Tom Cruise stamps his claim as the greatest action star of our time with Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, a nail biting, stylishly made action thriller filled with incredibly entertaining sequences courtesy of director Christopher McQuarrie, and featuring a star making turn from Rebecca Ferguson.

There are two main goals that a great action film should aspire to reach: Convince the public that it’s an event movie that cannot be missed on the big screen, and have that same public spread the word as to why it’s an event movie that must be seen on the big screen.

For its last three releases the Mission Impossible franchise has managed to do just that. With box-office king Tom Cruise leading the charge as producer and star, along with a succession of top-notch directors calling the shots, a once questionable adaptation of a 1960s TV favourite has now become must watch action cinema.

The difference with Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is the choice of director in Christopher McQuarrie, who unlike previous selections (Brian DePalma, John Woo, J.J. Abrams) isn’t a known name with the vastly underrated Jack Reacher his second directing credit. Yet McQuarrie’s crisp, masculine and expertly paced form of filmmaking is a perfect fit for this series, with the stakes high, globe hopping locations beautifully captured, and action sequences of the highest, entertaining quality.

…Rogue Nation begins with Cruise doing what he does best: Delivering a bat-shit crazy stunt in his portrayal of daredevil IMF (Impossible Mission Force) agent Ethan Hunt, who in his pursuit of stolen chemical weapons jumps on a freaking plane as it takes off to the shocked reaction of his team William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames). When the IMF are deactivated at the behest of CIA chief Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin), a villainous agency known as The Syndicate strikes, leaving Hunt, his team and mysterious MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) to use their  skills and scarce resources to stop their plan of global terror.

Thus follows one glorious action sequence after another. There is an underwater heist (no doubt inspired by French crime classic Riffifi in its absence of music), a thrilling motorbike chase  in the streets of Morocco, and an attempted assassination sequence in the Vienna Opera House that would make 007 weep in envy. All of it is gorgeously shot and choreographed, complete with a “wow!” factor that is made to be consumed on the big screen.

Of course Cruise delivers as he always does in this series, combining big time, high risk physicality with his even bigger charisma to make for a compelling and entertaining hero who, in many ways, feels more super than those superheroes currently gorging the multiplexes. Yet just as impressive is Rebecca Ferguson, the Swedish born star of hit TV series The White Queen, who matches and complements Cruise in every shared scene while also holding the screen when on her lonesome.

Since Top Gun was released in 1986, Cruise knows what it takes to put butts in seats. His personal appeal has taken a hit, but his box office, action star clout has never been stronger.