Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

“Good luck!” Self-aware in a post-modern way, Rogue Nation is a high-octane action/spy flick with by far the best action scenes, an enthralling narrative, a very unpleasant bad guy, a very pleasant female character (in terms of both looks and behaviour), and plenty of nostalgic allusions to the series (where the Syndicate first appeared) and the preceding films (Moscow, the rabbit’s foot, motorcycles, the mention of infiltrating CIA headquarters). Viewers who considered any of the previous four M:I movies to be the best of the franchise should thus theoretically be satisfied. ___ Despite its more or less episodic structure, the film is cohesive not only on the level of smaller plot segments, but also thanks to their interconnection. McQuarrie constantly repeats crucial information and places it in new contexts for greater clarity, without losing sight of the central theme of fatefulness and chance, thanks to which some of Hunt and Loan’s decisions are justifiable (it’s easier to forgive numerous coincidences in a film that thematises the randomness of fate), and he doesn’t forget that he is filming a team event, not a solo performance. The relationships between the team members, the losing and gaining of trust between them, replaces the usual romantic relationship storyline, which the film managed to avoid entirely, much to my delight. (Surrendering to Hunt’s magnetic charisma would only detract from the believability of the fearless female double/triple agent.) Almost all of the action scenes are given dynamics by cutting between multiple characters, and Hunt repeatedly finds himself in situations from which he would not have safely escaped without outside help. The unification of the team roughly halfway through the film, when all four of them sit at the same table for the first time, is a key turning point. There is a shift in genre from “exotic” action adventure towards spy thriller, which also corresponds to the change of colour tone (warm colours are replaced with cool ones). The film continues to focus mainly on gathering and assessing information, but not in such adrenaline-fuelled ways. ___ McQuarrie’s concept of the action also adds pleasing variety to the torrent of loud action scenes with quick cuts. The scenes are relatively well arranged and, thanks to the “live” shooting, they are also very physical and evoke a strong feeling of danger (with its intensity, the diving scene is comparable to certain moments in Gravity), and they also work superbly with the alternation of longer and shorter shots, noise and silence. In addition to that, each of the action sequences has its own developmental formula while also advancing the main narrative (the IMF’s reputation, the capture by Lane). ___ In addition to serving as a warmup, the delightfully escalated pre-title action serves as the final nail in the IMF’s coffin. The next two major events are first presented separately, like episodes of a series (the sound of classical music as Benji plays on an Xbox foreshadows the scene at the opera, Ilsa’s diving in the pool foreshadows Hunt’s underwater mission), and each is riveting thanks to the different approaches to distributing information. In the first case, we know just as little as the protagonists and we are subsequently just as surprised as they are. Conversely, in the second case, the plan is laid out in detail in advance and we wait anxiously to see when and how badly it will go wrong. A third striking example of clever work with audience expectations and an unreliable narrative (or rather a narrative that doesn’t tell us everything) is the action that takes place in London, suggesting to us that we know more than some of the characters (Brandt’s telephone call), but it immediately turns out that we were in fact led down a blind alley. From the humorous scene in Cuba, which is only half of Cuba, we are led to approach what we see, what we hear and what we infer from our knowledge of classic narrative norms with a degree of circumspection. ___ We can see a significant part of the plot as one big MacGuffin, which tempts the characters off of the path leading straight to the objective. But like the third instalment, Rogue Nation is an action movie about action movies, as the film itself draws attention to the structure that carries its action scenes. It knows that we know. It knows the rules of the game just as well as the viewers do, and it therefore bends those rules to suit its own needs and it isn’t afraid to significantly deviate from them (the slowing of the pace and the “multiplication” of the villains in the second half). What is important for us, however, as in the case of Hitchcock’s films (with comparably implausible plots), is how entertaining and thrilling this messing around with the rules is. Speaking for myself, I can say that it is maximally entertaining and thrilling. Appendix: A quarter of a star is given for the director’s (cinematographer’s?) fetish for women’s feet and shoes. 90% (30/07/2015) (less) (more)

The strength of the Mission: Impossible franchise has always been the combination of clear constants and creative deviations between individual instalments. Iconic elements had already been established by the original television series (the disguises, assignment of missions with messages that self-destruct, the burning fuse), and the movies use these original attractions as identifying elements that can be altered or simply set aside. The individual films place greater emphasis on the distinctiveness of style and inventive action sequences, both of which are provided by the fluctuation of the directors. In this respect, the fifth film of the franchise is precisely crafted but, at first glance, it is seemingly the least distinctive of the M:I movies. Judging from his work as screenwriter, Christopher McQuarrie gets along very well with Tom Cruise and has precise command of the filmmaking craft, but he is not a filmmaker with a distinctive formalistic signature or a clear concept of action sequences. With the precise spatial arrangement of the action scenes and the inventive interconnection of those scenes with attractive settings, McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible picks up where Brad Bird left off. However, the distinctiveness of Rogue Nation and thus the benefit of having the screenwriter in the director’s chair are reflected in the dialogue, as well as in the interaction of the characters and their motivations. More than in the previous instalments, this time the story relies more on teamwork and thus loyalty, friendship and professional ethics, which form the foundation of the key narrative twists and are embodied in the fascinating, ambiguous character of Ilsa Faust. Ilsa draws attention to herself not only due to the charisma of the actress portraying her, Rebecca Ferguson, but also as the prototype of a new action heroine. Not only is she equal to the main protagonist in terms of ability and tenacity, thus forming a perfect professional team with him, but she also doesn’t slip into any traditional clichés and takes on some key privileges of her male colleagues (rescuing the hero, the final fight). In fact, she superbly balances between charm, toughness, exaggeration and fatefulness, flawlessly epitomising the entire film and its personality. ____ P.S. Who would have thought that an ambitious character actor would become the Hollywood equivalent of Jackie Chan (from the golden era of Hong Kong cinema)? And, what’s more, in an era when American cinema does not have any action stars, at least not the kind whose name is synonymous with or guarantees a certain type of attraction. Starting with the fourth Mission: Impossible, interviews with Cruise and making-of videos absolutely evoke Jackie Chan’s ethos. Like Chan, Cruise emphasises that the breakneck sequences and the permanent exposure of himself to real danger are done for the viewers and their sense of amazement. From Ghost Protocol to Rogue Nation, Cruise’s passion, determination and fanatical hard work deserve all the more recognition for forcing the competition to also back away from deceiving audiences with computer-generated sequences and camera flourishes, thus making Mission: Impossible the vanguard of a new era of spectacular action films. (26/08/2015) (less) (more)