Mission: Impossible

Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Writer: Christopher McQuarrie 
Stars: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Jeremy Renner
Strengths: Story, Action Sequences
Weakness: A forgettable antagonist  
Runtime: 131 minutes
Rating: 4.5/5

Plot: Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate - an International rogue organization as highly skilled as they are, committed to destroying the IMF.

Review: The fifth installment in the 19 year old franchise sees the return of Hollywood heavy hitter Tom Cruise as Agent Ethan Hunt of the IMF. This time, his mission involves dismantling the shadow terrorist organization known as the Syndicate with the help of fellow agents from the franchise's previous installments as well as newcomer MI6 agent Ilsa Faust played by Rebecca Ferguson. This movie had a tough assignment; be as exciting as possible and recapture the audience the way the first and second movie did. And it has managed to do just that by being a sort of greatest hits version of all the installments. It takes the psychological plots and subplots of the original, the incredible action sequences and chases from the second, thankfully none from the third and foreign radicals hell-bent on destroying the world from the fourth. 

Each MI movie is directed by a different director who brings their own vision into the movie and this new one is no exception. This time around, the movie was directed by Christopher McQuarrie with whom Cruise had worked before. The performances from all the actors were top class although, a personal gripe with me is the choice of Alec Baldwin as a CIA Director. I was half expecting him to burst into laughter after making a serious face, a trait he has in a lot of other acting roles in different movies. Another point to note is that Jeremy Renner doesn't get as much screen time as he did in Ghost Protocol. Also the villain felt very bland, especially considering that he headed an organization as skilled as the Syndicate that brought the IMF to its knees deserves a villain worthy of remembrance and not a tax accountant. Other than these small niggles though, this is the first proper MI movie since MI 2 and is a definite must watch.

Reviewed by Intisab Shahriyar