Truth be told I’ve always been a Tom Cruise fan – his movies have always been enjoyable, both partly because and sometimes despite the fact that they’re almost strictly formulaic.  The only time period in his career that I wasn’t impressed with was his Vanilla Sky to The Last Samurai phase because it was oh so painfully obvious that he was clamoring for an Oscar.  His efforts definitely didn’t pay off but thank goodness that he’s (seemingly) accepted the fact that he is, and forever will be, a fluff actor.

But Tom Cruise wasn’t the reason I took the time to sit down for Christopher McQuarie (Jack Reacher)’s fifth installment to the Mission Impossible series, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.  No, I made the time for this movie in the middle of OT (over-time) season because of Simon Pegg.  Why?  Because, dude.  Simon Pegg.

Please note that there may be spoilers.  Read at your own risk.

THE STORY:

The movie opens up directly from the cusps of the last film’s ending credits.  Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise – Edge of Tomorrow) is deep in old London town, investigating on the mysteriously elusive group, the Syndicate, headed by nefarious ex-MI6 agent Solomon Lane (Sean Harris – Prometheus).  Lane, long presumed dead, has been recruiting agents and spies from all over the world and has been using them to put his plans of global terrorism into fruition.  Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson – Hercules), one of the spies in Lane’s employ, is another enigma that Ethan must solve because while she seems to be constantly in Ethan’s way and thwarting his efforts, she has also saved his life multiple times.

Meanwhile, back in the USA, William Brandt (Jeremy Renner – Avengers: Age of Ultron) faces a tribunal of senators to defend the existence of the IMF.  Unfortunately, the tribunal sides with CIA director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock) and decides that the IMF is nothing more than a group of uncontrolled agents who have caused way too much, not to mention expensive, destruction in their wake.  They assign Brandt, along with the remaining members of the IMF Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg – Star Trek Into Darkness) and Luthher Stickell (Ving Rhames – Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) to be employed by the CIA.  They also order a global manhunt for Ethan Hunt, who they believe has fabricated the idea of the Syndicate to plant terror and therefore create an excuse for his expensive and unchecked exploits.

When Ethan learns that Lane’s next target is the British Prime Minister (Tom Hollander – About Time), it becomes a race against time to get to him first before Ilsa, Hunley or Lane get to him first.

THE GOOD:

1. It obviously one of the more expensive movies in the franchise. You know that scene where Tom Cruise is hanging off the side of a plane? The one they show on the theatrical trailers? Yeah, that was just the opening sequence and literally had almost nothing to do with the plot. They also burned good money filming expansive and expensive car/motorcycle chase sequences in Morocco, Vienna and London.

1. Tom Cruise seems to be aging backwards. Damn, but he looks better here than he did in the second Mission Impossible movie. I mean, come on.

1. The action sequences, as expected, were incredibly fun. Because you really don’t watch a movie like this for the convoluted plot, right? The car chases and the ridiculous “impossible” stunt of the movie was downright ridiculous, but since they were laced with a hint of making fun of Tom Cruise, they ended up being very palatable.

1. A whole lot of Simon Pegg. It’s either the producers realized how bankable he is and just how much humor he’s brought into the last film, or he’s become Tom Cruise’s BFF. Either way I’m happy. He’s literally got more scenes in the film than Jeremy Renner. Which, unfortunately brings me to –

THE BAD:

1. Not enough Jeremy Renner. It’s not that I just miss seeing his fantastic behind while doing lunges, but they literally just strapped him onto a suit and made him the unofficial bureaucratic head of the IMF. I mean, yeah, sure, his scenes with Alec Baldwin were sorta good, but a few years ago the rumor was that this guy’s Brand would become Hunt’s replacement. What happened? Is that still happening? Because they’re not really setting it up very well.

1. That quasi-romantic angle between Ethan and Ilsa. Wasn’t Ethan Hunt married? Whatever happened to his wife? I remember seeing a glimpse of her in the last few scenes of the movie so clearly, she’s still alive. Why would he even consider it?

1. The whole Casablanca reference was a little bit in your face, don’t you think?

1. Tom Cruise’s hair was obviously fluffed to perfection before every frakkin’ scene. It’s gorgeous and all but it was very distracting because somebody ACTUALLY GOT PAID TO FLUFF HIS HAIR.

THE UGLY:

1. That ending. While it was certainly one of the more clever ways to end the movie, I can’t help but think that it probably wasn’t the wisest move to trap the biggest villain in history inside a glass box with a loaded gun. I kept waiting for the moment that Lane stops shooting at the glass, smiles devilishly and points that barrel to his temple, therefore thwarting all of Ethan’s effort one final time. The way they built the character, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had been packing cyanide capsules inside his mouth.

All in all, if it wasn’t obvious enough, I quite enjoyed Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. It was absurd, very much over the top and borderline ridiculous. But precisely because the film didn’t take itself too seriously, the whole thing worked. Performances were acceptable for a movie like this and while there were no obvious standouts, the way the actors bounced off of each other was very nice. I definitely can’t wait for the next installment, but at this rate I’m kind of worried that they’d run out of exotic places to shoot in.

THE VERDICT: 7.5/10

*All photos are lifted from the Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’s IMDB page.