Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

By this time, you can count on some big-budget action set pieces from the latest entry in the franchise, and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation has some dazzling ones.

However, such films require at least a moderate level of international intrigue or suspense, and while the latest vehicle for Tom Cruise is taut and fast-paced, the spectacle too often trumps the substance.

Indeed, Rogue Nation is a slick crowd-pleaser with some high-stakes cat-and-mouse twists, double-crosses and death-defying escapes, although the formula is starting to feel more familiar than fresh by this time.

Cruise again portrays Ethan Hunt, a highly trained leader in the top-secret government agency known as IMF. The plot this time involves a group of terrorist operatives known as the Syndicate. Although the enemy’s motives are cloudy, Ethan takes a particular interest in Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson), an alluring former British agent who holds the key to some classified information.

Once again, Ethan’s reckless methods are called into question, this time by a CIA chief (Alec Baldwin) who wants to shut down the IMF and calls for Ethan’s capture. But he refuses to go quietly, and continues his worldwide quest to stop the terror plot, trying to prove his worth but also that of his partners Brandt (Jeremy Renner) and Benji (Simon Pegg).

Almost two decades after Cruise first played the role, he still exudes action-hero charisma and has the physical prowess to back it up. It’s fitting that loyalty is a primary theme here, as Ethan’s allies come off more as personal friends than professional colleagues, and they’re all insanely dedicated to the cause.

The film is a showcase for some sensational stunt work and elaborate action sequences that rank among the best in the series, from a memorable opening involving a airplane to a car chase through some narrow Casablanca streets to an extended confrontation in the rafters above a Viennese production of Turandot.

Yet the material bridging the action isn’t nearly as compelling. The screenplay by director Christopher McQuarrie (Jack Reacher) offers a half-hearted attempt at a topical globetrotting storyline involving high-tech terrorism, and the finale lacks punch.

More for the eyes than the brain, this installment is somewhere in the middle compared to its four predecessors, but there’s not much here that we haven’t seen before. Perhaps it’s time for the series to self-destruct.

Rated PG-13, 131 minutes.