Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is a well crafted spy movie that thanks to the writing and directing of Christopher McQuarrie, manages to be arguably one of the best in the series.  McQuarrie's script is smart, taut, and filled with just the right balance of humor and intrigue to elevate it on par with one of the better James Bond films of late.  Right away, one can see that McQuarrie's involvement is paramount.  After all, this is a man who has previously worked with Cruise (Valkyrie, Jack Reacher), can seriously write complex intrigue (The Tourist, The Usual Suspects), and can obviously handle a talented ensemble.  Speaking of which, the addition of Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson was also a smart and fresh choice, as she more than carries her own weight against Cruise and the rest of the team. I'm not initially a fan of adding and swapping out parts to successful franchises like a professional sports team.  However, when it works, you can't really argue much against it.  So, half nod to Jeremy Renner (already a part of 3 film installments) and nod to Alec Baldwin for rounding out the talent here.  Rogue Nation is certainly the most shadowy of the MI films and the full plot is a about as complex as you can get (my only minor criticism), but it has a bit of an old school realism that carefully aligns it with the wide screen birth of Bond and the more realistic aspects of  say the Spooks/MI5 television series.  The stunts and gadgets were still cool and all, but it's in the story and performances under the direction of McQuarrie, that really shine.  Cruise and the other cast member seem to really be having fun, even moments of poking fun at the whole MI notion.