---

Recent releases:


• Jericho Ridge
• Civil War
• Mothers' Instinct
• Sweet East, The
• Ghost Busters: Frozen Empire
• Immaculate
• Roaring Twenties, The (reissue)
• Soul
• Dune: part two
• American Star
• Dune: Part 1 (reissue)
• Jerry & Marge Go Large
• Argylle
• Forever Young
• Jackdaw
• All of Us Strangers
• Holdovers, The
• Mean Girls
• Poor Things
• One Life

---

Complete A-Z list

---

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (AF)

Stars: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris, Simon McBurney, Zhang Jingchu, Tom Hollander, Jens Hulten, Alec Baldwin

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Tiny BIG star Tom Cruise once more rises to the occasion and carries yet another largely impossible-to believe 'Mission: Impossible' action thriller to box-office glory, cleverly coasting over the all-too frequent-plot-holes by doing (we are assured) all his own stunts at the age of 53.

Actually, I am probably being unfair to mention all the deficiencies in storytelling and logic contained in director Christopher McQuarrie’s action-and –incident-packed screenplay. Mission: Impossible may not have a comic book basis, but its 'See Tom Jump, See Tom Swing, See Tom Slug, See Tom Win' format is strictly comic-strip stuff with the added impact of well-used location shooting and good supporting players to help Tom Save the World.

Which, of course, he does, and in the process profitably assaults the box-office too. Like its predecessors, this film accepts its mission – to make a mega-profit where most of Cruise’s recent offerings most usually fail to do so.

There’s a plot of course, but don’t let it worry you too much. Tom takes on the Bad Guys yet again, this time terrorists controlled by the evil Syndicate who – now here’s a new one – hope to take over the world. And Tom’s mob, the IMF, has been officially wound up.

Luckily for Mankind (and the producers) Tom overcomes all shortcomings and saves the day in a plentiful series of thrilling chase and action sequences which make the exposition in between them easy to bear in the expectation – totally justified – of adrenaline surging action to come.

It’s the Cruise Show and sensibly McQuarrie never forgets that, showcasing his star and decorating him with adequate support from Pegg (for comedy), Ving Rhames (for continuity), Rebecca Ferguson (for sex appeal) and, oddly, Tom Hollander (presumably for unintentional comedy and not because he seems to be less tall than Tom although, sensibly, McQuarrie never tries to show that).

If thrills and excitement and action ad lib, without any brain strain, are what you’re after, then it’s Mission Achieved, and very entertainingly, too. After all, what could be better after a hard day’s work that a super-saturated cinema treat that requires no effort on your part?

Alan Frank

USA 2015. UK Distributor: Paramount. Colour by deluxe.
132 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.

Review date: 05 Aug 2015