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If <i>Ghost Protocol<i> saw the MI saga finding its footing, one could argue <i>Rogue Nation<i> is where Tom and co. found the way to excel and create something exhilarating and quite suspenseful, bringing up a threatening and memorable villain and recovering some of the spy elements of the first films, something now director Christopher McQuarrie intentionally sought after, as in the special bonus he referenced how he looked back to the other films and wanted to “pile them all into one,” and in this regard, the film succeeds.
In terms of the action, that thing many of us come to this movie for, there are plenty of crazy fun moments. I mean, starting up the film with that airplane scene, seeing Cruise hanging midair from a plane for real, is insane. Where else would you expect to see something like that? And despite being wired and protected, there were plenty of small things that could happen that could end with him dead: a bird, a little rock, dust or whatever was deadly. The underwater sequence, which was done with both practical effects and some CGI, had the biggest obstacle being Cruise learning how to hold his breath underwater. While it didn’t have me as much on the edge as the Burj Khalifa sequence, it was pretty suspenseful thanks to the performances, the obstacles and the editing all coming together in an effective way. The car-then-motorcycle sequence, where Tom barely could see anything thanks to all the cameras blocking his vision and the cars on the highway being put there in post, was also pretty cool and fun, especially the latter part. The only thing I found unbelievable was Cruise wasn’t bruised and bleeding after that fall. It’s been a minute since I’ve crashed on rocky, sandy ground but I remember cutting and bruising myself and I wasn’t anywhere near driving at the speed he was. But that’s just a small nitpick.
Performance-wise, this is the franchise at its best. We finally get the dream team coming together. Cruise, Pegg and Rhames all have fantastic chemistry and I loved how they bounced off each other. It’s great we get to see more of the latter two together and as we would see, this proves to be a winning team. Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust is such an awesome character. The way she’s written is almost as a <i>femme fatale<i> of sorts; she’s such a kickass, a badass and a character I instantly fell in love with. The dynamic between her and Tom was instant gold. Sean Harris’ Solomon Lane is yet another great villain; his speech pattern paired with his cold demeanor and intelligence makes him a great contender where once again you truly feel he’s a real threat not only to the team but to the world as a whole.
All in all, while the best was yet to come, this is a fantastic prelude and another excellent, exciting, wildly entertaining entry with a collection of old and new characters that steals our hearts and takes us into a riveting adventure full of intrigue and crazy fun stunts.
