Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation / YMMV

Alternate Character Interpretation: Did Ethan really accomplish the superhuman feat of memorizing every single bank account number, or just the single example he gives while counting on Lane not calling his bluff?
Anti-Climax Boss: Unlike the other villains in the Mission: Impossible series, Solomon Lane goes down with very little effort. Ethan simply lures him into a trap and later gasses and arrests him. This came about when Cruise and McQuarrie realized they had run out of the time and budget needed to film a lengthy fight, so they decided a quick, nonlethal takedown would fit best.
Awesome Music:
- The trailer rendition of "Ready or Not" is suitably menacing in atmosphere.
- The usage of "Nessum Dorma" as Ilsa's theme throughout the whole movie.
Catharsis Factor: Ethan and the team trapping Lane in the bulletproof box that they then fill up with knockout gas because it not only perfectly echoes Lane trapping and gassing Ethan earlier so he was helpless to stop him from shooting the Record Shop Keeper, but that it results in Lane trying to shoot his way out before then eventually just clinging to the glass in futility until he's out cold.
Complete Monster: Soloman Lane. See the main series page for details.
Crazy Is Cool: Ethan spends a large portion of the film being utterly batshit in the name of the mission. Plane taking off with chemical weapons? He climbs onto the plane and hangs on in mid-flight until he can enter. Computer databanks protected by an enclosed water tank? He holds his breath for several minutes to break into them. Mooks getting away on motorcycles? He climbs into a car and chases them moments after near-drowning. Benji held captive by Lane unless Ethan hands over the ledger? He gloats that he memorized all the account numbers in the ledger and destroyed it, forcing Lane to keep him alive after freeing Benji.
Even Better Sequel: Both audiences and professional critics seem to consider this the 2nd best film of the franchise, topping the already-acclaimed Ghost Protocol in glowing reception. Fallout came out in 2018 and even topped this film, overshadowing its rating of 76% on Metacritic with an astounding 86%!
Harsher in Hindsight:
- The mention of a civilian jet going down in Indonesian territorial waters is eerily similar to Air Asia 8501, which went down in 2014.
- The fire at the chemical facility in the Philippines is an eerie reminder of the factory fire that took place in Valenzuela in May 2015, a month before the movie debuted.
Hilarious in Hindsight: Sean Harris said that he "wasn't a big franchise actor" and asked to be killed off at the end. By the time the production was done, not only was he captured alive, but ended up returning in the sequel as Ethan's Arch-Enemy. And he survives that one too!
Ho Yay: Between Ethan and Benji, big time. The scene after the opera plays out like one half of a couple asking the other not to push them away, tears and all, and, at the end, Benji is the one the Big Bad kidnaps to force Ethan's hand. Benji plays out more Love Interest tropes than Ilsa. Seriously, just picture an actress playing Benji's parts rather than Simon Pegg.
Money-Making Shot: Ethan hanging onto the plane as it takes off. The over-the-top stunt done with (mostly) practical effects was heavily featured in the advertising, and for good reason.
More Popular Replacement: Ilsa takes over Jane's position as the female member of Team Hunt, and while Jane is well-liked, it pales to how universally-beloved Ilsa is due to her being a competent and badass agent who has her own agency and character arc that doesn't revolve around a male character, Rebecca Ferguson's performance, and her strong chemistry and Unresolved Sexual Tension with Ethan.
Narm: Ethan's utter confusion when Ilsa first reveals her double agent status is a bit silly, given how the concept of being undercover should be old hat to an experienced secret agent like him.
One-Scene Wonder:
- The British Prime Minster really milks his brief screen time by being a Reasonable Authority Figure displaying Tranquil Fury for half of that time and having some hilarious loopy lines after being tranquilized in the second half of the scene.
- Badass Israeli Giant Mook Kagan only lasts long enough for one fight scene, but it's a pretty good one.
Retroactive Recognition: One of the A400 crew guys that is seen on the plane IMF is trying to intercept at the beginning of the film is played by Alec Utgoff, who would later become much more recognizable to general audiences as Alexei from Stranger Things.
Shocking Moments: The trailers end with Ethan clinging to the side of a military plane as it's taking off. And no, that's not simply really good CGI work — that's Tom Cruise clinging to the side of a real-life military plane during takeoff.^note Even more impressive? That wasn't a climactic scene, it was at the beginning of the film.
Special Effects Failure: The car crash during the chase scene in Morocco look laughably fake as we see the car bouncing on both its bumpers akin to a Looney Tunes cartoon. Also doubles as Narm.
Strawman Has a Point: The audience is supposed to disagree with the committee chairman who shuts down IMF, calling them reckless - except this comes immediately after a field mission that clearly was reckless. Mission Control had no idea Luther was involved in the op, and no one had any idea where Ethan was, so it was poorly planned even before the hacking fails. Furthermore, in refusing to discuss IMF operations with Congress given the present vacancy in the vaguely defined role of "Secretary", Brandt has effectively positioned IMF as being above the law, which should scare the hell out of anybody concerned with the increasing power of the US national security apparatus following 9/11.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Some critics have pointed out that the whole idea of Ethan's IMF going up against an anti-IMF team made by the Syndicate is this due to Solomon Lane's villain team being underdeveloped. Outside of Lane's #2 guy, Janik Vinter, the anti-IMF team mostly consisted of just unnamed Mooks.

YMMV / Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

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