Marval Movie

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is darn awesome summer movie making. It starts off with Tom Cruise (as Ethan Hunt) hanging off a huge Russian airplane. The thrills accelerate from there. I won’t go into plot because of course it’s convoluted. Ethan and gang have been chasing the Syndicate, but the CIA says there is no syndicate, but of course, there’s a syndicate. And these “dead” spies that appear to be alive have gone rogue.  

A key question in Mission Impossible movies is who works for whom?  Where do loyalties lie? Who can we trust or not trust, or maybe sorta trust and they sorta trust us and we all use each other?  Ethan has his loyal crew played by Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, and Jeremy Renner. Poor Jeremy is stuck back in CIA HQ answering to Alec Baldwin – the joke is “I cannot confirm or deny the existence of that.” Meanwhile, Ethan is chasing the syndicate, but keeps encountering Rebecca Ferguson – she’s maybe British intelligence, or maybe working for the bad dude, or straddling many worlds. Either way, she saves Ethan’s butt a few times and vice versa. Ferguson is a pretty actress who appears to have the smarts and the athletic ability to pull off killings, all while removing great shoes. 

Tom Cruise looks great and is so perfect for this role. He can just gaze at someone, crinkle his eyes, toss off a line, and then spring into action. He makes it look effortless after this many years in the business. I think it’s easy to take for granted how smooth he is as an actor. The Mission Impossible franchise keeps upping the ante successfully. It has not jumped the shark or gone cheesy.  Rogue Nation is a worthy addition. So hang on tight, hold your breath, and wear a seatbelt – this movie will take you for quite an entertaining ride.

Wind River is a small slick indie film. It’s well done, fast paced, and quite a story. Alas, the movie opens with a young lady running barefoot for her life in a snowy region. This does not bode well. Switch to Jeremy Renner (Cody) on his snowmobile. He’s a game warden and is off to hunt a mountain lion that’s been killing livestock. Sadly, he finds the girl and recognizes her – a daughter of a good friend of his. As local police arrive and then the FBI, issues swirl as to jurisdiction. See, the land is part of the Wind River Indian Reservation, and that complicates things.

Cody ends up helping Elizabeth Olsen – the FBI agent out of her element. She’s been pulled in from AZ to Wyoming. So many layers to the story. Cody is divorced from a Native American. Their daughter also died mysteriously several years ago. He’s determined, for his Native American friend Martin’s sake, to find the girl’s killer. Slowly, threads are pulled together. She was seeing a white guy named Matt who worked out on a rig. In flashback, we see that relationship and what transpired. Like the hunter he is, Cody tracks carefully, looks for all the signs, and closes in on the story.

Wind River is not preachy but it does highlight some Native American issues. The poverty, the lawlessness, the plight of missing girls, and other underlying social/historical strains. Meanwhile, the story, the acting, and the conclusion prove to be dramatic. This is a “little” picture that deserves your attention.