‘Mission Impossible and Tom Cruise are starting to show their age

  • By Brian Miller Seattle Weekly
  • Wednesday, July 29, 2015 5:16pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

In a movie we expect to be full of action, disguise, and gadgets, which it is, the fifth “Mission: Impossible” installment offers us something called “gait analysis.” It’s a full-body scan, part of an ID protocol to enter yet another encrypted computer security vault to capture a USB drive. (Yes, sorry, the whole film boils down to yet another USB drive containing a precious ledger; couldn’t they have devised a scarier rubric — like the Spreadsheet of Certain Death?)

But, gait analysis: Simon Pegg’s tech expert Benji will surely die if his gait is judged inauthentic (or worse, silly). Meanwhile, down below in some underwater computer cavern, Tom Cruise’s indefatigable Ethan Hunt is nearly drowning as he swaps one yellow memory card — D’oh! Dropped it! — for another that might ensure Benji’s gait approval. (The moment comes an hour into the movie; you can guess if the two survive.)

It’s a good sequence, and “M:I — RN” contains several satisfying action sequences from director Christopher McQuarrie. (One nicely alludes to Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” as assassins vie backstage during a Vienna production of “Turandot.”)

Yet I was reminded of gait analysis, and hardly needed a computer scanner to do it, at the picture’s 2-hour mark. Ethan has by that time crashed a motorcycle, crashed a car, made not one but two heroic entrances, suffered a gunshot, taken several beatings, grown a beard, shaved the beard, done some push-ups, shown his hairless chest, clung to the side of a flying aircraft (you saw that bit in the trailer, I know), jumped through several windows, dispatched a dozen baddies, and been deemed a rogue agent by the CIA. Then, running through the cobblestoned streets of London, Tom Cruise — I mean Ethan Hunt — suddenly looks old and tired.

Wait, I thought, is that guy actually limping, huffing and puffing like an actual 53-year-old mortal? His signature 110 percent determination is there, but the gait is gone. We haven’t seen that before: Cruise has spent his 30 very willful years of stardom denying age, insisting that he performs his own stunts, and doing action flicks at an age when his relaxed-fit peers are sliding into more comfortable dadcore roles. (His initial “M:I” reboot was 19 years ago.)

My gait analysis told me one thing, but my movie instincts told me another. I liked that uncertainty more than McQuarrie’s complicated yet familiar script, its stock components seemingly ordered from Amazon: unreliable bosses (Alec Baldwin, Simon McBurney), global locations, loyal flunkies (Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner), rogue agents, terrorist cartel, double-crosses, and a mystery woman (Sweden’s classy Rebecca Ferguson, who’d be right at home in a ’60s-vintage Bond movie).

Though fine summer entertainment, the movie — like Ethan’s hobbled gait — shows considerable franchise fatigue. How many passwords, computer screens, tablet screens, phone screens, and downloads must we endure? Isn’t that why we go to summer movies — to escape from our tech-saturated daily lives? Ironically, it’s Pegg’s Benji, sick of his data-crunching CIA desk job, who articulates that frustration: “See the world — on a monitor.”

He said it, not me.

“Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation” (3 1/2 stars)

The franchise, as well as Ethan Hunt … er, Tom Cruise, shows its age in the latest “M:I” installment. Plenty of tech drama surrounds Hunt and the gang as they hunt down baddies around the globe. There is a lot of action here and some fun, but it’s hard to ignore the wear-and-tear on Cruise, and the franchise, after all these missions.

Rating: PG-13, for bloodless but intense action violence

Showing: Alderwood Mall, Everett Stadium, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Stanwood Cinemas, Pacific Place, Sundance Cinemas Seattle, Thornton Place Stadium 14 + Imax, Woodinville, Blue Fox Drive-In, Cascade Mall

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Sarah Jean Muncey-Gordon puts on some BITCHSTIX lip oil at Bandbox Beauty Supply on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, in Langley, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Bandbox Beauty was made for Whidbey Island locals, by an island local

Founder Sarah Muncey-Gordon said Langley is in a renaissance, and she’s proud to be a part of it.

A stroll on Rome's ancient Appian Way is a kind of time travel. (Cameron Hewitt)
Rick Steves on the Appian Way, Rome’s ancient superhighway

Twenty-nine highways fanned out from Rome, but this one was the first and remains the most legendary.

Byrds co-founder Roger McGuinn, seen here in 2013, will perform April 20 in Edmonds. (Associated Press)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

R0ck ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Roger McGuinn, frontman of The Byrds, plans a gig in Edmonds in April.

Mother giving in to the manipulation her daughter fake crying for candy
Can children be bribed into good behavior?

Only in the short term. What we want to do is promote good habits over the course of the child’s life.

Speech Bubble Puzzle and Discussion
When conflict flares, keep calm and stand your ground

Most adults don’t like dissension. They avoid it, try to get around it, under it, or over it.

The colorful Nyhavn neighborhood is the place to moor on a sunny day in Copenhagen. (Cameron Hewitt)
Rick Steves: Embrace hygge and save cash in Copenhagen

Where else would Hans Christian Andersen, a mermaid statue and lovingly decorated open-face sandwiches be the icons of a major capital?

Last Call is a festured artist at the 2024 DeMiero Jazz Festival: in Edmonds. (Photo provided by DeMiero Jazz Festival)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Jazz ensemble Last Call is one of the featured artists at the DeMiero Jazz Festival on March 7-9 in Edmonds.

Kim Helleren
Local children’s author to read at Edmonds Bookshop

Kim Helleren will read from one of her books for kids at the next monthly Story Time at Edmonds Bookshop on March 29.

Chris Elliott
Lyft surprises traveler with a $150 cleaning charge

Jared Hakimi finds a $150 charge on his credit card after a Lyft ride. Is that allowed? And will the charge stick?

Inside Elle Marie Hair Studio in Smokey Point. (Provided by Acacia Delzer)
The best hair salon in Snohomish County

You voted, we tallied. Here are the results.

The 2024 Kia EV9 electric SUV has room for up to six or seven passengers, depending on seat configuration. (Photo provided by Kia)
Kia’s all-new EV9 electric SUV occupies rarified air

Roomy three-row electric SUVs priced below 60 grand are scarce.

2023 Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE Premium AWD (Photo provided by Toyota)
2023 Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE Premium AWD

The compact SUV electric vehicle offers customers the ultimate flexibility for getting around town in zero emission EV mode or road-tripping in hybrid mode with a range of 440 miles and 42 mile per gallon fuel economy.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.