“Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation” Is Heavy On Action And Exposition, Light On Story - East Idaho News
Movies

“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” Is Heavy On Action And Exposition, Light On Story

  Published at  | Updated at

“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” is chock full of action, and when it’s not, it’s full of expository scenes where characters sit around talking.

That’s another way of saying there’s not much storytelling going on.

There’s a rule of thumb I remember from my days studying screenwriting: When you write an action scene, you have to stop the story to do so. It’s true. The story stops so our heroes can throw one another a beating. (Once the action is done, the story resumes.) That’s why so many movies intercut their action scenes with other footage that pushes the story ahead.

”Rogue Nation” bring us back to see IMF Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) continue his battle against The Syndicate. That’s as much story we as get. Assisting Hunt are his buddies Benji (Simon Pegg), Luther (Ving Rhames), and Brandt (Jeremy Renner). Joining them is Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson), a shifty British agent who may not be entirely trustworthy.

Our heroes are up against Lane (Sean Harris), a disgruntled former secret agent and head of The Syndicate. His nefarious plan involves a secret encrypted file and the British Prime Minister. Hunt and his crew rush to stop Lane while evading imprisonment by the CIA, hoping to clear Hunt’s name in the process.

“Rogue Nation” feels less like visual storytelling and more like one long action scene. Fight scenes bleed into gunfights, which bleed into car chases, which bleed into — you get the idea. When the movie does slow down, we get people explaining the backstory of the movie. That isn’t very effective storytelling.

It doesn’t help that the characters have less dimension and depth than cardboard standees. Hunt has one character trait: his determination to stop The Syndicate. The other characters don’t fare much better. Ilsa is duplicitous, but has a good heart. Benji is the nerd who’s out of his depth in field work. Lane is the typical arrogant maniac who thinks he knows better than everyone else.

Given such depthless characters, the cast does the best they can do. Cruise is all clenched jaws and determined squints as Hunt. Ferguson is attractive and beats a lot of booty in action scenes (at least her stunt double does), but she’s fairly emotionless. Benji is fun to watch because Simon Pegg is always fun to watch, but that can’t save “Rogue Nation.” And I don’t know who told Harris to use the voice he does, but I felt like offering him a lozenge every time he was on screen.

“Rogue Nation” was co-written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, and McQuarrie can write. His work on “The Usual Suspects” proved he had some talent. So it’s a little disconcerting that the characters are as one-note as they are. As a director, he captures some clever shots and his action scenes are well-staged, but he doesn’t tell much of a story. Since a director’s job is to be a visual storyteller, it feels like McQuarrie dropped the ball.

“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” hurls action scene after action scene at the audience, to the point where the movie seems overly desperate to impress an audience that isn’t getting to see anything new. That wouldn’t be so bad if the movie did more storytelling than it does. If you’re a fan of chaotic, bloodless action, “Ghost Nation” will probably keep you entertained for a couple hours. If you want to see an actual story unfold onscreen, you’re better off watching something else.

2 ½ Indy Fedoras out of 5

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Thanks to Fat Cats in Rexburg for providing screenings for movie reviews on EastIdahoNews.com.

SUBMIT A CORRECTION