Mission: Impossible -
Rogue Nation

3 Waffles!

Why is it called Rogue Nation? Because it sounds cool.

Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt – the greatest undercover agent the Impossible Mission Force ever has employed (and, since he is a government employee, he might be the cheapest). However, this situation is stickier than any the gang has ever faced.

For the past year, Hunt has been chasing down a secret black ops group known as The Syndicate, which has been causing mayhem and inciting terrorism around the globe. They are comprised of former covert agents from every country, and their villainous leader, Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), is just as brilliant as Ethan.

Because of his obsession with tracking down The Syndicate, Ethan has exposed the IMF, and the CIA, led by Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin), wants to eliminate the organization.

Can Ethan stop The Syndicate?

Will the IMF survive?

Did you see that trailer where Tom Cruise is hanging off the side of an airplane while it takes off?

As you probably figured out by now, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is all about the action, and you wouldn’t want it any other way. Mostly, that’s because Tom Cruise, whether you love him or hate him, is one of the best action movie stars to ever work in Hollywood.

The man has perfected intensity, and brings it to Ethan Hunt like no other actor can bring it to any other character.

Watch Tom Cruise ride a motorcycle, with INTENSITY!

Watch Tom Cruise run after the bad guys, with INTENSITY!

Watch Tom Cruise look at that sexy lady in her bikini, with INTENSITY!

Then, to make sure the intensity meter doesn’t hit 11, writer/director Christopher McQuarrie inserts almost too many moments of comic relief. Much of the comedy helps show us the bond between Ethan and his team, but McQuarrie comes close to overdoing it.

Of course, by sticking to the formula, McQuarrie delivers a great Mission: Impossible movie.

Tom Cruise brings the intensity.

Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames provide some comic relief and techie swagger.

New castmember Rebecca Ferguson provides the love interest, a sexy factor, and shows she can be just as much of an action star as Cruise.

While Alec Baldwin does his usual Alec Baldwin thing.

All of it comes together as the plot slowly becomes less and less important throughout Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. McQuarrie faithfully wraps it up and explains everything we need to know about The Syndicate, but it kind of doesn’t matter because it isn’t developed enough, doesn’t have enough complexity and takes a back seat to plots about the team sticking together and a spark of sexiness between Ferguson’s character and Ethan Hunt.

By the way, that scene with Tom Cruise hanging onto the side of a plane as it takes off is THE FIRST SCENE IN THE MOVIE!!!!! What a great way to start strong and keep us interested.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation is rated PG-13 for sequences of action and violence, and brief partial nudity.