MI films offer memorable action and 'Rogue Nation' does too, yet it all feels familiar...

Rating: 8/10 (2 August 2015)

Ethan Hunt and team take on their most impossible mission yet, tracking down the Syndicate - a highly skilled international rogue organization, committed to destroying the IMF.
The fifth entry in a franchise that began almost twenty years ago, still starring now 53 year old Tom Cruise, the MI films have offered memorable action and 'Rogue Nation' doesn't disappoint, but it feels like we've been here before.
Tom Cruise assembles his usual colleagues Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, and Ving Rhames to eliminate the threat posed by the Syndicate. With CIA director (Alec Baldwin) determined to shut down the IMF and newcomer Rebecca Ferguson as the agent whose allegiance is a mystery, there's much to keep the audience engaged. Sean Harris as the main villain, however, isn't up to much apart from wearing stylish spectacles and delivering a performance that's not too far off Eddie Redmayne in Jupiter Ascending. Well, maybe not THAT bad, but not memorable either.
From the incredible opening plane stunt, a fight scene played out in the Vienna Opera House that outdoes Bond at his own game, to a frantic car/bike chase within the narrow streets of Morocco, these sequences had me holding my breath. Yet funnily enough the one scene that failed to impress as much was the underwater vault mission, with it's CGI heavy visuals and poor execution/realisation, it sticks out like a sore thumb.
'Jack Reacher' director Christopher McQuarrie doesn't bring anything that sets it apart drastically from Brad Bird's Ghost Protocol, with familiar beats like face masks, double agents, a weak villain and uh, 'disavowed'. Yet i still enjoyed myself because thankfully it's not a turn-your-brain off type effort. Tom Cruise's energy and drive push this film. Pacing, tone and humour are all handled well, the performances and dialogue are decent enough. The action direction is excellent, no shaky cam or over editing. If you came for the stunts alone, you won't leave unhappy. Despite all that, there's a feeling that the producers might rest on their laurels after hitting a groove that began with MI4.