Even with a weak villain, Mission Impossible: Rouge Nation makes up with grand over the top stunts and an ageless Tom Cruise

Rating: 7/10 (31 July 2015)

At this point, I may have to dub Tom Cruise the immortal man. I was watching him being interviewed on the John Stewart Show and he may have had the experience of a Hollywood acting master, yet he has the enthusiasm of an aspiring actor. He answered every question about his career with a smile and would go on about how each experience from The Outsiders to Rock of Ages to Mission Impossible would be his favorite. He also happens to remain one of the few international stars that can carry a picture by being himself.
The new millennial Hollywood wants to escape into a story rather then watch a reenactment from their favorite celebrity. If you look at older movie stars like Gene Kelly, Jimmy Stewart, Carry Grant, or even john Wayne, you can rely on their charm to carry a story you want to see them in, but not so much with their character. Today there seem to only be a few actors that have that kind of charm. Men like Will Smith, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kevin Spacy are people that can play characters, but most people just see the actors. It's not a bad thing as I still enjoy Tom Cruise in movies like Mission Impossible: Rouge Nation.
Ethan Hunt (played by Tom Cruise) has been on the trail of a rumored underground elite called the Syndicate. One mission in London has him captured by the group that proves their existence, but a disavowed British agent Ilsa Faust (played by Rebecca Ferguson) lets him escape. Back in Washington, agent Will Brandt (played by Jeremy Renner) and CIA director Alan Hunley (played by Alec Baldwin) appear before a Senate committee to justify the IMF's actions from now and before (like the previous movie missions). Unable to reveal operational details, the group sides with Hunley, disbanding the IMF into the CIA, also making Ethan Hunt a wanted man.
Six months later, intelligence analyst Benji Dunn (played by Simon Pegg) is sent tickets to an opera in Vienna. He flies over there to find that Ethan actually sent him there to recruit him for a mission to continue to track the Syndicate. They happen to find the man they are looking for, Solomon Lane (played by Sean Harris), who has sent someone from the Syndicate to assassinate the chancellor of Austria. The mission goes wrong, sending Ethan, Benji, and Ilsa on a globe trotting adventure to see if the Syndicate has greater intentions, whether Ethan may be losing his mind, and whether the CIA can find the team.
The problem I had before going in was knowing that Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol was already one f the best movies from 2011 and one of the best spy movies of all time At least Mission Impossible: Rouge Nation manages to be just as exciting as the last film. These movies tend to have more of an over-the-top and comedic edge against the Bourne and James Bond movies. The stunts are just as awesome as before with too many to count scenes that could easily be watched on YouTube for a quick rush.
Speaking of over-the-top, watching these characters interact happens to be a highlight of the series. Tom Cruise is just as cool and Simon Pegg brings a lot of quirkiness to the picture. Rebecca Ferguson has some good scenes as our "go to double agent". Our heroes may have been set up to fight (and fight they do!), it's unfortunate that the villain is not as interesting. Sean Harris seems to be only set on "monotone hiss" with his voice and doesn't have much of personality. At least there were plenty of enemies for Cruise to fight, and if the Syndicate is here to stay, maybe they can find a more interesting villain for Mission Impossible 6.
I'll give this seven diving stunts out of ten. Had the film's villain been more interesting, this might have been better then Ghost Protocol, but seemed more focused on setting up a group of villains instead. The stunts and banter though make up plenty and at least allow for a fun watch. So see this movieshould you chose to accept it.