Your mission, if you love fine ensemble casts, clever plots, and great sets, is to see this movie soon

Rating: 8/10 (2 September 2015)

Somewhere in Belarus, secret, secret agent Ethan (Tom Cruise) and his sidekick Benji (Simon Pegg) are trying to stop a plane from taking off with a dangerous cargo. It's tricky. Our Ethan has to jump on the plane and trust that Benji gets the computer systems to open the door. Whew, that was a close one, as Ethan parachutes away with the weapons cargo. Is it just another day in the life? Yes. But, not long after, Ethan goes into a record store in London, expecting to receive his next mission but, instead, is kidnapped by another secret, nefarious agency, The Syndicate. Meanwhile, Ethan's boss (Jeremy Renner) has failed to convince HIS superior (Alec Baldwin) that this covert arm of the CIA should still be in operations. It's shut down, so there won't be a rescue team for Ethan. However, just as EH is being pummeled by the enemy, a beautiful lady operative, Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson) works to free him, at risk to herself, for she has infiltrated the enemy and can't blow her cover. Naturally, Ethan is NOW after the Syndicate. This takes him to the opera in Vienna, the mountains of Morocco, and back to London again. Mr. Hunt will need help from all of his friends, plus Luther (Ving Rhames), Ilsa, and the Prime Minister of England (Tom Hollander) to bring down his enemy. Can he really do it, specially since the head of British Intelligence may be a turncoat? This fine action flick, the fifth in a series, has many wonderful assets. First, the cast is just great, with Cruise slipping into his part in a fine ensemble without any obvious attempts to keep the camera on him. Well done, Mr. Cruise. Pegg, Baldwin, Renner, Hollander, Rhames, Simon McBurney, and all the rest each contribute to the flick's success. Ferguson is quite a find, a newcomer who recalls the beauty and fire of Catherine Zeta-Jones. Then, the settings are stunning, of course, with a wonderful scene backstage at a live production of Turandot, where body blows accompany the superb arias. In addition, there's the motorcycle chase on a coastal highway in Morocco that is out of this world. Naturally, the opening sequence with Cruise hanging on for dear life as he waits for the plane's doors to open is breathtaking. I could go on, but I won't. The story, also, is a clever tale of two Rogue Nations, one for good and one for bad, and includes technology that most can follow. So, what's really not to like? Your mission, and you NEED to accept it, film fans, is to make time for Mission Imp.