Ethan Hunt on the run

Rating: Null/10 (16 February 2020)

Rogue Nation sees Tom Cruise return, once again, as master spy extraordinaire Ethan Hunt. This time he's hunting the Syndicate, an international terrorist organization set on tearing down the modern society and building something new upon its ashes. Unfortunately, not even some of his allies believe that this organization even exists.
The film continues to build upon the good things set up in its predecessors. It always feels like the stakes are just a bit higher, the cost of failure even harder to pay. But it's a slow enough ramp-up that we're nowhere close it being ludicrous yet. Suffice to say, I heavily enjoy Cruise in his role. I also really like Simon Pegg and Jeremy Renner as his colleagues, and it was nice to see Ving Rhames return in a more substantial role.
As for the new actors, there are two worth mentioning. Sean Harris as Solomon Lane and Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust. Harris's Lane is a tough contender for the best villain in the franchise, while Ferguson's Ilsa is just about the best thing in general in the franchise. Tough, no-nonsense spy, who's one of the few people that seem to be able to keep up with Hunt without much difficulty. It's fascinating seeing them work off one another. Luckily she returns in Fallout, because it would have been a real shame to lose her.
That being said, I do miss the locations and the exotic tone of Ghost Protocol. Every single scene and each location in that film was iconic, which is unfortunately not something this film can say. It's still very good, but not masterful. Granted, the opera house scene is superb, but after that they get a lot duller. The action still works and the characters are amazing, it's simply that the locations aren't as memorable.
Still, I'd say this easily qualifies as the second best film in the franchise. It's no Ghost Protocol, but then again, few things are.