Christopher McQuarrie to the rescue

Rating: 8/10 (18 November 2015)

The Mission Impossible franchise has been going strong for quite a while now. After the first film in 1996, sequels have been made every five years or so. I have yet to see the first three, but I did see Ghost Protocol, although I can't seem to remember much of what happened. I do remember watching Tom Cruise swinging on the side of a building and wondering what Jeremy Renner was doing in that film. Rogue Nation on the other hand is a different story...
After a rather dull opening action scene, the film begins proper. The central story revolves around a shadowy group known as the Syndicate. Ethan Hunt is determined its existence to the CIA, but he is captured by one of its members, Janik Vinter. He escapes and decides to get his revenge, though he'll have to do it behind the government's back. He slowly teams up with his usual merry band of misfits and together they start figuring out ways to eradicate the Syndicate before they are themselves eradicated. They're aided by one of Janik's accomplices, Ilsa Faust, who gets to play double agent.
Written and directed by Usual Suspects and Edge of Tomorrow-alumnus Christopher McQuarrie, this film benefits from a tighter and better flowing experience. Aside from a rather uninteresting opening, the rest of the film is tightly paced, consistently interesting and entertaining.
One of Rogue Nation's greatest assets is Ilsa Faust. Spy films have often relied on a female agent or a femme fatale. More often than not, these films fall into the trap of relegating her to a supporting (aka useless) role or by turning her into the damsel in distress. Rogue Nation avoids any of these pitfalls by making Ilsa the hero's equal. She saves his life at least twice and doesn't even need rescuing herself. She eventually has a knife fight with this hulking giant and I feared that Ethan would predictably rescue her just as she was about to lose, but no, she takes that guy down with style to spare. Not only is Ilsa written to perfection, she's also played to perfection by Rebecca Ferguson, a natural beauty who also doesn't skimp things in the acting department. And to top it off, she and Ethan ride off into the sunset without actually doing so. She alone rides off, telling Ethan he knows how to find her. The film thus confirms the romance while still allowing her to preserve her independence, but I can easily accept this romance when both characters occupy the same level of badassery and importance to the story. Thank you, McQuarrie, for implying the romance and not succumbing to the 'sex sells' mantra. It's a character you can take seriously. Needless to say, she steals every scene.
All in all, I was incredibly pleased. Ghost Protocol? Please, give me Rogue Nation any day of the week. You're not going to walk away like you feel you've reached enlightenment or anything, but you are going to walk away feeling you've finally seen a really great Mission Impossible film again and isn't that why we're here in the end? I feel like I should give it a 7, but I'll go one step beyond.