Begotten of a TV show it has long since eclipsed in iconography and popularity, the Mission: Impossible film series belongs to the rarest pedigree of pop-IP remakes and adaptations. Not only more successful, longer-running, and, quite frankly, better than its source material, the franchise has also demonstrably influenced and improved the landscape of American action cinema. With the ostensible finale hitting theaters this spring in the form of The Final Reckoning, we accept this mission to celebrate a modern blockbuster staple with a weekly retrospective.
Ghost Protocol ends with Ethan disappearing into the shadows, practically begging the audience to not let the franchise’s second wind go to waste. It made nearly double the box office of M:i:III while also showing a confidence in its characters and narrative that none of the previous films honestly had. Ghost Protocol wasn’t perfect, by any means, but it laid the sturdiest foundation for narrative expansion of any entry so far, resulting what would be the quickest turnaround between films yet. While director Brad Bird and actress Paula Patton would unfortunately not return for this sequel, that wouldn’t slow it down in its ambitions to push the franchise forward. Even with star Tom Cruise having four other projects over those four years (Rock of Ages, Oblivion, Jack Reacher, and Edge of Tomorrow), the fifth Mission: Impossible film showed no signs of stopping.
However, with Rogue Nation, we got more than your run-of-the-mill fifth franchise installment. Notable shifts in directing and writing style, tone, and complexity of action all aid the film in excelling on every aspect of Ghost Protocol’s strengths. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it perfects the Mission: Impossible formula to a scary degree, towing the line just enough to risk it all on this entry. That bold, risk-taking approach keeps the film feeling fresh and new even a decade later. This isn’t just M:I-5; it’s Rogue Nation: one of my favorite action films of the 21st Century.
This chapter takes place a year after the events of Ghost Protocol, following Ethan Hunt as he searches for any clues on a shadow organization only known as “The Syndicate.” Believing that a new IMF briefing might give him a new lead, he falls for a trap set by The Syndicate. To make matters worse, Agent William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) has been forced to shut down the IMF after the damage done in the previous film, resulting in the absorption of the IMF by the CIA as its director (Alec Baldwin) vows to catch Ethan. With no resources or support, Ethan and his team must evade their bureaucratic pursuers while they investigate what this “rogue nation,” The Syndicate, plans to do to the world.
Rogue Nation brings three monumental changes to the series for the better. While it’s a shame Paula Patton’s Jane Carter doesn’t return, writer-director Christopher McQuarrie fills that gap with one of the best characters in the entire franchise: Ilsa Faust, played by Rebecca Ferguson. For nearly 20 years, the previous entries struggled to find a balance between having a love interest for Ethan and having a notable female presence on his team. Sadly, most of what we had up to this point were female characters that felt underwritten and underutilized, up until Jane in Ghost Protocol—and even she isn’t totally free of odd choices and emotional jank in her relationship with Ethan. That all changes when Ferguson busts the door down as Ilsa, igniting an immediate and enigmatic chemistry with Ethan, operating in her own distinct style, and becoming a fun new piece to Ethan’s team of misfits while bringing enough agency of her own to carry her solo scenes, to boot. In a single film, McQuarrie makes quick work of balming the franchise’s long-standing difficulty with its women, without reducing Ilsa to a solution for Ethan’s relationships.
Thankfully, the same goes for the film’s villain: Sean Harris’ Solomon Lane. While I think most people still give the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s Owen Davian the moniker of “best Mission: Impossible villain,” Lane, and the character Harris brings to his performance, captures something as that Hoffman never had the access to do due to his limited screentime and M:i:III’s flawed script. Lane has Davian’s intense intimidation, Ghost Protocol villain Kurt Hendricks’ self-righteous savior complex, and even the nemesis energy for Ethan that Dougray Scott’s Sean Ambrose swung for but completely whiffed in M:I-2. From his first scene, Harris presents a distinctly conniving threat to a man like Ethan by having multiple contingencies for any scenario. This results in Lane being the perfect counter to Ethan’s unfailing determination and willingness to gamble with his own life as he runs into danger with only one plan in mind.
But no character or actor debut brings as much to Rogue Nation‘s table as the biggest and best single new-hire in the franchise to date: McQuarrie. While this isn’t technically the first time McQuarrie has worked on the franchise (having given substantial uncredited help to Ghost Protocol‘s script) his formal introduction in the series is one that exudes confidence, style, and genuine emotion to a series that has struggled to balance all three consistently. McQuarrie takes his years of experience as a screenwriter (and his work with Cruise on previous projects) to build an Ethan Hunt that elicits reverence and notoriety for everyone around him without making him sound like a god, fully committing to Ethan’s unorthodox, risky approach as the poster child for what makes the IMF a necessary fixture of global security. McQuarrie even gives Alec Baldwin an insane monologue to articulate all of this, giving him one specific description of Ethan that captures the magic that has kept the franchise alive and resonates throughout all future entries.
That’s not even covering the pitch-perfect team dynamics on display here (thank the Lord Luther is back full-time), the cinematography, the consistent comedy, the Opera scene (I could easily do a whole Cinema Komorebi article about that sequence), or the numerous other phenomenal action set pieces that make the Burj Khalifa scene in Ghost Protocol feel tame in comparison. It’s a film I could gush about for hours because, at the end of the day, Rogue Nation just understands what a Mission: Impossible film has to do to survive in an era filled with burgeoning superhero franchises and one of the most dire eras of competitor spy franchise 007. It delivers not only the adrenaline rush of Cruise’s crazy stunts but also countless smaller moments to endear audiences to the series. Every time I watch this film, its finale gives me a sense of satisfaction that makes me want to re-watch the whole series from the beginning again, just to experience its evolution.
All this forces the question: if Rogue Nation is my personal choice for the best film in the franchise, where do we go from here? In perfect fashion, it ends up leading right into Andy’s fave! I won’t take anything away from his upcoming revisitation, but I will say that the sixth installment has plenty of surprises all its own.
Mission Accepted will return each Friday leading up to our review of The Final Reckoning.
Freelance writer out of Indianapolis. Co-host of Odd Trilogies podcast. Whether it's films or television, I'm always down to watch!