MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE—ROGUE NATION will be available on Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and On Demand December 15, 2015 from Paramount Home Media Distribution. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the fifth film in the franchise stars Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin and Rebecca Ferguson.
With his elite organization shut down by the CIA, agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team (Renner, Pegg, Rhames) race against time to stop the rise of a new global threat, The Syndicate, a dangerous network of rogue operatives turned traitors. To stop them, Ethan must join forces with an elusive, disavowed agent (Ferguson) who may or may not be on his side as he faces his most impossible mission yet.
Review
It’s been nearly 20 years since the first time we saw Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt on the big screen. 20 freaking years. And Cruise is still doing his own crazy ass stunts too – there’s zero reason he should be stuck on the side of that airplane but he’s doing it. I don’t think there’s any other actor on the planet who is worth as much money as Tom Cruise is and happens to be doing their own batshit crazy stuntwork. Nobody. I always applaud Cruise and Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation is no different.
I love how these past two Mission Impossible films have spawned this revitalization of the series while crafting another trilogy. They aren’t reinventing the franchise, but they’re amping up the action, intrigue and suspense to max capacity. I love the team and how they interact with one another too – Simon Pegg’s comedic relief is spot on here and he truly is the second most integral component to this film’s success. Pegg is the co-lead – deal with it. Newcomer Rebecca Ferguson is OK and she does her little head straddle suplex death move a few times but Pegg is the heart of Mission Impossible.
The story is eerily similar to the recent slew of Bond films by incorporating this new evil organization called The Syndicate, but I like how they’ve done it here more than those other spy movies. As crazy as this franchise can get with their set pieces, none of them seem unreal. I completely believe everything that can happen in Rogue Nation – can happen in real life. Hell — that underwater sequence? Shit gets REAL there and I think it was nice to see an outcome that was believable in spite of it’s over-the-top setup.
My only gripes would be that the final act didn’t pack as much of a punch as the moments preceding it. It made sense from a plot-point, but with a film called Mission Impossible, I didn’t sense the urgency as it wound down and even the final turn of events (although satisfying), just didn’t deliver for me as much as the climax of the previous movie Ghost Protocol.
The chase sequence was insane – I couldn’t believe how fast those motorbikes were getting – it was intense just watching them turn corners, let alone firing guns or smacking into other vehicles. Director Christopher McQuarrie has done a tremendous job with the fifth film in this franchise and Cruise is still at the top of his game. Rogue Nation is easily the best of 2015’s spy-centric films and the Blu-Ray is a gorgeous addition to any home theater.
Special Features
Cruise – did his own stunts. Cruise starred in the film. Cruise produced the film. Cruise did everything he possibly could for this film and these special features will make you very aware of that. But they should, because it’s refreshing to know that a star like Cruise is so dedicated to his craft all these years later. Seeing “The Missions Continue” feature was eye-opening for me just to witness the evolution of this franchise over the past two decades. I forgot J.J. Abrams directed MI3…
- Commentary by Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie
- Lighting the Fuse
- Cruise Control
- Heroes…
- Cruising Altitude
- Mission: Immersible
- Sand Theft Auto
- The Missions Continue
Rating: [star rating=”4″]