Action Movie Greatness

Tom Cruise is in peak movie-star form in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

There is something to be said about movie star power in this day and age. Precious few actors have the ability to command the screen based on sheer will, as opposed to having help from all the other sundry aspects that go into making a movie. When one does appear in front of you, it's wise to appreciate the rarity of such a star.

No matter what you may think of Tom Cruise’s personal life — which, at worst, has him participating in Scientology — he remains a movie star of the highest magnitude. Others may have different criteria, but the biggest thing I want out of a person who’s trying to entertain me is for him or her to show me that he or she is giving an all-out effort. The effort that Cruise gives in most of his films, and especially his action movies, is off the charts, something that’s impossible to ignore.

Of course, it helps when he’s doing it in service of a movie that lives up to his talents, and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation most certainly does. Back for the fifth time as IMF Agent Ethan Hunt, Cruise is trying to track down a shadowy organization known as The Syndicate, led by the even more shadowy (shadowier?) Lane (Sean Harris).

When CIA director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) cuts off IMF’s funding, Hunt must use all his skills to succeed, including recruiting William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) into helping him. He also runs up against double agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who plays both sides of the conflict depending on what suits her needs.

After the greatness that was Brad Bird’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, it was difficult to imagine this installment could live up that one. But writer/director Christopher McQuarrie (Edge of Tomorrow) has succeeded by dialing down on the complicated plot elements and ramping up on the action. That doesn’t mean the movie is simple — far from it — but you also don’t need a flow chart to follow along.

Cruise hanging off a plane has been getting the most buzz leading up to the release, but that’s literally the opening sequence of the film, setting in motion an almost non-stop action-fest. Among the highlights are a fight scene in the rafters above an opera performance, a death-defying underwater sequence and a chase scene involving motorcycles. In all of them, it’s plain to see that Cruise did the majority of his own stunts, a fact that does wonders in making the scenes believable even if they stretch the limits of plausibility.

It might seem trite to say this, but it’s impossible to picture anybody but Cruise as the lead in this franchise. Renner was thought to have been the heir apparent when he was brought on in the last film, but the 53-year-old Cruise is as spry, charming and interesting as ever. As long as he’s willing to push the limits and put himself in harm’s way for the series, the producers should let him; the films wouldn’t be half as good without him.

Also great are Pegg, who’s perfected the role of comic relief with an edge; Ferguson, who will find herself in great demand going forward; and Rhames, who needs these movies in order to keep people from forgetting his name.

How much longer Cruise can continue putting in the same effort he does for action movies is up in the air, which is even more reason to value his performance and the resulting film. You’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t allow yourself the pleasure of experiencing him and the excellent Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.

Rebecca Ferguson proves to be Cruise's equal in many ways.

Rebecca Ferguson in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Photo by Keith Hamshere

Rebecca Ferguson proves to be Cruise's equal in many ways.

Movie Review

Korean film No Other Choice uses dark comedy to tell deeper story

Lee Byung-hun in No Other Choice

Photo courtesy of Neon

Lee Byung-hun in No Other Choice.

When Parasite won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2020, it signaled a shift in how international feature films were viewed not only by Academy voters, but also American filmgoers, who made it the fifth-highest grossing non-English language film of all time. Extra attention has been paid to other international films in the intervening years, including the new South Korean film, No Other Choice.

Starring Lee Byung-hun of Squid Game fame, the dark comedy chronicles the increasingly desperate actions of Man-su, a middle manager at a paper factory who is laid off due to automation. After months of trying to find a job at another paper company, he finally finds a good prospect only to learn that several other men may be better candidates. Man-su decides that the only solution is to eliminate the competition.

The only problem is Man-su is a bit of a coward; an early plan at standing up to his company in the face of the lay-offs meets an anticlimactic end. His wishy-washy ways seem to permeate his life, from putting off treatment on a painful tooth to not communicating with his more willful wife to actually going through with his vengeful ideas. He bumbles his way through every aspect of his life, virtually daring anyone to call him out on his poor decision-making.

Written and directed by Park Chan-wook, and co-written by Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar, and Jahye Lee, the film initially seems to be another approach toward telling the class division story that’s at the center of Parasite and Squid Game. And it is that to a degree, as those in charge of the paper companies and the hiring committees are either indifferent or unsympathetic to the plight of those who have been forced out of work.

But the more we see of Man-su, the more it becomes clear that his is a story all its own, one where a man claims there is “no other choice” when in fact there are plenty of other options. The men in the film in general don’t come across well, with many of them reacting to stress by turning into whiners who believe the world is out to get them. Some situations turn violent as the film goes along, events that most of the time could have been avoided if the people involved actually took the time to think things through.

The film features a somewhat confusing story made even more puzzling if you don’t speak Korean. On first viewing, it’s initially unclear why Man-su is doing what he’s doing, or why he’s going after certain people in particular. The plot becomes more understandable as the film progresses, but Chan-wook includes several side plots that muddle things further even as they broaden certain characters. There are also a couple of visual text jokes that can easily be missed if you don’t know where to look.

Byung-hun is great as a man who can’t seem to get out of his own way. The role is almost in direct contrast to the one he played on Squid Game, making it easy to see how well he can adapt to different stories. Son Ye-jin as Man-su’s wife Miri and Lee Sung-min as Bummo, one of Man-su’s intended victims, are also highly engaging.

Like any film not in English, No Other Choice requires viewers to pay strict attention to the screen to get full enjoyment of the actors and their dialogue. While it doesn’t hit as hard as a comedy because of this factor, it’s still a greatly entertaining film whose underlying message makes it become a little deeper.

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No Other Choice is now playing in theaters.

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