The ageless Tom Cruise does it again.

Rating: 8/10 (12 August 2015)

Tom Cruise continues to prove he is a capable action star for his age. Plus he doesn't even look 53 years old.
The role of Ethan Hunt is belongs to Tom Cruise. Ethan Hunt is America's 007, and there will come a time when the Mission: Impossible franchise will reboot and recast, but not any time soon. Cruise effortlessly slides back into the role and his performance is again spot on. This franchise keeps getting better and better. I wasn't totally huge on the first two, which aren't terrible, but since J.J. Abrams took over in Mission: Impossible III, all the films since then have lived up to my expectations.
This time around Ethan Hunt has to stop and prove that the rouge nation of spies and killers known as the Syndicate who kill to order. Their leader Solomon Lane is played by Sean Harris, and he does a good job oozing creepiness through his calm and intimidating demeanor. However he wasn't as memorable as I had hoped. The small nitpick about the Mission: Impossible films are that the villains don't feel as memorable, not since Philip Seymour Hoffman. Even in Ghost Protocol, Michael Nyqvist wasn't quite as memorable.
The supporting cast is good, Simon Pegg keeps getting more work since his appearance in the third entry. He obviously provides comic relief and has nice banter with Cruise and the others. Jeremy Renner also has a decent returning role, but it's a lot more reduced compared to Ghost Protocol. This time around he does more talking than fighting. He does have one car chase sequence, but he really doesn't have an action sequence which was a tad disappointing to me. It was also nice to see Ving Rhames return after being reduced to a cameo in Ghost Protocol.
Rebecca Ferguson an actor I haven't even heard of came out of nowhere and kicked a lot of butt. However, I wasn't completely sold on her role, compared to Paula Patton, she seemed a little one noted for my taste, but her action scenes are top notch. I was pleasantly surprised with Alec Baldwin's character. He didn't end up being the character I thought he'd be. He almost in a way plays the same role Laurence Fishburne plays in the third film.
Aside from some of the minor nitpicks it's a very solid summer film. To see Tom Cruise hold on to an airplane taking off, ride motorcycles, escape from being captured, fighting bad guys, shooting a gun and looking good running, you can't help but to cheer for him and hope that he saves the day. The action sequences dazzle, you'll be on the edge of your seat. I also normally don't like chase sequences but I haven't been this entertained by a chase sequence in a long while. It's very pulse pounding. There's plenty to enjoy in this film.
8.5/10