MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - ROGUE NATION (Rated PG-13)

Tom Cruise appears to be defying the laws of physics in his role of secret agent Ethan Hunt in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, now entering its fifth exciting installment.

After all, a middle-aged man just shy of qualifying for the senior discount at Denny’s shouldn’t be able to perform the great physical feats on display, of which many are apparently performed by him and not a stunt double.

In “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” Tom Cruise’s super spy for the clandestine Impossible Mission Force (IMF) agency is also challenging the laws of gravity.

In the thrilling opening sequence, Ethan Hunt is seen clinging to the side of an airplane lifting off the ground. Though James Bond was no slouch, I don’t recall our favorite British agent doing something quite as dramatic and death-defying.

The beauty of “Mission: Impossible 5” is that it is a high-flying act of relentless action, where Ethan Hunt’s physical talents, let alone stamina, are tested to an extreme measure. Hanging on to the side of a cargo plane hijacked by terrorists is evidently all in the matter of a day’s work.

Backed up by loyal fellow agents, Ethan dares to fight the good fight for justice and virtue against the forces of evil. Jeremy Renner’s William Brandt, a faithful guardian of the IMF team, knows how to evade the questions at a Senate hearing in order to protect the IMF from a witch hunt.

Simon Pegg’s Benji, the whiz kid who can hack the enemy’s sensitive materials, adds some welcome comic relief. Bringing a no-nonsense attitude to the game is Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell, Ethan’s longtime pal.

For reasons best known to the spooks at the CIA, the IMF team has come under fire for their unorthodox methods. CIA director Hunley (Alec Baldwin), pretentious and arrogant to the core, manages to get the IMF disbanded and transferred to his agency.

Out in the field, the directives from Langley are routinely ignored, considering that Ethan has uncovered a harrowing threat to the free world in the form of a shadowy group only known as the Syndicate, an organization wrongly believed by top officials to be a myth.

Well, London and Washington might be clueless or disbelieving of the major threat, but Ethan Hunt knows better, and he brings his team together to wage war on the most dastardly archenemy the “Mission: Impossible” franchise has ever seen.

The search for the head of the Syndicate takes Ethan to some of the dark corners of the world. His most memorable encounter is with Ilsa Faust (Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson), a tough cookie who proves to be the female ying to Ethan’s yang.

The sexy, brilliant and tough Ilsa, a puzzling enigma and basically impenetrable, alternates between being helpful and harmful to Ethan, and as such, we are left guessing as to whether she’s a deep undercover British agent, a double agent or someone keen on double crosses.

The story features a few major set pieces that advance the hunt for Soloman Lane (Sean Harris), the former British spy who has turned to the dark side of espionage with his formation of the Syndicate, an international assortment of bad guys from around the globe.

New to the franchise, director Christopher McQuarrie has set in motion a very workable formula of mixing genuine suspense and the flat-out thrills of overheated action sequences. His laudable goal is to create an exciting thriller, and that’s exactly what he succeeds in doing.

The first major set piece involves a trip to the Vienna State Opera, where the action backstage is nail-bitingly tense as Ethan must attempt to foil the assassination of the Austrian prime minister, all the while hunting more than one adversary about to pull the trigger.

Other than generating genuine terror on a global scale, the objective of the Syndicate is somewhat murky, but the creepy Solomon Lane, who similar to most Bond villains would have us believe he’s the smartest man in the room, is a nasty bit of business.

It’s a plus to have a really good villain, someone that brings out our rooting interest in witnessing his eventual demise. That’s certainly what we get with the oddball Solomon Lane.

On the other hand, Rebecca Ferguson’s conflicted Ilsa Faust is a wonder to behold. Smart and beautiful, Ilsa keeps everyone guessing, even when she causes a lot of mayhem with an exciting motorcycle chase in Morocco.

“Mission: Impossible” is the kind of movie that one should enjoy without knowing too many details in advance. Suffice it to say, Ethan is put to the test of his physical endurance in a thrilling underwater sequence, which nearly goes horribly wrong.

If you enjoyed the last film, “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,” then I would say that “Rogue Nation” is a surefire hit as well. This could be the best in the series, or, at the very least, the equal to “Ghost Protocol.”

Going by the experience of the fourth and fifth films in the series, it’s no wonder that a sixth installment looms large. As long as Tom Cruise stays in shape, “Mission: Impossible” could conceivably carry him to the day he gets his Medicare card.
  
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.