Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (DQ)

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

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Fast-moving and exciting, if finally far too silly for its own good, Cruise's latest mission as Ethan Hunt barely pauses for breath, starting with a James Bond-style prologue that has our Tom clinging to the side of a mid-air jet while computer nerd Benji (Pegg) tries to open its door (finally doing so with an impact which would surely have killed our hero), then segues into IMF being disbanded by CIA chief Baldwin while in mid-pursuit of rogue agent Lane (Harris), who now bosses The Syndicate.

This is really all you need to know, save that Hunt's other colleagues (Renner, Rhames) are still on hand for the occasional assist.

Following the mid-air thrills, the action continues to impress, with the best sequence featuring various vertiginous views of the interiors of the Vienna Opera House, where sundry factions may be converging in an an assassination attempt on the Austrian prime minister, which Ethan - and yes, there's a fight up in the flies with one of the bad guys - has to stop.

Mystery woman Ilsa (Ferguson) - the name is one of several nods to Casablanca and The Third Man - comes to Ethan's rescue several times, despite seemingly working for the bad guys, and there's fast and furious action in cars, on motor-bikes, and in various impenetrable facilities, drummed along by variations on Lalo Schifrin's famous theme music.

However, any film that introduces the British prime minister as a key figure in the final stages of its plot - especially when he's played by Hollander, primarily known as a comedy actor - is courting disbelief disaster, and this is all too silly for words, as the previously crisp dialogue seems to fall apart.

English newcomer Hermione Corfield makes a brief impression, though she isn't around long enough to do more.

David Quinlan

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: 25 Jul 2015