After watching “Mission: Impossible II” (2000) in theaters soon after its release date of May 24, 2000, I decided not to see anymore then promised to return once the franchise was on its last film. Time to pay the piper and (re)watch the existing entire franchise, seven movies, before “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” (2025) is released on May 23, 2025 (or more specifically before my screening on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. First, “A Minecraft Movie” (2025) and now this! What I do for the love of the game! I’m probably the only person not into this franchise.

“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” (2015) is the fifth of eight movies that reboot the television series. It continues roughly where “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” (2011) ends with the next mission that Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) assigned to his team. Hunt discovers the key to The Syndicate, the anti-Impossible Missions Force (“IMF”), but the IMF has been disbanded, and its assets and personnel are in the CIA’s control with Ethan on the run. Will Ethan be able to stop the Syndicate without the CIA stopping him? Maybe with the help of Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson).

Cruise is hotter with a tank top than shirtless. I don’t know why, but it is science. He goes shirtless in “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” and no. His hair is short again, which is another unfortunate development. It is Cruise vibes, but not maximum Cruise cool levels, which go in the following order 2, 4 and 3. He is still the King of Hollywood, but after the opening scene, everything else feels like business as usual though the action never reaches the nadir of the first film or the anti-climacticness of the third. A point gets deducted for the stupid beard even if it was only for one scene. Someone was watching too much “Arrow.” This Ethan is definitely a continuum from the fourth movie because he knows that he is mortal and looks at Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) like he is insane when Benji volunteers him for insane daring do requiring no oxygen.

Hunt gets a potential love interest in double agent Ilsa Faust, whose loyalties are unclear. She has a way of thwarting his plans but also saving his life. Unfortunately, there is less attraction between Hunt and Ilsa than any of Hunt’s former leading ladies or even supporting roles, which is insane and not Ferguson’s fault. She does not need anyone to smolder opposite. She is a one-woman smoke show, and “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” is clearly fictional because not one male character is tempted. It is a little annoying that with this movie, we are back to the “women can’t be trusted” storyline, but it is a spy movie. It is why I stopped watching this franchise. Like it or leave it.

It is hard to believe that Ferguson was second choice. Jessica Chastain was first, and while I adore her, Ferguson was the right call. Fun fact: Chastain turned down working with Tom Cruise in “Oblivion” (2013), another fave Cruise movie, but not because of Cruise. Ferguson consistently gets the best fight scenes and better stunts. The camera ogles Ilsa even when she shows skin to be practical—using her bare leg as a stand for her shotgun to assassinate someone. On the other hand, there is not a whiff of honeypot emanating from Ilsa. Up to now, only Keri Russell had the award for only woman agent who did not have to become a party favor. Ilsa is in a draw with Paula Patton’s Agent Jane Carter. Ilsa has more distinct, fearsome fight moves, and her mission required her to get caught, but no man ever got the drop on Agent Carter, who always maintained the upper hand even after getting shot. Ilsa does have the advantage of constantly having to save people, including Ethan whereas Carter was part of a team, and her role was supporting.

While it makes sense from a story perspective, Jeremy Renner’s Brandt gets separated from Benji, and they were comedy gold together. Instead Pegg shares the most scenes with Cruise, and “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” is poorer for it. If you told me decades ago that I would find Pegg annoying and wish that he would die in a movie, I would have called you a liar but here we are. It gives an opportunity for Cruise to have lighter moments, but the cynical side of me screams that the combo draws less attention away from Cruise whereas “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” was an ensemble piece where every role felt essential. Brandt and Hunt were funny, but Benji and Hunt is a liability. Whenever Benji says that he is a field agent, I want to jump into the screen and demand an investigation to prove that Benji hacked into the system and cheated because if he is a field agent, I’m an Olympian. It feels like a ripoff that there have been so many decent agents, forgettable or excellent, but we get stuck with Pegg. There is only one scene near the end of “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” that Benji seemed hard, otherwise he just seems like a body bag is waiting for him and anyone willing to team up with him. I have to watch three more of these things, and Pegg is in all of them with Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell as backup tech. Again, Benji is redundant. Sure Luther is not as spry on his feet, but Benji is barely competent. Bear in mind, I usually like Pegg so this is my assessment with the thumb on the scale and a huge reservoir of stored goodwill.

At home, Renner has a big role as the guy trying to keep IMF agents from being terminated, and he gets a lot of screen time with CIA Director Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin). Baldwin is a good actor, but this performance probably hit harder when he was not doing his schtick for sketch comedies, talk shows and reality television and fresh off getting cleared of criminal charges. Three to four of the “Mission: Impossible” movies have Ethan as a rogue agent, and I still hate the overrated, overused trope. I will not sign a waiver, but the best part of “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” involves that storyline and starts after one hour and forty minute snoozefest. Yes, I actually fell asleep during this movie because it feels as if it was a cut and paste mashup of various Bond and MCU flicks. The last thirty-one minutes is the best part, and it is kicked off with performances from two actors who are not a staple of the franchise.

Did you ever watch a British television series called “Rev.,” which starred Tom Hollander and Simon McBurney? It was hilarious and amazing (everything that Benji is not). “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” has a mini reunion with the two when Hollander plays the British Prime Minister and McBurney plays M16 Director Atlee. It is funny, tense and thrilling, and the most cathartic part of the story while Brandt, the perfect bureaucratic spy, smiles over the beauty of a well-executed plan, and Hunley is playing catch up. If I’m getting an ineffective spy, at least give me clever conversation and British meanness.

“Mission: Impossible III” (2006) had the worst mission, and “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” has the second. As someone who was not into the television series, the Syndicate was ill-defined. They are bad guys who want to hurt the good guys, but other than that, their actual raison d’etre was unclear. Are they just disgruntled employees? No, because money is involved so it is not pure revenge. Apparently, it was the staple enemy in the original series. Also, the anti-IMF implies that the Syndicate is the anti-Christ, and the IMF is Jesus. At the end of the movie, IMF is invoked as if it is the cool kids secret club for Slayers, but as someone who has been watching the franchise for the past five days, no. At most, IMF stands for people who stick to the mission even when they have no incentive, and it endangers their lives, but considering that I’ve been urging Ethan to quit for awhile now….

After Jon Voight’s villain turn, the villain in “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” is the least interesting and feels like a Bond villain in a bad way. Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) is an evil mastermind who benefits from having great hiring skills and outthinking the opposition, but when the opposition puts Benji in the field, is that such a heavy lift? Other than being pale, but not an albino, Lane is not a memorable antagonist, and apologies to Harris if it is his voice, but the voice is like nails on a chalkboard. We get it! You’re homicidal but are always calm and soft-spoken. As groundbreaking as florals in spring. If you have a chance to kill Ethan in the first scene, do it, dumbass. The only person less competent is Benji. Ugh. Philip Seymour Hoffman is rolling in his grave. Harris is a solid character actor, but it is an underwritten role, and only his former “Macbeth” (2015) costar Michael Fassbender could have elevated working with nothing.

After watching the movie, I found out that Cruise and writer and director Christopher McQuarrie admitted that production started before there was a script because the stunts were planned, and it shows. McQuarrie wrote “Edge of Tomorrow” (2014), one of my all-time favorite Cruise movies so everyone can have an off day, and no one should hold this movie against him. McQuarrie also wrote “The Usual Suspects” (1995) so he did not have to a damn thing after that. He seems to be a staple in Cruise’s catalogue: wrote “Valkyrie” (2008), wrote and directed “Jack Reacher” (2012) and the rest of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise and penned the critically acclaimed “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022), which I still have not seen, and the panned, unsuccessful “The Mummy” (2017), which I did not hate and paid to see. Let’s hope that “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” is a flaw, not a feature because when a “Mission: Impossible” movie is good, it is so good.

“Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” is the new gold standard after watching five of the eight movies. The rest of the ranking is “Mission: Impossible II,” “Mission: Impossible III,” “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” and “Mission: Impossible” (1996).  The latter two could be deleted, and I would not care.  The only reason that “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” did not rank last was the overall performances, a rousing final act and production values. Favorite Cruise films for context (not in a particular order or an exhaustive list): “Interview with the Vampire” (1994), “Magnolia” (1999), “Collateral” (2004) and “Edge of Tomorrow.” To be fair, I tend to stay away from spending money on anyone who owns an island (among other reasons), but he is entertaining.