Rogue Nation is kind of a shitty subtitle. This is a pretty minor grievance, but I just need to put that out into the universe. When I hear the words “Rogue Nation,” I think of something like North Korea, an actual, ya know, nation who has gone off the rails and is being a massive prick, threatening missile launches and always acting the fool. What I would never think of is a group of presumed missing or dead special agents from around the world whom have gathered together in an attempt to bring down the system that they once fought to uphold. “Rogues?” Yes. “Nation?” No. Ok, got that off my chest, let’s move on.
Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation begins with the director of the CIA (Alec Baldwin) dissolving the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) and forcing top agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) to go off the grid in order to track down the leader of the aforementioned Rogue Nation, a.k.a. The Syndicate. While trotting around the globe in search of the villain, he recruits his old IMF chums (Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, and Ving Rhames) along with a deep cover British operative (Rebecca Ferguson) whose loyalties are constantly in question
If you’re looking at the actual plot here, there isn’t going to be a ton that will blow you away. The good guys will live and win (they’ve already announced Mission:Impossible 6), the bad guys will lose and/or die. There will be some spectacular stunts and crazy fight sequences. Its nothing revolutionary, we’ve all seen this before. Where the fun comes from is in paying attention to the twists of loyalty that come seemingly every few minutes. And it’s not just Ferguson’s character, Ilsa Faust. Nearly every major character, save Hunt, makes us question where they stand at some point or another. Its like a combination of The Bourne Identity with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Its really cool and provides some extra investment in what could otherwise be a standard spy story.
I could end this write up right here. The movie is really good, you should probably see it. Cruise is at the top of his game, Pegg is awesome in everything, and the script does enough to keep you guessing. Its worth your money. But there is one thing that still bothers me, even a few hours since I left the theater. There is a scene where Hunt and Faust are being chased through the streets of London by armed members of the Syndicate. They come to a fork in the road and Faust simply asks “Which way?” Without verbally answering her, Hunt pulls her down an alley, correctly guessing where to go, and the chase continues. This particular sequence last for maybe two seconds but it struck me as odd. Why is the British agent asking the American where to go in London? This led me to think more about gender in Rogue Nation.
Besides Faust, I counted three other women with speaking roles in the movie. All of them died and none of them lasted for more than one scene. One of them delivers a single line of dialogue, and another is a lighting tech at the Vienna Opera and speaks only within the context of her job. This is not a great wealth of diversity by any stretch of the imagination, but at least we can all take some little solace in the fact that Faust is a very solid character.
She is an agent who happens to be a woman, not a woman who happens to be an agent. She is sexualized to a degree but it is never overt or grating. And, she doesn’t exist just to be a love interest for Hunt. In fact, when they go their separate ways at the end of the film, they part with a hug, not a kiss. Faust and Hunt are shown to be equals in most ways. They go back and forth and a real sense of respect and admiration develops between the two.
This makes the “Which way?” line all the more confounding to me. Faust is an incredibly competent agent who should know London fairly well. If she didn’t know the best possible route, you would think that she would at least be able to make a split second decision in this situation. Or better yet, swap the roles? Have Hunt ask the question and then Faust takes the initiative and leads him. This would show that Hunt recognizes both that she is playing on her home turf and that he is willing to admit when he might not know best.
What this rant comes down to is that in a movie with a massive lack of female characters, it should be imperative that the lone woman should be given every opportunity possible to establish herself and become more than just “The Girl.” This single two word line of dialogue, while not the worst thing to ever happen, certainly did not help to empower her at all. We’ve spent five movies watching Hunt and learning that he can do anything and always knows best. How great would it have been to see him willingly give up control for a second and let a partner and an equal take charge? This has been a pretty good year for feminist movie roles (Hi Mad Max:Fury Road!), and while Rogue Nation didn’t do a great job in continuing that trend, they did build a good character for Ferguson to play. I just wish they had gone that extra mile and taken that line away from her.
