Enjoyable enough but missing something special

Rating: 6/10 (11 October 2015)

Fifth movie in the Mission Impossible franchise has Ethan Hunt & IMF friends trying to stop a mysterious group known as the Syndicate, despite the IMF being shut down by the government and Ethan being wanted by the CIA. Enjoyable actioner but there's not much new here. Tom Cruise continues to prove he's one of the more consistent stars out there as he always seems to put out solid popcorn movies and occasionally something more than that. The supporting cast is good, with Simon Pegg stealing every scene he's in and Rebecca Ferguson as the attractive assassin who saves Tom throughout the movie. Is she good or is she bad? Will you care? Ving Rhames gets little to do. Sean Harris plays the forgettable villain. Alec Baldwin is the red herring who, along with Jeremy Renner, seems almost unnecessary in making this work. The action is solid and the humor (mostly from Pegg) is appreciated. I have to say that this is not my favorite Mission Impossible movie or even top three. There's something nondescript about it all, similar to the last film. At least the first three each had something about them that was memorable. Now it seems the series is satisfied just putting out a solid action thriller with more focus on stunts than characters, plot, or even style. Watchable for fans but really nothing special.