Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, Simon McBurney, Sean Harris

I’ve gone down as saying that writers turned directors don’t always make the best movies which is true a lot of times, but in the case of Christopher McQuarrie this isn’t so. McQuarrie started out writing The Usual Suspects (1995), then he took a stab at writing/directing with The Way of the Gun (2000) which I remember not loving so much the first time I saw it. I haven’t seen it in ages so I might feel differently about it now. His first experience working with Cruise was on Valkyrie (2008), which wasn't a successful movie, yet started their professional relationship which led to McQuarrie writing and directing Jack Reacher (2012), which also starred Tom Cruise. I remember it having an amazing car chase sequence that stood out. Making Jack Reacher with Cruise must have been a good experience because here he is again working with Cruise on his first big budget summer blockbuster; Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015). This is the fifth installment in the still running strong franchise, which is growing in popularity with each picture. In my opinion, each film has been better than the last. So what’s so cool about this fifth installment?

This time around the IMF (the Impossible Mission Force) is being disbanded by the American government because apparently their results are too destructive. But of course, Ethan Hunt and his team aren’t that easy to disband, and so they go on one final mission to try and stop ‘The Syndicate’, a group of terrorists who are out to destroy the Impossible Mission Force, so they can go about their usual villainous plans. Can Ethan and crew clean their name and prove themselves useful to the U.S. government once again? Or will their names remain tarnished for all eternity?

I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of the Mission Impossible movies, but from the fourth one on, for some reason I’ve started liking them more. I guess the stunts and the action have gotten way more interesting, even more impossible. And the fact that Tom Cruise is doing a lot of his own stunts makes everything way more fun. I mean, truthfully, screw all the crap that’s been said about Cruise, I’m all for applauding genuine talent, and Cruise has proven himself to be the quintessential action star, unafraid of going out there and really giving us a show. And by going out there, I mean, really literally going out there and doing stunts himself! The man is currently 53 and he still looks like a million bucks! I guess when you're a millionaire film star, when you're not making movies you're in the gym working out with your personal trainers, while a professional cook makes you the healthiest dinners imaginable. The dude looks brand new, healthier and more active than a lot of men at his age, so expect a Cruise that looks like he’s still 30.

The film is none stop action from beginning to end; it starts with an action set piece where Cruise is hanging from a plane…literally! Sure he used wires and harnesses, but still, it’s admirable that he was actually hanging from that plane in a day and age where everything is done with green screen! Tom Cruise, I salute thee! This movie is so gung ho for reality that there’s this underwater sequence in which Tom Cruise has to hold his breath for an extremely long time while switching a computer disk on an underwater computer. It’s an extremely complicated scene that I thought was completely CGI, but upon my investigations of how it was done, I was amazed to learn that it was truly shot underwater. This means they built the actual set, filled it with water and shot the sequence down there. Awesome. Any other filmmaker would have done that whole sequence in CGI, again, my hats down to McQuarrie and crew for choosing to shoot their film in front of their cameras as opposed to the inside of a computer. On this show Cruise even rides motorcycles at high speeds! There’s this moment in which he scratches his knee on the road while taking a curve and I was like whoa! That’s what I’m talking about! So yeah, it’s true, Tom Cruise is the big special effect of this franchise. Similar to how Jackie Chan was on his films, Cruise is an actor and a stunt man all in one.

It was good seeing the Mission Impossible Force together once again. Here we get Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner and heeelloooo, Rebecca Ferguson! Holy Moly, this actress looks stunning on this movie! You might remember her as ‘Ergenia’, the bow and arrow specialist in Brett Rattner’s Hercules (2014). I mean, this lady is a show stopper. Not only does she look amazingly beautiful, the epitome of sensuality, she also kicks major ass on this movie! She has this fight sequence where she’s saving Tom Cruise’s life that is a wonder to behold, she has great physical ability that’s for sure! Then we have Simon Pegg with the comedy relief, he reminded me of the obligatory comic relief guy from 80’s action films, where the big action star always had a ‘funny’ guy tagging along saying one liners and jokes throughout the whole movie, only Simon Pegg is actually likable and funny. So all in all, I’d say that this Mission Impossible is a sure fire winner. Even better then Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011), and that’s saying a lot because Ghost Protocol was tons of fun, however simple it was. The good thing about the action on this film is that the action sequences are intricate, extensive and aren't throw aways, they really go out of their way to do something that will entertain, that will sustain our attention for a long period of time. Don’t even think so hard about the story or if you’re getting it or not, remember everything will be explained in the climax, just go with the flow. By the time it’s all over you’ll be a satisfied moviegoer, that’s a guarantee!

Rating: 4 out of 5

Jack Reacher (2012)

Title: Jack Reacher (2013)

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Cast: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Werner Herzog, Robert Duvall, Richard Jenkins

Review:

Jack Reacher is Tom Cruise starting up yet another franchise, this time aiming to make a film that’s a bit more realistic in nature, less fantastic then say the Mission Impossible films, which are films that give us the action, but not the believability factor. The Mission Impossible films present us with situations that are way too incredible, way too out there and way too CGI even for a film that’s called Mission Impossible. I’m not saying I don’t enjoy that type of film, but I saw Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) and after seeing it couldn’t bring myself to write a review for it because it was empty calories, a film with nothing much to say. This is the reason why every once in a while it’s good to get one of these action films that aims for realism and plausibility. Jack Reacher aims to capture the level of credibility see in films like Skyfall (2012) or The Bourne Identity films; not a bad thing to go for when we consider how incredibly cartoonish action films have become in the recent years. I miss those films where the action used to happen right in front of the camera. I’m talking about films like William Friedkin’s The French Connection (1971), John Frankenheimer’s Ronin (1998) or Don Siegel’s Dirty Harry (1971), you know, films that went through the trouble of actually making things happen on camera as opposed to the inside of a computer. Jack Reacher hearkens back to those days of filmmaking, and I liked that about it.      

Jack Reacher is the ultimate bad ass ex-military, the kind of guy who lives off the grid, no one knows where he is, where he’s going or where he’s been. He’s a ghost. But he’s a do gooder and if you do something wrong, as the tag line for the film says “you’re gonna get it”. In this case, there’s a sniper terrifying the city. He’s killing people randomly off the streets, the government seems to think that he is doing this to inflict terror on society; others think he has a more sinister plan. Jack Reacher decides to use his military skills and detective skills in conjunction with the district attorneys daughter to get to the bottom of things.

This attempt at realism is something that is dominating films nowadays. Films and franchises that were once known for being ultra fantastic and unbelievable, cartoony even, are now changing their ways and directing themselves towards more realistic situations and premises. A good example of this are Nolan’s Batman films, when compared to Burton’s or Schumacher’s take on the character, those films seem like child’s play when compared to Nolan’s three films. Daniel Craig’s run on James Bond is another good example. Once Bond was a comic book character with lazers coming out of his watch, now he doesn’t rely so much on gadgets like these, now he’s all depressed and out of shape, now he’s got real issues to deal with, he’s not so indestructible. These are just some examples of films that have changed their ways because audiences nowadays have requested it.  In my opinion, we have the Bourne movies to thank for that shift. As soon as the Bourne films became huge hits, suddenly every other movie was copying their ultra realistic style, so in this sense, we can see the importance of the Bourne franchise, it was a trend setter, from these films onward, action films have never been the same. And in my opinion, it’s the series of films that Jack Reacher borrows a lot of its style and tone from, heck, even the posters are similar in style. 

But to be honest, Jack Reacher isn’t really an action film the way that the trailers might lead you to believe. There’s not much in the way of action perse, this is more of a detective/crime film, a thriller, a whodunnit.  There’s one awesome car chase sequence in the film, which I have to say was quite good, but other than that, this film is more about  Reacher snooping around, asking questions, punching some faces until he finds the answers he wants. The real strength in this film is the story, which plays with current themes of terrorism. Remember that case back in 2002? The one with the sniper that killed ten people in Washington? His name was John Allen Muhammad and he, along with his 17 year old partner kept a nation in terror for various days, I remember the people of Washington were so terrified that they didn’t even want to walk the streets. This crazy sniper was caught and sentenced to death; he was executed and his partner in crime was given life imprisonment. Jack Reacher plays with a similar premise of a sniper shooting people on the streets in an apparently random manner.  The Jack Reacher character comes from a series of books written by author Lee Childs, who has written 17 Jack Reacher novels so far. The particular one that the film is based on is called ‘One Shot’. Considering how the whole John Allen Muhammad sniper deal happened in 2002, and the novel was released in 2005, I think it’s safe to say that Lee Child’s was partially inspired by these real life events.  

Director Christopher McQuarrie has only one other directing credit to his name, The Way of the Gun (2000), a film that slipped through cinemas practically unseen. I remember renting it and watching it, but not being impressed by it much. Haven’t seen it in such a long while that I think it requires a re-watch, maybe my older, Film Connoisseur eyes will find some redeeming qualities in it. McQuarrie did a good job of directing Jack Reacher, my favorite scene is the car chase, there’s some good camera work there and I hear Tom Cruise did all actual stunt driving himself. One look at McQuarries resume and you can see that he’s more of a writer than a director. He has a couple of really good ones in there, starting with the Academy Award winning screenplay for The Usual Suspects (1995). He is currently working on Mission Impossible 5, which he is also trying to direct. I’m guessing that gig will depend a lot on Jack Reacher’s success, and if box office numbers are any indication, Jack Reacher is gonna make it. It’s not the greatest film in the world and it doesn't exactly succeed at being 'serious' because some of the dialog comes off as cheesy at times, in fact, there's this one scene where Cruise is talking over the phone to the bad guys and telling them how he is going to make them pay that felt like Cruise was trying to be Liam Neeson in Taken (2008). But the film does have a solid cast that makes the film more than it could have been. Hell, we even get famed German director Werner Herzog playing a gangster! We get the always awesome Robert Duvall as an ex-sniper that’s still has a kill or two in him. Final words? It’s a film that’s trying to bring things a bit more down to earth, it’s not trying to get too fantastical, this is a film with a firm grasp on reality and hey, that’s a breath of fresh air in this CGI infested world.  

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5