CIMPLE – A Curious Introvert's Musings & Photos about Life and Enjoyment

It has been almost 30 years since first watching Maverick (Tom Cruise) on the big screen riding a motorcycle in Top Gun and he proves in Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation that not only does he still have it after all these years, but that there also appears to be no signs of him losing his box office appeal in a role that capitalizes on his charm, humor, acting skills and unbelievable stunts.  Rogue Nation provides a fantastic platform for Cruise to not only be the man of action capable of surviving hanging from a plane, being shot and beaten, fighting in sync to a Puccini opera, a lack of oxygen, crashing cars and motorcycles in fantastic chases, but also be the character that elevates all the scenes with the various actors.  As Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) investigates the Syndicate, a secret network of worldwide former agents believed to be dead who are determined to change the world order, he must do so on his own after the IMF is disbanded and he is forced to go underground to find the leader of this rogue nation.  Along the way he discovers he needs the help of his former IMF team consisting of  Benji (Simon Pegg), Brandt (Jeremy Renner) and Luther (Ving Rhames) and a woman, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), with unknown motives.  The strength of those performances overshadowed the role of the villain, Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), and the addition of Alec Baldwin as the CIA leader responsible for disbanding IMF.  In addition to the great action, the interactions between Cruise and Pegg and Cruise and the wonderful Rebecca Ferguson are what make this film worth seeing.  The humor and timing between Pegg and Cruise were as perfect as the attraction between Cruise and Ferguson and their outstanding fighting scenes with the Syndicate.  The Mission: Impossible franchise as a whole is a favorite of mine and I would give Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol a slight edge over Rogue Nation and the original Mission: Impossible as my favorite.  Tom Cruise climbing the tallest building in the world and his prison escape scene to Dean Martin’s “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” in Ghost Protocol was slightly better than fighting to Turondot by Puccini (yes, I really am choosing Dean Martin over a masterpiece) and hanging from the airplane.  The movie is a must-see of the summer, especially if you want to reminisce about the Maverick of your youth becoming the only man capable of taking down a Rogue Nation.