In the fifth film in the series, Tom Cruise returns to our screens as the international super-spy and achiever of all things that to lesser people would be impossible, Ethan Hunt.

Both written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who has previously directed Cruise in Jack Reacher, but also was a co-writer both Edge of Tomorrow and Valkyrie. The film also featuring some regular members of the franchise including Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg and Jeremy Renner.

In it, we find the IMF team under heavy scrutiny from the US Government, with pressure from the CIA director (Alec Baldwin) who is intent on shutting the Force down for good. Meanwhile Hunt, who has recently prevented a batch of nerve gas getting into the hand of a sinister organisation is on the trail of an organisation called ‘The Syndicate’.

The Syndicate are made up of previously suspected dead agents from around the globe.  An organisation so powerful, but without any government to answer to, it has become in effect a ‘Rogue Nation’. Early we meet ‘The Bone Doctor’ (played by Jens Hulten) and Solomon Lane (Sean Harris).

As Hunt’s attempts to find out more, we see the IMF team disbanded, and Hunt left alone to try and stop them whilst avoiding capture from the CIA having now himself seemingly gone rogue.

As his chase continues, he is joined by the mysterious Ilsa Faust (played by Rebecca Ferguson), as they attempt to understand what the Syndicate is planning, and how to stop them.

The film progresses through the traditional Mission Impossible structure moving from set piece to set piece with limited logic and reality between them.  But the fact is that its the fifth in the series and is continuing in the best spirit of this.

Its a great ‘you don’t really need to think’ action movie, and doesn’t really claim to be anything else. There are some fantastic sequences and McQuarrie has found a new gear in a franchise that was already pretty well revved up.

The star of the film was Rebecca Ferguson whose main previous roles including ‘The White Queen’ on TV, but also was in Hercules (with the Rock).

Lane was disappointing as the main villain, seemingly aiming for sinister and landing on a bit vague and uninteresting. And the less I say about Pegg, the better.

If you’ve liked the previous films, I think you’ll love this. If you didn’t then you really won’t.

8/10