53. Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015) — Countdown to The Final Reckoning

“Sound Speed Action” is back with the newest episode in our countdown to Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning. Now we’re entering Christopher McQuarrie mode with the next film: Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015).

Writer and veteran Hollywood script doctor Christopher McQuarrie directs his first Mission Impossible and assembles a great team behind the camera to inject more energy into this thrill ride. Joe Kraemer delivers a pulsing orchestral score straight out of the original TV series. Eddie Hamilton joins as the wizard editor (Top Gun: Maverick, Kingsman), keeping everything moving at a fun clip.

We talk about what we really enjoyed. Cruise is great, but Simon Pegg’s Benji really steps up and commands his scenes. Rebecca Ferguson’s debut as MI6 agent Ilsa Faust is superb—she elevates the movie with charisma and badassery. Sean Harris is fun as our super creepy villain, though it’s tough to get too excited since the bar for villains hasn’t been set very high. Alec Baldwin as Hunley is fantastic, and McQuarrie uses him brilliantly as a way for the franchise to poke fun at itself (“Sir, Hunt is the living manifestation of destiny—and he has made you his mission”). The Vienna Opera House sequence is a unique thrill.

Some odd choices pop up—the snakeskin shirt (you’ll know it when you see it), and a bad CGI car flip. But honestly, there’s not much to knock.

McQuarrie’s been hyped up a lot on this show already, and now that we’re here at his first Mission as director… what do you think? Enough action for you? We haven’t even begun yet.

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is available to stream now on Prime Video and Paramount Plus. It’s also available to rent and buy now on all platforms.

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