No Signs That the Series is Slowing Down

Rating: Null/10 (25 August 2015)

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his group must try and locate the Syndacate and prove that they are real as well as stop their latest mission.
I'm not going to spoil too much of the plot to MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION because it's really best that you go into the film with as little knowledge of the plot as possible. Yes, you heard me correct. Even though this is a summer action movie full of spectacular stunts, it also features a plot and a very good one at that. The film starts off with a terrific stunt with Cruise hanging from an airplane and after seeing this you can't help but wonder how the rest of the film is going to top it. It starts off a bit slow after this as we get a subplot dealing with the CIA but the final hour of this movie is one terrific experience after another.
There are several reasons this film works so well but we can start off with the obvious, which are the terrific stunts. Most people have seen portions of the airplane during the television spots and the trailers and this here is certainly eye-opening but there's so much terrific stuff that follows. There's a breath-taking sequence that takes place in the water that will have you holding your breathe. There's a terrific bait-and-switch inside a political powerhouse. There's the fantastic chase on motorcycles through winding streets. There's also a beautifully orchestrated sequence inside an opera house, which certainly seems like a wink to Hitchcock and THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH.
Another thing that makes this series stand apart from so many others is the fact that we do get actual stories. Again, I'm not going to ruin all the twists and turns here but you're constantly caught up in it and wondering where the next mystery is going to come from. Then there are the performances with Cruise once again shining in the title role. I still remember watching the first film in the theater and it's hard to believe that all these years later Cruise is still going strong. Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg are all in fine form and Rebecca Ferguson is terrific in her part.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBE - ROGUE NATION pretty much packs everything into one film and in the end it's certainly one of the best of the summer and proves that the series shows no signs of slowing down.