Winner of The Week: Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise, through sheer persistence, has re-established himself as the best action hero in all the land.
Tom Cruise has had a pretty intense few years. Since he unforgettably jumped on Oprah’s couch, the possibly ex-Scientologist has had to deal with box office failures, an extremely public divorce, and whatever the hell was going on in Rock of Ages. But slowly, ever so slowly, he’s been rebuilding goodwill. It started last year with the insanely enjoyable Edge of Tomorrow , showing off just how much fun Cruise can be when he’s given good material to work with, and not asked to ham it up in a terrible film.
He’s followed that up with yet another Mission Impossible (the fifth), but the series has aged like a fine wine. Each installment keeps getting better, and Rogue Nation seems to be no different:
Especially in relation to the increasingly dour James Bond films, Mission Impossible succeeds because it knows that it’s an action film, nothing more, nothing less. Like the Fast & Furious series is essentially about cool stunts and cars, Mission Impossible is about sweet gadgets, explosions, and fun characters. Maybe Daniel Craig should take some pointers from our “Winner of The Week” before he leads us on yet another dark, joyless adventure as 007.
Photos by Paramount Pictures/Everett Collection
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