The trailer for the fifth Mission:Impossible movie is live! It's called "Rogue Nation" and it looks fantastic.
I'm a huge fan of this series. I've seen every one in theaters and can't wait to continue the tradition this summer (in IMAX!). I love Ethan's team this time around, too – kind of a "greatest hits" bunch: Rhames, Pegg, Renner. The only person I kinda miss is Maggie Q.
And I have to applaud Tom Cruise for being a brave producer & gatekeeper of the franchise: he's always sought interesting and diverse directors, never content with simply getting a bland hired gun. De Palma, Woo, Abrams (who made his feature directing debut on M:I3), Bird (his first live action film), and now Chris McQuarrie (Oscar winning writer of The Usual Suspects) who is exactly who I would have chosen for the current installment.
It's unfortunate that Jack Reacher (which McQuarried directed) was overshadowed by Cruise being miscast, because it is a stellar action flick. The irony about that whole debacle to me is that Cruise was chastised for being a small guy playing a towering figure (in other words a very physical presence), when Cruise is arguably the most physical working actor there is. Who else begs to climb the Burj Khalifa? Who else begs to do His physical prowess (at 52!) is ridiculous. Anyway, that's all a very long-winded way of saying that McQuarrie is gonna kill it with Rogue Nation. Full disclosure: McQuarrie is a Jersey boy like me, and he's also very, very interactive on Twitter. Even when he's not doing one of his many impromptu "McQ & A"s, he'll almost always respond to a tweet sent his way.
Anyone have a favorite Mission? Or a ranking? My fav at the moment is M:I2. It definitely borders on being overdramatic, but that's also part of the fun – the injection scene and the firefights that surround it are phenomenal (and feature ). The motorcycle chase, and the final duel hold up really well, too... but how great is the opening scene of M:I3?! Each movie has such a distinct identity (yet still fits into the bigger picture of the franchise) that it's hard to pick favorites.