I’m not a huge Mission Impossible fan, but I thought it would be fun to take this little movie in on its Thursday night release.

The good news is that it’s an action-packed, fast-paced movie with jaw-dropping chase scenes, very cool hand-to-hand combat, and beautiful locations.  You’re going to take thrill rides in cars, on motorcycles, out of airplanes, and in helicopters.

Tom Cruise is charming as always, Simon Pegg is funny, Rebecca Ferguson is a force, and Ving Rhames is cool (and also surprisingly emotional).

The movie moves very quickly, especially considering its two and a half hour run time.  (It honestly didn’t feel that long!)  There were several moments that I caught myself gasping out loud because some of the action scenes were flat-out incredible.

The bad news is that, even though you haven’t seen it all before … you’ve seen it all before.  We’ve got a nuclear bomb threat, Ethan Hunt and his team have to disarm it at the last possible moment.  We’ve got a traitor in the midst.  We’ve got Ethan’s loyalty to the USA coming into question.  We’ve even got a recurring villain in this one.  Did these retreads make me like the movie any less?  No, but it didn’t make me like the movie more, either.

I’m honestly at these movies for the stunts, chases, and fight scenes.  I don’t come in expecting much from the story.

By the way, I’m no Tom Cruise acolyte, but I have to give this man credit.  I believe he was 54 when he made this movie, and he’s currently 56.  This man is physically incredible!  His acting skills peaked long ago, but to be able to still perform his own stunts–even to sprint down the street at his age–it’s amazing.  I have no doubt he’s in better shape at 56 than most of us have ever achieved in our lives.

So, if you like the Mission Impossible films, you’ll like this one, too.  It’s a fun action movie that will thrill.  Oh, and not to worry, you’ll still get your people pretending to be other people in masks moments. 

(Did you enjoy this review?  Check out Scott William Foley’s latest book HERE!)