History Film / MissionImpossibleRogueNation

* DarkerAndEdgier: After ''Ghost Protocol'' went for a less heavy affair, ''Rogue Nation'' brings back a grittier and harder style to the film series. Solomon Lane is cold, unflinching, and extremely callous with no regard for any damage he might inflict in his goals, collateral or otherwise. Ethan is absolutely bent on bringing him down with a sense of passion and personal investment not seen since ''III'' and this is the first movie in the series that minces no words that his status as a rogue asset is enough to get him killed on sight. This film also shines a harsh light on the status of government agents as disposable assets that only receive backup so long as it serves the purposes of those in charge.

* OddlySmallOrganization: [[spoiler:The Syndicate is revealed to be such, seemingly only having a few dozen operatives at most despite the trailers and most of the movie presenting it as a major global organization]].

* EvilCounterpart: The Syndicate is a criminal version of the heroic IMF; a group of agents at the pinnacle of their game but only serving their own ends, not those of a nation. [[spoiler:The reason for this is that the Syndicate is a pet project of the British government that was never supposed to get off the ground but the one charged with creating it went forward anyway and then lost control of the group]].

* EvilCounterpart: The Syndicate is a criminal version of the heroic IMF.

* GoLookAtTheDistraction: How Hunt [[spoiler:gets to the Prime Minister and exposes Atlee. He has Brant ''[[FakeDefector pretend]]'' to betray the team by telling Hunley they're after the British Prime Minister; Hunley thus walks Brant and ''[[LatexPerfection Hunt disguised]]'' as "Atlee" right into a room with the PM. As a bonus, mentioning the Syndicate to the PM reveals Atlee's role in its creation]].

* AccidentalTruth: [[spoiler:Hunley attempts to warn the Prime Minister what a potential threat Ethan Hunt is by playing up his abilities, even suggesting that Hunt has probably anticipated them having that exact discussion. Ethan is ''standing in the room with them'' '''disguised as Atlee''' having set Hunley up to be there at that time through the simple yet elegant method of having Brandt ''[[FakeDefector pretend]]'' to betray the team; Hunley thus walks Brandt and "Atlee" ''right through security to meet the Prime Minister'' because ''[[GoLookAtTheDistraction Brant told him he was Hunt's target]]'']].

* PlausibleDeniability: A series staple. [[spoiler: After confirming Atlee originated the plan for The Syndicate via the Prime Minister, holding both him and Hunley hostage while they get the PM's [[BorrowedBiometricBypass biometric credentials]], and eventually capturing Atlee himself, Ethan and Brandt tell Hunley that HE was the one who protected the PM after Atlee shot him with a sedative (as Ethan was disguised as Atlee, the PM is just disoriented enough to remember that part). Hunley later told a special committee that shutting down the IMF was AllPartOfTheShow because they were worried The Syndicate had infiltrated them, and needed Ethan's role as a disadvowed agent to be absolute in order to root out The Syndicate and eventually restore the IMF]].

** After their shenanigans in the previous films (Namely the whole "Clipping a building in San Francisco with an ICBM as it crashed into the bay" thing), the IMF is still being investigated, and is shut down. [[spoiler:...aaand is reinstated at the end of the film, acknowledging that there ''are'' missions only they can handle. On top of ''that'', the witch-hunting bureaucrat who had them shut down is forced to claim the whole thing was AllPartOfTheShow, due to the possibility of the Syndicate having infiltrated the highest levels of government]].

* BulletsDoNotWorkThatWay: When bullets hit something they cannot penetrate, such as bullet-resistant glass, they still have to bounce somewhere or drop on the ground, right? Apparently they just disappear [[spoiler:in the climax, as Lane is trapped in the glass box.]]

* AntagonistTitle: "Rogue Nation" refers to the film's antagonists, the Syndicate. [[spoiler:And it also refers to the fact that the head of MI6 defied orders and went rogue to ensure such an organization did exist.]]

* GambitPileup: Hooo, boy. Where to begin? Let's just say that almost everyone in this film is being played by someone else one way or another. It's a never-ending XanatosSpeedChess game from start to finish between Hunley's CIA, Ethan's IMF, Lane's The Syndicate, [[spoiler:Atlee and Ilsa's MI6.]]

** The Syndicate, in addition to being a mirror-image of the IMF, was created [[spoiler:as a completely unaccountable and secretive network by MI6. Even after going rogue and without the funds to sustain the organization for decades to come, it more than meets Atlee's expectations.]]

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:Chief Atlee of the MI6, who created the Syndicate against the British Prime Minister's wishes and is now trying to cover up his role in its creation after Lane went rogue and took control of the Syndicate to perform terrorist attacks.]]

** Ethan Hunt being forced to witness the young lady IMF agent's murder by Solomon Lane makes his mission to stop The Syndicate personal enough, but it wasn't until [[spoiler:Benji is kidnapped]] that he pulls out all stops and do everything to bring Lane down, up to and including [[spoiler:using the truth serum on the British Prime Minister and the head of MI6, potentially risking a war between the United States and United Kingdom.]]

* PoliceAreUseless: The only remaining American intelligence agency, the CIA, doesn't even know the Syndicate exists. [[spoiler:{{MI6}} knows it exists -- because [[NiceJobBreakingItHero it's their fault]].]]

* RenegadeSplinterFaction: It's revealed that The Syndicate [[spoiler:was originally established by MI6, but was never given the British Prime Minister's approval.]]
* ReverseMole: [[spoiler:Ilsa Faust was sent to infiltrate The Syndicate by MI6.]]

** Discussed in-universe by Ilsa Faust, after she and Ethan meets and she gives him three choices on how to proceed from the situation he's in right now. First is by turning her and the MacGuffin in to the CIA and hoping that it would be enough to prove the existence of The Syndicate (which is highly unlikely). Second is leaving her to her fate and attempting to take down Lane on his own (also highly unlikely). The third choice? [[spoiler:Screw everything and run away together with her, since both of them have [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived their usefulness to their own governments who don't care whether they live or die]], and that even if they succeed in pulling everything off, there will always be people like Lane to create further menace and people like them to try and stop it, [[StatusQuoIsGod so nothing really changes.]]]] Subverted in a sense in that all of this is [[spoiler:a distraction for Ethan while The Syndicate kidnaps Benji.]] Then ''double subverted'' because meeting with Ilsa gives Ethan enough clues to put two and two together and correctly concluded that [[spoiler:Ilsa's boss Atlee, the head of MI6, has ties with The Syndicate, presenting him with the very third option he's looking for.]]

** Ilsa's walk from the pool in only her (very) little black bikini. A little bit [[JustifiedTrope justified]] because she was in the pool practicing holding her breath underwater, and even her sexy walk as she gets out is justified as more than mere fanservice, she's deliberately trying to make Ethan and Benji think with something other than their brains.
** Has a ToplessnessFromTheBack scene as she changes to a new outfit in Morocco with a glance of a side boob.
** We also get shirtless Ethan -- again -- plus Benji and Ethan dressed up nicely for the opera.

** In contrast to CIA Director Hunley (who's shown to be more of an ObstructiveBureaucrat for a good deal of the movie), Attlee is this, given that he seems to treat his subordinates in British intelligence as disposable tools. [[spoiler:Not to mention being the reason behind The Syndicate's existence in the first place.]]

* BigBadEnsemble: Solomon Lane and [[spoiler:Attlee]]. The former is a [[spoiler:rogue [=MI6=] agent who's gone completely off the grid and took over an unsanctioned branch the agency and plans to secure funds from the prime minster as a means of expanding The Syndicate]]. The latter, meanwhile [[spoiler:is [[NiceJobBreakingItHero responsible for creating it in the first place]] and is ruthless in his ways of trying to contain his mess]].

** [[DirtyCoward Attlee]] is no slouch himself, forcing his agent [[spoiler:Ilsa]] into a MortonsFork to either keep her invested in a dangerous long term plan taking down the Syndicate slowly and securely or get [[spoiler:killed keeping his part in the Syndicate's creation secret. But he's ultimately at fault for the Syndicate's formation and gets taken out by Hunt pretty quickly after Hunt identifies him.]]
** And of course, [[TheHero Hunt]] himself. He tends to use the KansasCityShuffle, IndyPloy, and BatmanGambit and while [[spoiler:Lane succeeds in manipulating him and Ilsa early on, he successfully removes Attlee with some LatexPerfection to manipulate the Prime Minister into revealing the Syndicate to the CIA, and becomes a LivingMacGuffin to enact some karmic justice on Lane while helping Ilsa pull her final HeelFaceTurn.]]
* CIAEvilFBIGood: It's initially set up to give the impression that the CIA are the antagonists alongside The Syndicate. [[spoiler:Except that it's British intelligence under Attlee who turn out to be far more sinister than the CIA, who're unaware that The Syndicate even exists.]]
* ComplexityAddiction: Solomon Lane in spades (and to a lesser extent perhaps, Ilsa Faust and [[spoiler:Chief Attlee]]. He goes to ridiculous lengths to manipulate Ethan Hunt and all of his plans are highly convoluted, though with a reasonable amount of justification. [[spoiler:In the end, its this trope that gets him caught- he just ''had'' to keep manipulating Ethan and Ilsa which gives the former enough time and reason to come up with a plan of his own to beat him.]]

* EngineeredPublicConfession: [[spoiler:When it seems like Brandt has betrayed Ethan's team to the CIA, in reality he's working with him to clear his name ''and'' proceed with their objective by luring Attlee, the person behind the creation of The Syndicate, into a meeting with the British Prime Minister and CIA Director Hunley, then uses the truth serum on him and forces him to confess his crimes.]]

* EvilBrit: Solomon Lane [[spoiler:and Attlee. Given that the former was a British agent tasked with running The Syndicate before going rogue. While the latter conceived it as an attempt to guarantee British interests, and isn't afraid to dispose of agents or do things even the CIA disapproves of.]]

* GambitPileup: Hooo, boy. Where to begin? Let's just say that almost everyone in this film is being played by someone else one way or another. It's a never-ending XanatosSpeedChess game from start to finish between Hunley's CIA, Ethan's IMF, Lane's The Syndicate, [[spoiler:Attlee and Ilsa's MI6.]]
* GambitRoulette: [[spoiler:Solomon Lane captured Ethan Hunt and handed him over to Ilsa Faust knowing full well that she was likely TheMole sent by [=MI6=] to bring him down. He anticipated that she would help Hunt escape and would be forced to do anything he told her to try and win her "trust" back, and he needed this because only Ethan Hunt was able to get the data file he needed. He further knew that neither Faust nor Hunt would go after the data file unless they thought it was information that could bring the Syndicate down, meaning they were doing his dirty work all along. Unfortunately, both Attlee and Hunt play a mean game of this themselves.]]

** The Syndicate, in addition to being a mirror-image of the IMF, was created [[spoiler:as a completely unaccountable and secretive network by MI6. Even after going rogue and without the funds to sustain the organization for decades to come, it more than meets Attlee's expectations.]]

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:Chief Attlee of the MI6, who created the Syndicate against the British Prime Minister's wishes and is now trying to cover up his role in its creation after Lane went rogue and took control of the Syndicate to perform terrorist attacks.]]

** [[spoiler:Used successfully to obtain the PM's biometric and voice data, taking down Attlee in the process.]]

* PlausibleDeniability: A series staple. [[spoiler: After confirming Attlier originated the plan for The Syndicate via the Prime Minister, holding both him and Hunley hostage while they get the PM's [[BorrowedBiometricBypass biometric credentials]], and eventually capturing Attlier himself, Ethan and Brandt tell Hunley that HE was the one who protected the PM after Attlier shot him with a sedative (as Ethan was disguised as Attlier, the PM is just disoriented enough to remember that part). Hunley later told a special committee that shutting down the IMF was AllPartOfTheShow because they were worried The Syndicate had infiltrated them, and needed Ethan's role as a disadvowed agent to be absolute in order to root out The Syndicate and eventually restore the IMF]].

* {{Realpolitik}}: This is what Attlee uses to justify his actions [[spoiler:including the creation of The Syndicate]], arguing that countries have no friends, just common interests. [[spoiler:CIA Director Hunley clearly didn't get the memo upon finding out, considering it incredible that America's British allies would do something like this...and unfortunately for Attlee, they didn't, since the British Prime Minister never approved it, meaning Attlee is out of a job for trying to cover it up.]]
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The British Prime Minister [[spoiler:who flat out refused to approve the creation of the Syndicate, and is rather upset to find out Attlee went through with it anyway.]]

* SpannerInTheWorks: If not for Attlee erasing the contents of the disk when Ilsa tried to deliver it, Lane likely would have won.

** Discussed in-universe by Ilsa Faust, after she and Ethan meets and she gives him three choices on how to proceed from the situation he's in right now. First is by turning her and the MacGuffin in to the CIA and hoping that it would be enough to prove the existence of The Syndicate (which is highly unlikely). Second is leaving her to her fate and attempting to take down Lane on his own (also highly unlikely). The third choice? [[spoiler:Screw everything and run away together with her, since both of them have [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived their usefulness to their own governments who don't care whether they live or die]], and that even if they succeed in pulling everything off, there will always be people like Lane to create further menace and people like them to try and stop it, [[StatusQuoIsGod so nothing really changes.]]]] Subverted in a sense in that all of this is [[spoiler:a distraction for Ethan while The Syndicate kidnaps Benji.]] Then ''double subverted'' because meeting with Ilsa gives Ethan enough clues to put two and two together and correctly concluded that [[spoiler:Ilsa's boss Attlee, the head of MI6, has ties with The Syndicate, presenting him with the very third option he's looking for.]]

* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: Attlee is revealed to be this, conceiving The Syndicate as a way of securing British interests even if it means going against the wishes of his own countrymen, including the Prime Minister]].

* NonIndicativeName: "The Disk" is a thumb drive.

** The security code Hunt gives Brandt after he escapes from The Syndicate in London is Bravo Echo One One, the same security code Hunt gives in [[Film/MissionImpossible the first film]]. This film shows the opposite side of the phone call, and putting the scene from this film with the corresponding scene from the first film [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siGJbcYUZ6Q shows both sides of the conversation]].

* BrokenAesop: At the end, they get the IMF reinstated by proofing that there are some things that can only be done by agents not kept on too tight a leash. [[spoiler:But actually, none of the events of the movie would have happened, had the British not tried to create their own version of the IMF.]]

** When Benji and Ethan arrive at Ilsa's compound in Casablanca, Ilsa's first words to them are "And what brings you gentlemen to Casablanca?" This appears to be an in-universe shoutout to Film/{{Casablanca}}, where Creator/IngridBergman's character says something very similar. Bonus in that Rebecca Ferguson has something of Ingrid Bergman's looks about her.

''Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation'' (2015) is the fifth entry in the ''[[Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries Mission: Impossible]]'' film series, directed and written by [=Christopher McQuarrie=] (''Film/TheUsualSuspects'', ''Film/EdgeOfTomorrow'') from a story by [=McQuarrie=] and Drew Pearce, and starring Creator/TomCruise as Ethan Hunt.

* MissionImpossibleCableDrop: [[spoiler:Surprisingly averted in this film. The closest it has is when Ethan and Ilsa use a rope to drop from the roof of the opera house in Vienna, and the almost broken pipe that Ethan used to tie the rope promptly falls down afterwards.]]

** The British Prime Minister, having had enough of [[spoiler:Atlee's efforts to [[BlatantLies cover his own ass]] regarding the Syndicate, in a tone of calm anger tells Atlee to "save it for the public enquiry]].