An equally thrilling yet safe installment to the franchise

Rating: 8/10 (30 July 2015)

Tom Cruise is back and though he is ageing, he still proves he is capable of stunts. Mission: Impossible - Rough Nation is an action-packed thrill ride but everything is familiar from the mysterious organisation to the double-cross agent. It does not deliver anything we have not seen in the Mission: Impossible franchise. Luckily, director Christopher McQuarrie injects the same thrilling energy into his set pieces and keeps the pace fast enough.
The story: IMF is disbanded and a wanted Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is determined to bring down a mysterious organisation, the Syndicate. Yes, that is all the story offers. The series of action set piece push the story forward. Director Christopher is known for his smaller film, Jack Reacher. From the get-go, he is determined to show that he can handle an action film on a bigger scale. The beginning shows Ethan hanging for his dear life on an airplane. And the action gets bigger and disappointingly balloons down in the climax. This is one of those action films where the climax cannot top the big action scenes in the beginning and middle. The notable action scenes are in the opera and an extended set piece where Ethan breaks into a power station and ends up on a thrilling motorcycle chase. Perhaps Christopher realised that he could not top them so he opted for a more personal and smaller scaled climax. Acting wise is the usual in the franchise. Newcomer Rebecca Ferguson plays a decent character. Music by Joe Kraemer is great.
Overall: Is it worthy to be in the franchise? Yes, it is. It has all what a Mission: Impossible film needs. However, as with Tom Cruise ageing, the franchise is close to loosing its steam with its already-seen-it-all plot. What this franchise could do is to have a fresh take on the spy genre. With the sixth film announced, let's hope it can be something more than just a big- bang action film.