Writer: Naseem Randhawa

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Watch this if you liked: "Mission: Impossible" franchise & "James Bond" franchise

The Good, the Bad and the Impossible Stunts!:

Tom Cruise returns once again for the fifth "Mission : Impossible" movie and he might've noticeably aged (psychically) since his first 'mission' 19 years ago, but "Rogue Nation" really proves that Cruise has strong star quality and charisma which makes his age not matter at all no matter how impossible his stunts are!

Having directed the 53-year-old Cruise in his last directorial effort, "Jack Reacher" in 2012, Christopher McQuarrie and Cruise are reunited again for a fairly well plotted story which is equally matched or a much logical story than the J.J. Abrams directed "Ghost Protocol". So in short, if you like "Ghost Protocol" then you'll like this one too.

As the IMF gets disbanded, Hunt is on the run from the CIA and of course we see Jeremy Renner, Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg who have to band together to take on a much bigger enemy for their so-called last mission. This time the rogue agent wants to take down a terrorist organisation called The Syndicate, which plots to create a, well, 'rogue nation', by setting acts of violence in motion around the globe. One example of these 'acts' which strikes close to home is that involving planes vanishing without a trace, which apparently, The Syndicate is responsible for.

"Rogue Nation" is an exhilarating ride from the start to finish as the start itself builds high trepidation featuring the most talked about scene of the trailer; the death-defying cargo plane stunt with agent Ethan Hunt.

Not to mention scenes involving a motorcycle chase (a nod to "M:I 2" perhaps), a pressurised water tank dive and the famous Cruise-karate-chop-run which the latter stunt takes place in London instead of Dubai ("Ghost Protocol"). That action scene alone could probably give James Bond a run for his money.

It is true that Simon Pegg and his comic relief gets the most screen-time compared to Jenner and Rhames, but the show-stopper here is the female character, Isla Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), a British agent who crosses paths with Hunt. Thankfully, this time around the female character is not as bland as compared to Paula Patton's role in "Ghost Protocol".

Indeed this has been the year of spy movies; from the Melissa McCarthy starring "SPY" and the upcoming "The Man from U.N.C.L.E", "Hitman: Agent 47", "Bridge of Spies" and "James Bond: Spectre", but "Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation" does not disappoint and is a welcome entry to the genre and a must for all "Mission: Impossible" franchise fans.

Cinema Online, 29 July 2015