Look, we’ll be honest. When the words “Chris Farley in Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation” first appeared on our screen, we were a little cynical. Surely, we thought, this was just the latest in an endless series of clumsily stitched-together trailers, where someone with access to Final Cut and an hour to kill decided to make a goofy little lark, possibly something to stick on their friends’ Facebook pages, along with the caption “wish this wuz tru lol.”
But then we began watching, and lo and behold, it appears creator Todd Spence took his time and made something special. At first, the insertions of Farley into the trailer look as though it’s simply a slapdash assemblage, sticking in goofy moments from the late actor’s career. But then, the larger picture becomes clear: Spence is really trying to match the beats of the regular trailer, slowly letting Farley take over the role of Agent Ethan Hunt. And then you get to that final setpiece tease—you know the one—and it becomes clear that Spence deserves a round of applause. So thank you, sir, for your contribution to trailer mashups today. You have done the Lord’s work.