Wow!  The best movie I’ve seen all year is the fifth — yes, the fifth! — entry in a franchise that I have had real problems with since the beginning.  Rogue Nation is a blast all the way through, with great action sequences, smart scripting, good acting, stellar stuntwork, liberal doses of humor and just the right moral tone.  These films just keep getting better, which is almost unheard of in the stupid sequel-land of Tinseltown.

After one too many missions ends in mayhem, IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) goes into hiding and his team members (Jeremy Renner, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg) are assigned to CIA jobs.  But the rogue nation of the subtitle — the Syndicate — is real, and Hunt goes to great lengths to prove it.  A mysterious woman (wonderfully leggy Rebecca Ferguson) helps and hinders Hunt at various moments, but the bond that builds between them is undeniable.  Meanwhile, a ruthless spy (Sean Harris) is playing everyone against each other for his own gain.

Christopher McQuarrie’s film may not stand up to too much logical scrutiny (it did while I was watching it; less so now), but it is a wild roller coaster ride of epic proportions.  The opening action is right up there with any Bond pre-title sequence, ever.  The motorcycle / car chase is magnificently filmed, as is the opera assassin sequence.  But none of this would matter too much if the characters were absent. What really makes this film work is that the decisions made by Hunt and the others are directly because of their relationships.  And it does work.

Tom Cruise, mainly because of his personal life, has become something of a national punch line.  Yet he keeps cranking out films that are good or great, no matter what the press writes about him.  Oblivion was great.  Edge of Tomorrow was good, perhaps even very good.  Jack Reacher was good, perhaps even very good.  And Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is great.  It’s one of the best action films I’ve ever seen.  Can’t wait for M:I 6.  ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆.  14 August 2015.