20 Spy Movies You Must See Before You Die

Mission: Impossible might be the only film franchise in existence that has gotten better with every film. In Hollywood, that is akin to a true miracle, and it's also the reason why Rogue Nation, the latest entry, takes a spot on this list. This is a spy film that is unpretentious in its ambitions but completely engrossing and entertaining to watch in all the ways that so many modern blockbusters aren't.

Whilst the plot here is largely conventional, the way it all unravels is anything but: director Christopher McQuarrie delivers huge set-piece after set-piece with aplomb, the best of which takes place during an opera show and could have easily been snagged from a Hitchcock film, so brilliant is both the editing and pacing.

Sean Harris, who plays the film's main villain, is a bizarre choice, but he has a certain something that makes him both deliciously likeable and despicable at once! It also stands to mention that Rogue Nation, apart from having all the ingredients that make a great spy film in droves, including gadgets and car chases, is a genuinely funny film: Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, and Simon Pegg offer up proper laughs, whilst Cruise manages to be both sardonic and likeable.

Ghost Protocol, Brad Bird's 2011 entry in the saga, could have easily landed a place on the list, of course, but ultimately Rogue Nation wins out for its Hitchcockian pleasures - for its sheer willingness to never stop being a good time.