A strange duck in the series, encompassing many of my personal problems with it, addressing some of them, and carrying on some of the major strengths but never quite following through with them in a way which soars like greater entries in the series. Cards on the table: I was never really a fan of "Fallout", which received a disproportionate amount of acclaim, and think this is an improvement in many regards, as well as a step back. The main strengths of the series have been the much-publicised large scale stunts and big "Ethan Hunt jumps off a thing" moments: here the undeniable high point (well, putting aside its story of the making of it...) is a Buster Keaton falling train sequence, dodging pianos and chairs and exploding carriages, all mayhem and much welcome. But the film is 2 and 1/2 hours long, and that comes right at the end. The car chase in Venice (side note: both it and "Fast X" have car chases in Venice, a bland lead, a poe-faced tone despite the wackiness and a sprawling cast of characters brought back solely to show off that they still exist, and it does make one wonder...) has some good humour to it with a tiny yellow car and a handcuffed Ethan and Grace bimbling about trying to avoid everybody in tanks and jeeps and gunfights (though I feel the joke could have been a bit funnier if Grace didn't know how to drive, full stop) with one driving and the other yelling directions. Yet it doesn't quite pop in the other action sequences the way it wants to, it doesn't feel as gritty or gnarly as McQuarrie's early "Way of the Gun" (side note: watch "Way of the Gun" if you want a dose of 90s unpleasantness, I quite like it and find it my favourite of his works) and lacks the choreography of a "John Wick" or madness of "Hobbs and Shaw", the latter of which would match the Looney Tunes vibe they are seeking in their physical stuntwork. But the dialogue and plotting around it?
That brings us to the weakness of the films, here both on stark display and somewhat addressed, in a study in contrasts.
The "Mission Impossible" movies have struggled with characters and personality. I struggle to describe Ethan Hunt. The best parts of "Rogue Nation" were the banter and bickering between Luther and Brandt (oh Jeremy Renner), and the attempts to investigate the team and make Benji crack, and finding where Isla's loyalties lie. The highlight of the series ("Ghost Protocol") was a quartet of characters on the run, trying to clear their names and their issues (a quest for venegance, a quest for redemption, their first time in the field, and Ethan) on the run from my favourite character in the series: a cop just doing his job. Here, we have a brief exchange of banter between Luther and Benji, then that's it. The characters are described as being a thing, then we have their dialogue be either directions towards a key, or the word "key" (seriously, there's a bit on the train where Grace and Ethan say the word "key" about 8 or 9 times in the space of a single sentence), and talk gravely about the dangers posed by the world incredibly poe-faced. But it never really feels like it earns it. Some of it is fun (Henry Czerny hisses and growls all of his dialogue, in a way which is clearly the filmmakers trying to have you believe he is the villain, despite them trying this trick in the first film and it coming off the back of Cary Elwes being introduced as a character named "Denlinger" and looking shady as fuck. I like Henry Czerny and am happy he is getting more work, even if he is going to be the patriarch of the Le Domas Clan in my mind forever), but the key flaw in this respect is the villain. Esai Morales tries with what he is given in terms of the material, and almost threatens to be good and threatening, but is introduced 7 movies in as the "ultimate villain who ruined Ethan Hunt's life by killing the love of his life" (not his wife Julia from movie 3, or his apprentice/friend Agent Farris in the same movie, and not Nyah from "2", but instead some girl who is introduced in a blink and you'll miss it flashback), and basically gets to growl and scowl and say prophetic cryptic things of evil AI. Yes, a character dies halfway through the film, but it is oddly telegraphed (they give it to one of the better, more subtle performers, who is re-introduced as competent 40 minutes in, and then loses that competence solely for the purposes of needing somebody to die...) and it just made me go:
"Oh. Okay..."
Yet, they also address the supporting cast, new characters all, by giving them moments of personality. Pom Klementieff (whom I want in all movies, usually in a buddy cop adventure with either Jessica Rothe or Daniela Melchior) makes something of an impact as a blood crazy assassin dressed as "Black Parade" era MCR (even if making her the "mute Asian" is... come on man.) and Grace and Vanessa Kirby's "White Widow" have their moments, but the highlight for me was Shea Whigham turning up as "Detective Shea Whigham", having genuinely funny contrasting buddy cop adventures with his buddy (Greg "Tarzan" Davies) who prefers a more nuanced approach. He had something of an arc over the course of the film too.
The screenplay is cluttered yet sparse in equal measure, and whilst it has some spark in its supporting parts, Ethan and Gabriel are too underwritten as characters to be interesting, and thus the tension suffers. I still kind of recommend it if you like the series.
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