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 . Armed with an absorbing mystery plot that does more than just connect the dots between action set-pieces (the most outlandish of which is dispensed with in a Bond-like opener), writer-director Christopher McQuarrie maintains the uptick in M:I quality established by the last two entries, and should land this entry within the series’ customary range of a half-billion bucks worldwide.
