New in Theaters July 31: Vacation, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

By Chris Kavan - 07/30/15 at 01:36 AM CT

This is July's last hurrah - and it has been a very good July (especially compared to last year). So now it's time to see if the month is going to go out with a bang or a whimper. With a huge action sequel and a likewise big comedy, I have a feeling the month is going to end just as strongly as it opened. Hopefully August will prove just as popular with audiences. One thing is for certain - we should have a new champ come Sunday.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION It has been four years since we last joined Tom Cruise as agent Ethan Hunt when he had to clear the name of the IMF in Ghost Protocol. Now the stakes are even higher as the IMF goes up against an organization that's just as skilled, dedicated and powerful - only on the opposite side of the fence (that is to say, pure evil). The old team is back together - Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner are all returning with Rebecca Ferguson and Alec Baldwin joining in the fun. The stunts look pretty incredible (with Cruise, once again, doing most of them on his own) - say what you will about the actor, he isn't afraid to put his body on the line for a great shot. Sure, Mission: Impossible is no Bond or Fast and Furious, but I think the series has been solid and those looking for an action fix will have more than their fill. The downfall of the series has always been its somewhat convoluted storyline (too many double-crosses and fake outs for me) but even so, this is exactly the kind of movie that will play well to summer audiences and I have a feeling it will do just fine over the weekend.

VACATION Getting a slight jump on the competition, Vacation earned $1.2 million by opening early. The film is successor the the Chevy Chase National Lampoon's Vacation films (he and Beverly D'Angelo both make an appearance) with Ed Helms playing the now-adult Rusty who is taking his own family to Wally World - a place he holds near and dear to his heart as the perfect family outing (he's looking at things with some extremely rose-colored glasses, me thinks). This includes his wife (Christina Applegate) and two sons (Skyler Gisondo and Steele Stebbins). Leslie Mann and Chris Hemsworth play his sister, Audrey and her husband. The film hasn't been getting great reviews and the comedy is much raunchier this time around, but the box office is lacking in this kind of "adult" comedy, and thus it has a chance to make decent money. It was filmed on a modest $31 million budget, so it doesn't have to hit it out of the park to make a profit. That being said, I usually steer clear of remakes and such, so this is one I would rather catch on Netflix.

Though there are only two new films both should make a big enough impact that the weekend should be another win year-over-year for Hollywood. I'll be back on Sunday with the results.

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