Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
August 2, 2015 6:05 PM - Subscribe
Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate - an International rogue organization as highly skilled as they are, committed to destroying the IMF.
shoutout to my country and my region.
ok, I'll share a cinema anecdote: when the opening credits was playing, when the logo for 'Alibaba Pictures' came on, the lady next to me was like, "Eh, wrong movie is it?" (ie, did we end up in the wrong theatre and are about to watch a mainland movie?)
posted by cendawanita at 12:02 AM on August 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
ok, I'll share a cinema anecdote: when the opening credits was playing, when the logo for 'Alibaba Pictures' came on, the lady next to me was like, "Eh, wrong movie is it?" (ie, did we end up in the wrong theatre and are about to watch a mainland movie?)
posted by cendawanita at 12:02 AM on August 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
I rewatched Ghost Protocol recently and enjoyed it, not a huge amount but was entertained. This one though, so bored by it. Just felt that we'd seen it all before and why would I be bothered enough to invest in the story or the characters.
Pegg was good, but neither him nor any of the other supporting cast really had enough to do.
posted by Fence at 6:00 AM on August 3, 2015
Pegg was good, but neither him nor any of the other supporting cast really had enough to do.
posted by Fence at 6:00 AM on August 3, 2015
I enjoyed it. It was exactly what I went to see, a summer action film with a mostly smart enough script and capable actors to make it be more than just explosions and bullets flying. Rebecca Ferguson just pretty much stole every scene she was in and was well cast against Cruise, who couldn't overpower her with his own celebrity.
My only complaint was the very, very final conclusion. The way it snapped shut, almost literally, just seemed incredibly low energy. I would have liked the same ending, but with a slightly better setup.
posted by Atreides at 7:55 AM on August 3, 2015
My only complaint was the very, very final conclusion. The way it snapped shut, almost literally, just seemed incredibly low energy. I would have liked the same ending, but with a slightly better setup.
posted by Atreides at 7:55 AM on August 3, 2015
Dat opening stunt tho.
posted by entropicamericana at 8:00 AM on August 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by entropicamericana at 8:00 AM on August 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
Over on Tumblr, me and Syd Bernstein have been discussing the Mission Impossible movies as artifacts of thier era and spy-fi trope slingers for all the movies (except this one ) so far. Hopefully we'll get to this one later in the week! ( high hopes, the series has a weird U shaped quality curve so far)
posted by The Whelk at 8:23 AM on August 3, 2015
posted by The Whelk at 8:23 AM on August 3, 2015
Count me in the "enjoyed it" camp. Didn't go in expecting King Lear and got a nice witty popcorn movie with cool action sequences and a gorgeous world tour.
posted by Bringer Tom at 12:00 PM on August 3, 2015
posted by Bringer Tom at 12:00 PM on August 3, 2015
whoa that link doesn't go to the right place Missions Improbable Podcast
posted by The Whelk at 12:09 PM on August 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 12:09 PM on August 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
"If you work for the IMF, you would know that the list of agents is fake"? What?
posted by I-baLL at 3:39 PM on August 4, 2015
posted by I-baLL at 3:39 PM on August 4, 2015
Thought it was a lot of fun and Rebecca Ferguson definitely was the center of the movie. I'm a little startled that Renner and Raimes didn't get more to do, especially since Renner is no stranger to an action scene. Laughed a lot, particularly at the attempted slide over the car hood that failed and also the prime minister. Tom Cruise kinda needs to let himself start aging before he starts to look truly odd, and he needs a new haircut. Alec Baldwin was having a great time.
posted by PussKillian at 7:07 PM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by PussKillian at 7:07 PM on August 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
During the opera scene, I just wanted to watch the opera.
posted by ocherdraco at 11:44 AM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ocherdraco at 11:44 AM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
This felt like a lower-energy rehash of the last movie, which isn't to say it's bad, but more of the same. I agree the opening stunt was good, even though it was so heavily promoted it took away most of the impact. The bike/car chase was also good. However, the low momentum did less to disguise the trivial save the cat-and-mouse game being played. I get that it's about the action and quips, so let's stop doubling down on the redundant exposition and the "he knows that I know that he knows".
There were two spots of egregious CGI use that took me out of the moment: once at the start when Benji finally opens the plane door and then Hunt gets sucked in, it's just a blurry ragdoll mess, again when they jump the car backwards into that courtyard. It was a legitimately good stunt and looked really awesome until it landed and flipped end over end like 8000 times. It just looked fake. Make it flip over once or twice or roll lengthwise and be done with it.
But at least there wasn't a moment where a missile that's going to strike in 5 seconds takes 30 seconds of screen time to hit like it's a football game or something. On the upside, the stakes of the missile were obvious, the stakes in this were "bad dude gets lotsa money, keeps being able to do the bad stuff he already does". I didn't hate this movie, it was a fun watch, but I'm a little surprised by the broad critical praise.
posted by JauntyFedora at 3:59 PM on August 8, 2015
There were two spots of egregious CGI use that took me out of the moment: once at the start when Benji finally opens the plane door and then Hunt gets sucked in, it's just a blurry ragdoll mess, again when they jump the car backwards into that courtyard. It was a legitimately good stunt and looked really awesome until it landed and flipped end over end like 8000 times. It just looked fake. Make it flip over once or twice or roll lengthwise and be done with it.
But at least there wasn't a moment where a missile that's going to strike in 5 seconds takes 30 seconds of screen time to hit like it's a football game or something. On the upside, the stakes of the missile were obvious, the stakes in this were "bad dude gets lotsa money, keeps being able to do the bad stuff he already does". I didn't hate this movie, it was a fun watch, but I'm a little surprised by the broad critical praise.
posted by JauntyFedora at 3:59 PM on August 8, 2015
Oh yeah, and that ending. It just kinda dribbled out there. I almost thought there was going to be a 2nd reveal with Alec Baldwin because it didn't feel like they stuck the landing.
posted by JauntyFedora at 4:02 PM on August 8, 2015
posted by JauntyFedora at 4:02 PM on August 8, 2015
It's pretty good post-Bourne type Bond movie nonsense.
The early bits in particular, from the trailer-famous plane scene up to the escape from the opera house, are really well done.
It's kind of an odd cast - Tom Cruise plays ACTION MOVIE STAR TOM CRUISE, Alec Baldwin plays 30 ROCK'S ALEC BALDWIN, Jeremy Renner plays HAWKEYE FROM THE AVENGERS. About the only one who feels like they are acting a character is Simon Pegg, whose role in the series is to be the Simon Pegg guy but feels like he is playing the role of a character far more than the rest. I would totally watch a Cruise-less MI with Pegg as the star.
Or as The Whelk pointed out, he would make a hell of a Bob Howard...
Other points:
* Ridiculous silly as hell Moroccan data warehouse thing felt entirely arbitrary to the point of being a completely abstract challenge, have not made up my mind on whether that's a good thing. Pretty much the peak Silly Bond moment of the movie.
* David Cameron is supposed to be an important person who knows things and people care about in this universe.
* There is no way in hell Cruise did not write the line "Ethan Hunt is the living manifestation of destiny!" and mean it about himself.
* My wife and I will be yelling "TOM CRUISE IS THE LIVING MANIFESTATION OF DESTINY!" at each other whenever the subject of Tom Cruise or Scientology comes up for a long time.
* Multiple George Smiley types.
* There is also a lady spy of some kind. She's alright I guess. We wanted to yell "Do not marry him!" at her so I guess we got invested in the character.
posted by Artw at 2:57 PM on August 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
The early bits in particular, from the trailer-famous plane scene up to the escape from the opera house, are really well done.
It's kind of an odd cast - Tom Cruise plays ACTION MOVIE STAR TOM CRUISE, Alec Baldwin plays 30 ROCK'S ALEC BALDWIN, Jeremy Renner plays HAWKEYE FROM THE AVENGERS. About the only one who feels like they are acting a character is Simon Pegg, whose role in the series is to be the Simon Pegg guy but feels like he is playing the role of a character far more than the rest. I would totally watch a Cruise-less MI with Pegg as the star.
Or as The Whelk pointed out, he would make a hell of a Bob Howard...
Other points:
* Ridiculous silly as hell Moroccan data warehouse thing felt entirely arbitrary to the point of being a completely abstract challenge, have not made up my mind on whether that's a good thing. Pretty much the peak Silly Bond moment of the movie.
* David Cameron is supposed to be an important person who knows things and people care about in this universe.
* There is no way in hell Cruise did not write the line "Ethan Hunt is the living manifestation of destiny!" and mean it about himself.
* My wife and I will be yelling "TOM CRUISE IS THE LIVING MANIFESTATION OF DESTINY!" at each other whenever the subject of Tom Cruise or Scientology comes up for a long time.
* Multiple George Smiley types.
* There is also a lady spy of some kind. She's alright I guess. We wanted to yell "Do not marry him!" at her so I guess we got invested in the character.
posted by Artw at 2:57 PM on August 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Alec Baldwin utters that line to the David Cameron BTW. I half expected him to follow up with a lecture on who Scientologists are really self-actualized and the people you would most want to see if you had been in a car crash.
posted by Artw at 3:01 PM on August 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 3:01 PM on August 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Pro: Data bank womb and failure to launch birthing scene. Couldn't care less what it meant contextually to the rest of the film, too busy watching a heist/action/spy film.
Con: Really evil bad guy who will never die because it is verboten to shoot him, much less point a gun in his general direction. Unlike the scores of organized, highly trained, and highly killable evil spies... I mean henchman... I mean meat shields.
posted by P.o.B. at 10:15 PM on August 20, 2015
Con: Really evil bad guy who will never die because it is verboten to shoot him, much less point a gun in his general direction. Unlike the scores of organized, highly trained, and highly killable evil spies... I mean henchman... I mean meat shields.
posted by P.o.B. at 10:15 PM on August 20, 2015
I like the term mooks. Henchmen implies a level of personality and distinctiveness none of the secondary baddies really get, except maybe the bone guy.
posted by Artw at 6:43 AM on August 21, 2015
posted by Artw at 6:43 AM on August 21, 2015
Just came from it and actually liked it a lot. It didn't exactly aim high but it did what it set out to do and did it with some style and just enough winking at the camera about how totally absurd the whole thing is. Rebecca Ferguson totally stole the movie, I hope that they do a spin-off series with her character.
Amazing that this came from the same writer/director of Jack Reacher which was a terrible film.
posted by octothorpe at 7:50 PM on August 28, 2015
Amazing that this came from the same writer/director of Jack Reacher which was a terrible film.
posted by octothorpe at 7:50 PM on August 28, 2015
What the hell is up with Renner's skin? Has he been sleeping with steel wool pillows?
posted by The Whelk at 8:09 PM on August 28, 2015
posted by The Whelk at 8:09 PM on August 28, 2015
Glad that Cruse is actually looking his age (he's exactly two years older than me), doesn't look like he's had any plastic surgery yet.
posted by octothorpe at 8:46 PM on August 28, 2015
posted by octothorpe at 8:46 PM on August 28, 2015
Not to ...harp on it but all the male leads looked like there was a conscious and deliberate choice to make them look ...unmake-upd, like worse then usual? You can see so many pores! Very uh, warts and all? Simon Pegg comes out the most looking his age/looking like a normal human then all those sandpaper faces.
I mean Alec Baldwin looked like heeeeeellllll and he's vain enough for that to be a choice.
posted by The Whelk at 9:27 PM on August 28, 2015
I mean Alec Baldwin looked like heeeeeellllll and he's vain enough for that to be a choice.
posted by The Whelk at 9:27 PM on August 28, 2015
I think MAYBE it was HD or something but it was DISTRACTING , Renner looked like he slept rough for a year.
posted by The Whelk at 11:15 PM on August 28, 2015
posted by The Whelk at 11:15 PM on August 28, 2015
He's no manifestation of human destiny.
posted by Artw at 11:19 PM on August 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 11:19 PM on August 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
We recorded half of Missions Improbable for this episode but then realized the mic wasn't plugged in.
posted by The Whelk at 10:54 PM on September 2, 2015
posted by The Whelk at 10:54 PM on September 2, 2015
we eventually agreed the movie was full of so much borrowed style and like a "greatest hits" of Spy-Fi movies but it uses them well, workmanlike but entertaining, and not as totally empty and personality-free as M:I 3 but everything good is basically a reference to something else.
posted by The Whelk at 11:06 PM on September 2, 2015
posted by The Whelk at 11:06 PM on September 2, 2015
Christopher McQuarrie is easily the least interesting director of the five who did MI films but possibly these type of movies are better with a workmanlike approach. He certainly did a better job than John Woo did and Woo's one of the best and most influential directors of our time.
posted by octothorpe at 6:39 AM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by octothorpe at 6:39 AM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
Mainly I rate them on Pegg screen time, making this one the best.
posted by Artw at 6:53 AM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 6:53 AM on September 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
Our podcast episode! Light swearing, some cold coughing
posted by The Whelk at 11:29 AM on September 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 11:29 AM on September 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Just watched it and I was frankly let down. Incredibly talky but not in an entertaining way. A CIA director standing in the room where his MI6 counterpart is spilling the beans to the Prime Minister: no way in hell does he interject "I don't understand." Just no.
I thought it a mistake in retrospect to begin with the plane set piece because the rest of the film couldn't match it for ridiculousness.
Halfway through, I was convinced that Ilsa was playing Ethan and Benjy and would prove to be the ultimate villain rather than someone for Ethan to spiritually "save" bringing back in, and I think it was a mistake for her to prove a hero. I wanted her to win over both Ethan and Lane and take over the syndicate.
Ultimately I felt like it was a Fast & Furious movie with some of the cars taken out.
And that line about being the embodiment of destiny: what a howler.
posted by gauche at 5:55 AM on May 19, 2016
I thought it a mistake in retrospect to begin with the plane set piece because the rest of the film couldn't match it for ridiculousness.
Halfway through, I was convinced that Ilsa was playing Ethan and Benjy and would prove to be the ultimate villain rather than someone for Ethan to spiritually "save" bringing back in, and I think it was a mistake for her to prove a hero. I wanted her to win over both Ethan and Lane and take over the syndicate.
Ultimately I felt like it was a Fast & Furious movie with some of the cars taken out.
And that line about being the embodiment of destiny: what a howler.
posted by gauche at 5:55 AM on May 19, 2016
I would watch Simon Pegg as James Bond....
posted by Pendragon at 1:53 PM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Pendragon at 1:53 PM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
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posted by jbickers at 6:05 PM on August 2, 2015 [9 favorites]