Mission: Impossible 5 – Rogue Nation

Elevator Pitch: Ethan Hunt is on the run (again) after being incorrectly implicated in the doubtful doings of “the Syndicate`’ a breakaway group of MI6 agents. He gets some of the gang together and they must recover a “Red Box” document onto a memory stick to prove his innocence, by gaining entry into a super-protected facility. The Syndicate need the contents of the document and by kidnapping Benji they force Hunt to kidnap the British Prime Minister. Meanwhile IMF is underthreat from congressional committees back in the USA.

Content: You would hardly notice that there was a bit of almost female nudity, no drinking, drugs or swearing but quite a bit of violence. A whole lot of set pieces: Hunt clings onto the side of an aircraft in the air, he fights with an assassin behind the scenes of the Vienna opera and dives into the waters of a cooling tower to recover something from an underwater safe. The are high speed car chases and, for a change, high speed motor cycle chases (on the open highway). Hand to hand combat features, mainly with the MI6 agent Isla Faust sorting people out, but somehow remaining embedded in the Syndicate. Some world travel.

A View: I don’t much go for what seem to be video game tasks, and this film is full of them, the making of the it being almost as much a Mission Impossible as the story itself. Tom Cruise clinging to the side of an aircraft made the news when the film came out. But it was well liked by the critics who admired the fast pacing, and maybe the inclusion of Rebeccas Ferguson who had the best scenes. So just a bit tiresome but a watch for nothing if you have aleady seen all the others.

Additional Info: It does not come as a surprise to learn that they had the stunts worked out early, and the cast arrived for the first day of shooting before the script was even started.