McQuarrie’s approach results in the most tightly constructed entry in the franchise, which makes “Rogue Nation” a refreshing blast that doesn’t quite reach the unpredictable thrills of the best “Mission: Impossible” movies. Ferguson was a breathe of fresh air five films into the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, as was writer-director Christopher McQuarrie. The Swedish actress’ breakout performance as undercover MI6 agent Isla Faust gave the franchise a hugely refreshing female voice, one that goes toe-to-toe with Tom Cruise in terms of kicking ass and magnetic screen charisma. “Rogue Nation” is a standout entry for one main reason: Rebecca Ferguson. The same is true about the film’s opening stunt, which sees Ethan dangling off a massive rock wall (for…fun?), another nutty sequence that was very cool at the time, and then rendered moot by a franchise hellbent on making every film bigger and crazier, even if it involves making earlier stunts look paltry by comparison (in this case, the Burj Khalifa climb in “Ghost Protocol,” still one of the best things to happen in any action movie of the last decade). The film isn’t entirely without a few other merits, of course, and a motorcycle chase involving Ethan and Dougray Scott as the evil Ambrose is a Woo classic (light on the doves, though), though it would eventually get bested by another “M:I” film anyway (“Rogue Nation”). She’s the most Bond Girl-esque among Ethan’s love interests, but she’s also a genuinely interesting character: a thief turned spy who has a good heart and a better poker face, though all that is pushed aside to set her up as a love interest for Ethan, one we will never, ever see again. At least there’s Thandie Newton, cool as a cucumber and dangerous as any other double-crossing career criminal the “M:I” movies has lavished attention on before discarding by the time the next movie comes along. One way to put in a pin a potentially viable franchise is to do whatever the hell it was that John Woo did for his 2000 entry into the series, a mishmash of early aughts action film tropes, from rogue viruses to something involving evil stock options - in short, a big stew of boring narrative ideas executed poorly.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
January 2023
Categories |