Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation July 31, 2o15

Here’s a little secret that a lot of screenplay writers don’t know: ALL movies—no matter the genre, no matter the topic, no matter the setting—are action oriented. I’m not talking about gun battles and car chases and buildings imploding or scenes full of physical violence from the moment the credits roll, I’m talking about those smaller scenes where people . . . just talk. Yeah, that’s what I said: there is (or should be) A ton of action, verbal action in scenes where people sit in chairs, stare at each other and just talk. I know! Revolutionary idea, right, that the “dialogue scenes” in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation are just as action filled as that beautifully insane Moroccan motorcycle chase in MI5? Well, it’s not really a “new” idea to make dialogue scenes “active.” The ancient Greeks knew that the actor’s voice with the right words to say could create in the audience’s mind a wonderful sense of movement and activity. And the GREAT acting coach, Constantin Stanislavski, made this a major point in his teachings:

Acting = Action

Writer (and director) Christopher McQuarrie delivers a script that is “nonstop” action. No, Seriously. Every scene is geared towards action. The characters are actively trying to accomplish something in an extremely active manner in EVERY scene. And whether it’s the very intimate scenes when Ethan and the mysterious Ilsa try to figure out if the other is an ally or a deadly enemy, or the bigger than life scene where Benji pleads with Ethan to let him go into the field it’s all an exciting/edge of your chair time for the audience.

But as grand a script as this is, it also takes an extremely skilled group of actors to make it work. And this ensemble of Thespians (Okay, I just had to use the old high school term for theatre geeks at least once in a review) are working together like a
well-oiled acting machine. There are no real stars here, and much to his credit Tom Cruise works extremely well fitting in with this group. But I have to single out one actor cause the character he created for this movie, Solomon Lane (which is real close to sounding like Robert E. Howard’s character, Solomon Kane), is one scary frigging psychopathic villain. Listen, I’m an ex-Marine and Vietnam veteran (Okay, okay, I was a cook . . . Semper Fi; stir and fry . . . but still a vet.) and this character scared the crap out of me. It was a brilliant performance by English actor, Sean Harris.

However, as wonderful as the movie is, there are a few glitches.

1. Too many damn close ups! Don’t you filmmakers get it? Close ups kill tension in a scene. It’s that simple. And you shot most of this film in one of the most beautiful, intriguing places in the world, Morocco, and all you want to show me are close ups of the inside of Tom Cruise’s nose? Okay, it is pretty nice the septum . . . but I’d rather see Morocco! So back that damn camera up!

2. Extremely uninteresting hand-to-hand combat scenes. It’s got to stop these uninteresting, chopped-up, unwatchable fight scenes. They really slow down the action. If the actor can’t do the stunts, then hire someone who can. Or if the problem is you just don’t know HOW to shoot a fight scene, go watch—John Wick (2015), Kingsman: the Secret Service (2015)—to see how it’s done!
3. Stop jump cutting intimate dialogue between characters. It’s extremely annoying to try and follow intimate dialogue scenes when you keep jump cutting back and forth to each character when he/she speaks!  There’s a scene in a café when the MI Team sits around a table to discuss their strategy to take out the ever evil Syndicate and the camera keeps jumping back and forth, back and forth to whomever is talking.  They do it ALL THE TIME! Again, it’s annoying and totally uninteresting to watch from an audience member’s point of view. Back the camera up, make it a static shot if you like, and just shoot the damn scene. Everybody doesn’t have to be seen face-full just because they’re talking.

Although the above gripes are artistic ideals I’m passionate about . . . I really liked the script and the work of the actors in this movie. And it’s saying something about the power of a good script and damn good acting when I can forgive technique faults.