Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

A compromise between De Palma's first and Abrams' third work - but beware, the word compromise is not pejorative this time. No way. Christopher McQuarrie has talent to spare, because after Jack Reacher, he proved that he is a great director as well as a writer, and the fifth Mission: Impossible offers very imaginative and honest action (the breathtaking opera part alone is better than the entirety of Ghost Protocol), a beautifully old-school spy story full of twists and turns of all kinds, and well-written characters (for example, Simon Pegg's Benji has finally become a full-fledged member of the team and not just a joke, Ilsa, played by Rebecca Fergusson, plays it so beautifully on all sides that we still like her even though we have absolutely no idea what she's up to). I guess I really can't help but admire Tom Cruise in the lead role, but you know who surprised me the most out of the cast? Jeremy Renner! I've never liked him this much, and here he's actually playing an ordinary office rat. Yes, yes, again, it owes that to the script. So I applaud and will be happy to see Mission: Impossible 6 undertaken by the same creative team. (08/08/2015)

Although it is proper and solid filmmaking, the fifth installment is the only one in the entire series that is not innovative in any way, but safely recycles old and proven spy schemes and winks at both old classics from the 1970s and the first installment of this saga – back to basics accurately describes it. McQuarrie confirms his firm directorial control and his sense for dosing humor, action, and screenplay material. This entry probably features the most complex character of an action heroine in recent years (maybe since Sarah Connor in Terminator 2), equally fragile and determined, and going after what she wants, and she also looks very good – overall, she reminds me a lot of another legend, Bond Girl Carey Lowell from Licence to Kill. Maybe it lacks the overwhelming action from the third film, or the high-tech feeling from fourth, but as a whole, it works okay. The director knew well that that would not impress the audience today, after all those superhero movies, Bay films, and other digital garbage, and he didn’t attempt to do so, they simply went in a different direction. It's a shame about the low rating. I also had the feeling of slightly forced idolization of a legend, which I felt, for example, in Skyfall or the recent Batman movies, but I don't it think worked out that well here. (30/07/2015)

It's as if I were seeing on the screen my first spies, my first car chase, my first badass fight scene. As if Christopher McQuarrie were in a room I know well, using Ethan Hunt's hand to open a door that has been carefully hidden. And as if beyond  it, a game is afoot from the old school, where there is room for London fog, surprising paraphrases of Casablanca, and in the spirit of the series, even truly impossible missions, above all with a water tank where I was almost holding my breath for the main hero at the end. Before viewing, I didn't have much hope for stepping in the same river a fifth time, so getting up from this ever more appealing team is getting tougher and tougher. Welcome to the IMF. (30/07/2015)

Mission: Impossible – a nation of bastards in a glass cube: the best villain in the history of the series, the best car chase since the third Bourne, the most dangerous James Bond on heels of all time, hi-tech and retro, slow and furious, brilliant minimalist finale and Tommy Boy in the best form of his life. In the end, I roared with bliss like tur (andot). It’s different than the architecturally decorated part four, but still bad-ass. This is why you go and stare at an unreasonably large screen. Spectre is going to have a really hard time. (29/07/2015)

An elemental blockbuster mixing old style with modern, where every blow hurts a lot and gives out a good meaty slap. The shots of Rebecca Ferguson are an ode to legs and Tom may be getting old, but he’s getting harder with age in action scenes (because it looks better), and he knows how to make fun of himself. McQuarrie’s screenplay is a really classic British school spy chase movie that often goes against the standard procedures for the series. The action is first-rate, the editing is a joy to watch (the opera) and my teeth were chattering from the antics in Morocco. I look forward to watching it again. If you managed to read to the end of it, this review will self destruct in 5 seconds... (30/07/2015)