Review of Mission Impossible Rogue Nation

Love : Action sequences. Good old school action movies!

Bit leery of: The plot. Can't help wondering if the plot was a bit of an afterthought after the action sequences were done.

The short view:

The puns and references are certainly there from names to the heavy-handed spy thriller doses of chaos. Was it just me or was the spectre of WWI hovering in the anarchistic-paranoia fog, reinforced undoubtedly by the assassination of the Austrian political figure. Of course, the dose of world domination chicanery and the choice of London as setting do mean heavy layers of cold war sentiment aided by the distinct 60s and 70s throwback references.

I won't mince words, the plot is pretty thin despite the obvious effort at incorporating twists and turns - twists that, by the way, were visible from a mile away. Of course, it doesn't disappoint as a Cruise vehicle and the action sequences are proof of that. Particularly like the turns at comedy and deadpan seriousness from Pegg and Renner. Ferguson was pretty average as the obligatory femme fatale Bond girl though certain scenes played like an extended advertising sequence for luxury perfume. Baldwin was effective though I can't quite tell if he was just playing another episode of himself - it's uniquely Baldwin but you'll be hard put to identify him as a distinct character. Rhames is still the most believable (read normal) character in an impossible story.

Would like to see more: Action sequences - you wouldn't expect serious metadrama from an action flick the same way you wouldn't expect a great burger from a pizza place.

Wincing: The stereotypes are rather old and tired. It was funny though how the charming British stereotypes are increasingly morphing into evil or funnily incompetent characters at least on screen.

Bemused: The movie's opening credits seem to suggest the Chinese are the main financiers willing to throw serious money at big budget productions with little or no questions asked. Wonder if that's why the Turandot scene is so funnily trite and ironic!

4* (prepare to gawk at the cargo plane and motorcycle chases and wilfully ignore the plot or lack thereof)