Commentary: Someone please explain why "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" is so great!

By Brian McQuery wonders what all the hubbub is about

posted August 8, 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted to love MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION because I really enjoy the series and I love Christopher McQuarrie and want nothing but great success for that man. It is a capably made, entertaining flick, but like the last installment it has a forgettable villain. The Syndicate is supposed to be the anti-IMF and this deadly, dangerous organization, yet what we see on screen is pretty inept. Ilsa Faust actually makes fun of the other two shooters in the opera sequence. And then the dozen guys on motorcycles are completely ineffective. Aren't these all supposed to be special agents recruited from other agencies? Yet they are just typical, useless henchmen.

 

On top of that in less than 30 minutes of "story" time, Ethan dies and is revived by a defibrillator (which came from where exactly? Didn't they parachute in? Maybe McQuarrie should have set up the gear that they brought with instead of it just magically appearing when it was needed.) Anyway, Ethan is revived, then he drives a car in a car chase, ultimately crashing it after it flips six times! Then he jumps on a motorcycle to continue the chase and he dumps it going at least 100 miles an hour, wearing only a loose shirt. He walks away not only without any broken bones, but seemingly not even a scratch! Really? And people are raving about this sequel and saying it's the best of the series?

 

And how many arguments does the team have to have over Ethan's obsession with the Syndicate boss and what they should do? It all sounds like he knows that we know and since he knows that we know, he wants us to tell the authorities, but since we know that he knows that we know, we won't tell the authorities and we will do it on our own. Speaking of that, we have 4 rogue IMF agents, but somehow there is no end to their tech or their resources. Where is this all coming from? 

 

It's amazing to me that many people put JURASSIC WORLD down for its thin plot and characters. But it seems those same people are going crazy for ROGUE NATION, which hardly has a great plot or well developed characters. JURASSIC WORLD was an awesome summer blockbuster with some great set pieces, including dinosaurs fighting dinosaurs! All of which is more memorable than ROGUE NATION.

 

Somebody please explain why ROGUE NATION is so great.
 

-Brian