
http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?FID=138768
