Rogue Nation is a memorable flick that, on release, offered a measured alternative to the bloat of Spectre.

Rating: 8/10 (12 February 2020)

It's as funny as Ghost Protocol, but in a more appropriate and less goofy way, it's villain, a chilling Sean Harris is a quiet sadist, cut from the cloth of MI:3's Owen Davian but less crash and brutish and bourgeoisie.
Rogue Nation starts cool and with a cool twist, it's got a little of the original's European spy flavour, it's just a shame that it's very expositiony and the same plot retreads of both Skyfall and Spectre. And like Ghost Protocol doing a retro throwback to the Cold War, Rogue Nation is doing a kind of retro Bondian supervilain plot we've seen before, McQuarrie clearly doing his Bond in case he never got a chance to (although after Fallout they'd probably let him).
Renner is actually good proving he'd be a better dramatic actor if used that way more often, Simon Pegg's Benji is a delight, a fountain of optimism and good acting. And Ilsa Faust is good punch of life to the franchise. Even though she's the right balance of badass and chic, it's a shame Paula Patton had to leave the franchise, I felt like she had more to give in a very different way.
Rogue Nation is a well edited and pretty film; with a crisp, filmic courtroom warmth and feel to the photography. It's kind of interesting as this is the first in the series to start mythologising Ethan Hunt, his reputation and legacy preceding him, his bouncy potentially indestructible nature. Veering into superhero.
The action is unfortunately mostly a little muddy and lacklustre except for a couple fights and a decent chase. McQuarrie as the series' first writer/director has made careful but edgy flick that tonally course corrects a mixed bag franchise with the same quality as the greats even if it's not with as much of a punch as 3.
Impossible Mission: I mean the Water tank is an easy choice, a set piece relatively quiet and alone, stakes simple to realise, easy to shoot and visually interesting with the grounding tension of the heartbeat to it. Except really the most Mission Impossible sequence has to be the opera; Not explicitly planned but definitely well executed. Lots of moving parts all seem to work well, McQuarrie using the timing of the opera itself and telegraphing the plot visually. And with a great solution to the dilemma. It really is a triumph of editing, scoring and sound editing.