REVIEW: Fifth time’s a charm for Mission Impossible series

Often, the sequel to a movie is a disappointment, the third is barely worth watching, and the fourth is just a desperate attempt to support a drowning franchise. But lo and behold, here is a series of movies that seems to do the opposite, with each movie outdoing the last in both quality and success.

The star of the Mission Impossible series, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has once again found himself in a tricky situation. Convinced that the criminal organization Hunt’s team has been tracking down doesn’t exist, the director of the CIA (Alec Baldwin) shuts down the IMF and makes finding and capturing Hunt a priority.  Hunt is on the run, with only the image of a face to help him corner a dangerous criminal mastermind. Aided only by his friend Benji Dunn and a mysterious stranger who seems to know a lot more than she says, Hunt is once again facing seemingly impossible odds.

As far as movies go, this was a great watch. There isn’t one specific quality about this film that makes it stand out, but instead the cumulative effect of several things done well. The soundtrack is phenomenal, with parts taken from and based on the Italian opera, Turandot. The most famous movement from the show, Nessun Dorma, weaves its way throughout the movie’s musical background, adding a gripping emotional current to the heart-racing music of a “classic spy movie.”

Despite the seriousness of the movie, the mood is kept light as Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) keeps the laughter flowing with his witty remarks. Fortunately, Dunn is not the single source of comedic relief. All the characters contribute, allowing the humor to bounce from scene to scene instead of falling flat. Suspense and comedy work hand-in-hand to keep the audience laughing while still on the edge of their seats. Unlike some movies where the jokes are stale and predictable, the quick moments of humor in Mission Impossible are fresh and welcome.

Finally, the thing that most movies of this genre struggle with the most: avoiding the pitfalls of being “just another spy movie”. This might be one reason why the movie was so interesting. It took the classic parts of a spy movie and reinvented them. The femme fatale is not a helpless diva, but instead, a Black Widow-type figure with a history and a danger all her own. The high-speed chase is interrupted by the inability to turn a four-wheel drive in a tight alley.

Although I’m not usually a fan of action movies, I make an exception for this one; Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is definitely one of the better movies I’ve seen this year and a great movie watching experience.

Rating: 8/10