Tom Cruise is back in action as Ethan Hunt from today with the release of Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. Expect more daredevil stunts, nail-biting tension and Simon Pegg quips aplenty as the IMF face down a new threat in the form of The Syndicate.
We've already had our say on the film (too many stunts, not enough story), but what are the rest saying about Rogue Nation?
Variety
"Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie negotiates with characteristic cleverness and a sly respect for the sheer durability of genre; at once questioning and reaffirming the pleasures of cinematic espionage, this is the rare sequel that leaves its franchise feeling not exhausted but surprisingly resurgent at 19 years and counting."
The Hollywood Reporter
"Thanks to a sharp script that springs a real surprise or two and a pace that never slackens, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation rates as the second-best of the numerous franchise titles of the summer, after Mad Max: Fury Road."
Empire
"Latest director Christopher McQuarrie has decided the only way forward for the unflagging spy franchise is the direct pleasures of old-fashioned genre entertainment. Resisting the vogue for narrative sprawl, and the bad habits of former Missions, this is a thriller that aspires only to be a great thriller. Set up the dilemma, throw in the characters and watch them try to figure it out. No need for backstories, real-world relevance or, worse still, irony."
The Telegraph
"McQuarrie's last collaboration with Cruise was the risible Jack Reacher, an object lesson in how not to start a Hollywood franchise. Rogue Nation just about keeps one ticking over: its fuse fizzes dutifully from A to B, but the dynamite never ignites."
What to Read Next
New York Times
"Sleek and bloated, specific and generic, Rogue Nation is pretty much like most of the Impossible movies in that it's an immense machine that Mr McQuarrie, after tinkering and oiling, has cranked up again and set humming with twists and turns, global trotting and gadgets, a crack supporting cast and a hard-working star."
The Times
"Tom Cruise is a great stuntman. His acting skills, however, now seem preserved in aspic, along with his boyish face. Given a long speech, he seems more emoticon than emotional. But if you want to watch insanely dangerous stunts, done by a 53-year-old human and not a body double or a CGI pixel, then Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation is the summer action film for you."
GamesRadar
"Ethan Hunt's fifth impossible mission starts with its much-publicised money shot: Tom Cruise clinging to the side of an Airbus A400M. For real. It's a crazy stunt, and to front load the film with it is equally ballsy – audiences are sure to spend the next two hours waiting for it to be topped. But if you want to know the true circumference of Cruise's cojones, it's evidenced in his decision to trust in storytelling, lovingly crafted set-pieces and suspense (all of it delivered in 2D) rather than wedge himself into a bombastic, CGI-bloated jamboree."
Little White Lies
"That familiar lit fuse from the opening credits may still fizzle with the same white hot intensity, but elsewhere the spark has been lost. Everything from Joe Kraemer's lousy rehash of Lalo Schifrin's original score to the irksome roster of recurring supporting characters that includes Simon Pegg's 00-dork, Benji, and Jeremy Renner's charmless analyst, Brandt (both of whom you'll recognise without remembering what they did last time out to merit earning a call back) makes Rogue Nation seem decidedly second-rate. With one exception: the Cruiser."
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation is showing in cinemas now.
Movies Editor
Simon has worked as a journalist for more than a decade, writing on staff and freelance for Hearst, Dennis, Future and Autovia titles before joining Cision in 2022.
