Much like the Fast & Furious franchise (which this resembles more than it would like to admit), it had a bumpy run after the first film, taking a few more movies to fully find its feet. The result now is a franchise stripped of everything but the basics. All but gone are the shock betrayals and complicated high-tech heists, replaced by what seems to be the sole remaining selling point: Tom Cruise risking his life doing incredible stunts he probably doesn't need to do.
As is traditional, the plot revolves around various factions trying to obtain an object that will give the owner global dominance - you know, like the plot of the current Indiana Jones movie, only the hi-tech is ultra-modern rather than steeped in antiquity - but this time the object (a key) comes in two parts so double the chase sequences.
All the usual suspects are back: hacker Luther (Ving Rhames), slightly more energetic hacker Benji (Simon Pegg), with pickpocket Grace (Hayley Atwell) possibly being of use to the IMF while ex-MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) continues to be out there going rogue. Even IMF boss Eugene Kitterage (Henry Czerny) returns for the first time since the first film to be somewhat competent yet never quite ahead of our hero Ethan Hunt (Cruise).
For a film where the action sequences are so carefully worked out, the story is a bit of a mess, and not just in the usual "let's keep the audience guessing" fashion. It's your standard globe-trotting between action set pieces (at one point they stop in at a nightclub seemingly awaiting a visit from John Wick) while various evil forces - and some good guys led by Jasper Briggs (Shea Whigham, in his usual flustered but competent mode) - join the fray.
This is yet another blockbuster that's either tapped into the zeitgeist or is stitched together out of bits of other recent blockbusters, only more so. Often we know major plot points before any of the characters do, while one major development is that an important gadget breaks for no reason; the standard scene where everyone explains everything to each other takes place while Hunt is off riding a motorcycle elsewhere. Hopefully someone fills him in before part two.
The big bad here is a self-aware computer program known as "the Entity" that is designed to falsify data but is also so good at reading patterns it can predict the future. Every government in the world wants to use it, while letting it roam free will result in an internet where nothing can be trusted (clearly this movie is set in 2016 and the good guys lose).
There's a clear split set up here between the virtual bad guys - Gabriel (Esai Morales), a sinister figure from Ethan's past who's never been mentioned before is the Entity's embodied henchman, with hitwoman Paris (Pom Klementieff) by his side - and the physical IMF force. One works online and has everything under control, the other is clearly winging it and specialises in physical deception and running around a lot. The film doesn't really do anything with this split, but it does add a nice contrast.
Much more importantly, the action scenes - which are the whole point of this relentlessly energetic film - are very good. Setting-wise they're not always that inventive (there's a car chase through the streets of Rome a la the last Fast & Furious film) but they're extremely well crafted whether they're going for blunt force or fluid motion, and they often have enough of a sense of humour to them to work as more than just a pile of increasingly unlikely developments.
All the really big stunts are in the trailers, but that doesn't lessen their impact here. The final sequence on board the Orient Express (which seems to still be a steam train in the M:I universe) is worth the price of admission alone, an ever-escalating series of nail-biting events where Cruise riding a motorbike off a cliff and parachuting away is only the mid-point.
Also, despite the whole "part one" thing, this actually has a solid, satisfying ending. Ironically enough, this only makes the prospect of the next installment more appealing. Who knew that making a good film was the way to get people interested in your next one?
- Anthony Morris
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