Odds are, if you were to go up to the average person and ask them whether or not they liked Tom Cruise, you would get a negative response. Most people tend to focus on his beliefs or some of his past actions and allow that to formulate an opinion of Mr. Cruise. Some people, and writers, just think he’s lost some cool points over the years. I posed the question on Facebook:
Here are some of the responses I received.
Here’s another –
Some felt a bit differently
It’s gotten to a point now where even the public opinion is influencing box-office reception. I can think of no bigger example of when Edge of Tomorrow went up against The Fault in our Stars, which should have wiped the floor with the teen weeper. That didn’t happen, as the teenage crowd arrived in droves to support the YA adaptation. It seems people are now choosing to not see his films, not on the merit of the movie, but based on whether or not they like Cruise. If you ask me, whether we like or hate Tom Cruise is irrelevant when it comes to evaluating his films. Sure, I’m not a big fan Cruise. However, Mission: Impossible – Rouge Nation is one of the most entertaining action movies this summer.
This fifth story kicks off with the IMF being disbanded and Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) out in the cold. A new threat known as “The Syndicate” emerges from the shadows. The Syndicate is a group a highly trained operatives who are determined to disrupt the World Order. Faced with impossible odds (wink), Ethan gathers his team and joins forces with a British operative (Rebecca Ferguson) who may or may not be part of The Syndicate.
Rouge Nation does what most movies should do when they have a successful formula, and that is stick with it. The audience loves to see Cruise running and blowing stuff up and running some more. The audience loves to see him risking his neck performing increasingly absurd stunt work, like the most incredible dalliance outside a plane as it takes off from the runway. Director Christopher McQuarrie ratchets up the action that was more subdued in his collaboration with Cruise on Jack Reacher, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. When you have a formula that works, why would you change it?
Cruise seems very comfortable wearing the action hero pants, however, what makes this movie pop in my estimation is Simon Pegg. You need Pegg to add some humor and to point out the absurdity of the situations that they find themselves in time after time. It’s this comic relief that adds some flavor to the kinetic fireworks throughout.
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is the epitome of summer entertainment. You don’t have to think, You don’t have analyze. It’s nonstop fun from beginning to end, and audiences should leave satisfied.
No matter how much we may or may not like Tom Cruise, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Mission: Impossible does it again.
