Jack's Thoughts - Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

My face after leaving this movie

While Ed praised the latest Mission: Impossible instalment, he admitted that he wasn't the resident fan of the series. That's where I come in.

I said in my review of the first Mission: Impossible film that the franchise began as Hollywood's response to James Bond. Five movies in and they have cemented that fact, whilst becoming their own thing entirely.

I'm not going to go into plot details because you can read those on our official review. This is just going to be me explaining how much I love this movie and the reasons why. The first being the plot. I know, I know, I wasn't going to go into it and I'm not. But this movie's plot works really well. The franchise is known for its twists and turns, some you see coming and some you don't. All in all though, it's one hell of a roller coaster ride that will keep the adrenaline running throughout the entire film.

Secondly, Tom Cruise. Say what you will about him having an insane private life, but that doesn't distract from the fact that he is a really really good actor. And that stems from the fact that he loves what he does and it shows in his performances, but none so more than the character of Ethan Hunt. Hunt is Cruise's own character that he has perfected over the last twenty years and no one else could play him, making him the complete opposite of James Bond. What I love about Hunt in relation to Bond is that while he is almost an unstoppable machine, he is also infallible. Right from day one, the character has found himself in more dire situations than any character and Cruise puts himself in those situations for the authenticity, such as hanging off a flying plane. Insane!

Now specifically this movie is great because it is entirely self-referential to the entire series. There are overt and covert references to every movie, from a rabbits foot to a super subtle reference to chewing gum that will only appeal to die hard fans of the series. The film also throws in the famous mission giving sequence, but with a huge twist, thus throwing the entire conceit on its head. We also have a huge number of jokes about how this mission can't quite be impossible.

But what about all the other great characters in this movie. Well, as Ed said, Benji (Simon Pegg) is the stand-in for the main audience, always amazed at Ethan's complete and utter insanity as well as caring for him (although I have always found Ethan Hunt the more relatable character). Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) is the other hallmark of the series bringing his dry, but funny charm to the movie (he also represents the long standing fan of the films). Brandt (Jeremy Renner) represents the audience members who try and think about these movies from a rational point, but failing to do so and in the end coming around to see things "the only way".

That brings me to the character of Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson). Instead of playing the usual "Bond girl" of the Mission: Impossible series, she is presented as a female equivalent of Ethan Hunt. She is often as ruthless as he, but her motives are also the same. What I love about this movie in particular is that there is no sexual element between Ethan and Ilsa as there has been in the past movies. He truly respects her and sees her as an equal, which I think is a huge step forward for a big Hollywood movie like this.

"Your mission should you choose to accept it...." is find a bigger fan of this film series than me. Because Rogue Nation just cemented my already strong love. I might even go so far as to say I love it more than Bond....

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Smashing through the box office gates every few years comes the latest Mission Impossible flick, America's answer to Bond, just with less kissing and more gadgets. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation hits screens this week with writer/director Christopher McQuarrie at the wheel. Will this prove to be the latest capstone in a strong series, or is Ethan Hunt getting as tedious as a school band playing the Mission Impossible theme?

After years hunting a mysterious group known as the Syndicate, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) believes he has enough proof to confirm their existence. When reporting to a secret IMF station about his interception of a nerve gas shipment, he is captured by the Syndicate. Escaping in usual brawling fashion, he is assisted by a disavowed British agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), and pursues the elusive blonde man that he saw just before he was captured, Solomon Lane (Sean Harris).

After a senate committee finds their actions reckless, the IMF is dissolved, with CIA director Alan Huntley (Alec Baldwin) picking up the pieces. William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) are questioned about the whereabouts of Hunt, now a rogue agent, but neither crack and Ethan continues to evade capture. He tricks Benji into flying to Vienna for the Opera, however in reality it's a ploy to get Dunn's assistance in taking down the Syndicate. The two team up with Ilsa to infiltrate a high-security server that should assist them in tracking down Lane.

I'm not our resident MI fan, but having caught up on Ghost Protocol before meandering into this fifth installment, I was ready for some tense action, and it's safe to say that I wasn't disappointed. The pace is set in the opening sequence, which sees Hunt clinging for dear life to the side of a cargo plane as it takes off. It might not quite trump the Dubai skyscraper scenes from the previous film, but the tension remains palpable, especially when you realise that this was done for real, by cruise. This is followed up by a dramatic fight at the opera, claustrophobic chase sequences through the streets of Morocco and a free-dive into a giant water-cooled computer mainframe.

It's exhilarating stuff, as you would expect from McQuarrie (writer of The Usual Suspects and Valkyrie) and regular action-cinematographer Robert Elswit. The plot can turn on it's head without warning - as is typical with the series - leaving you constantly second guessing the motives of the array of different characters, and as long as you don't over-think it then it's great fun to follow along with. Although at times you do find yourself glossing over the current story and sitting back to anticipate the next action sequence, testimony to the effectiveness of the action.

Cruise continues to cheat his way through the ageing process, seemingly still in peak physical condition. He punches, kicks, dodges and flips his way through his enemies and of coarse, still does his own stunts. Benji and Ethan work closer than ever here as the IMF struggles to find solid ground yet again, and Pegg continues to be the most likable character in the series. Benji is ultimately the nerdy kid's channel into this world, operating his vast array of gadgets with occasional precision. Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa is fast and nimble, taking down any enemy brute thrown at her, and Renner's Brandt....well he's sometimes useful. This seems to be a common issue with a lot of the supporting cast, namely that they really don't do that much. Alec Baldwin cracks open his 'annoying useless obstacle' persona which I haven't personally seen him do since the awful The Cat in the Hat film, and Sean Harris transforms into the stock-standard turtle-necked bad guy. His character develops less as a man who you expect to be foiled by his own heinous ambitions, and more as a lemming lining up waiting to be thrown off the cliff.

But the character assassinations are just nit-picking for an action film like this. Ultimately, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is a solid and visceral addition to the franchise that will keep you thoroughly entertained.

Still Alice

Still Alice is a modern drama focused on Alice Howland (Julianne Moore), a renowned and successful linguistics professor. She lives comfortably in New York with her scientist husband John (Alec Baldwin), though she is often visited by her three grown children, Anna (Kate Bosworth), Tom (Hunter Parrish), and Lydia (Kristen Stewart) who resides in LA. Shortly after her 50th birthday Alice is startled as she begins to gradually lose words and other important details from her life, prompting her to visit a neurologist. She is soon diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer's and begins to lose her ability to communicate and be herself as her family watches on.

Directors Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer are clearly comfortable with their partnership as Still Alice is their fifth collaboration, and certainly their largest. There are three main filming styles that govern the film and govern it well. There is the keenly framed, tripod-mounted shooting style that dominates the film as it is representative of the lucid Alice and the world of those around her. In direct and simple contrast is the hand-held and/or focus-heavy shooting of the afflicted Alice. Here, Alice is often shot in close or medium with the world around her being heavily blurred, and often she will only enter frame after a momentary delay, as though she is a stranger. The final style is reserved for flashbacks to her childhood, and these appear to be (as far as I am aware) shot on Super 8mm. These are grainy and vibrantly coloured moments that stand out distinctively from the rest of the film. The score is often centred around a piano and its cautiously slow tones too often feel like the blank spots of Alice's mental state.

In many ways Still Alice is not at all surprising to those with even the most cursory knowledge of either Alzheimer's or Julianne Moore's acting ability, but the extent of both of these is. Alzheimer's is notoriously devastating and Moore famously talented, but the totality of both of these realities is confronting. At first Alice carries herself with the signature confidence, self-awareness and casual poise that's indicative of the inspired decision to cast Julianne Moore, but as her disease takes hold and tightens its grip on her, Alice becomes more (or perhaps less) than forgetful. Her posture slackens, her articulation suffers and so does her ability to focus, as stated earlier Moore's totality in this character's situation is moving and talented. Moore's performance, and the film by extension, treat Alzheimer's without reverence, hate or kid gloves. As Alice herself states in a captivating speech at the end of the second act, "I am not suffering, I am struggling." The supporting cast consisting primarily of Baldwin, Stewart and Parrish as Alice's family struggle alongside. Baldwin especially impresses quietly with his devastation and helplessness apparent in the bevy of short glances he gives Alice's way as she forgets to be who she is. In many ways the woman he loves is dying before his eyes and Baldwin's reaction as John are simply crushing. Within Alice's family there are brimming grievances, but overall no great dramas and barely a classic dinnertime feud, though perhaps because the narrative is so focused on Alice these would become intrusive. Either way, the film's steadfast perspective of Alice is more than enough.

Still Alice doesn't have a clear ending, but rather the closing titles appear and close the audience's perspective on her life, mirroring the effect of the disease. This is a film carried on Moore's capable shoulders, that appropriately and maturely examines a complex familial scenario. Absolutely a must for those in the mood to learn and cry.