Mission Impossible Rogue Nation Reviews: 11 Early Reactions You Need To Know

6. It's Got Some Of The Year's Best Action Scenes

Another near-universal compliment is that Rogue Nation features some of the year's most astonishing action sequences, including Hunt clinging to the side of a plane (a set-piece that actually opens the film), a suspenseful underwater heist scene, an extended series of car and motorcycle chases, and in what is easily the most praised set-piece, a Hitchcock-esque hunt for an assassin at the Vienna State Opera. Many reviewers noted that the plot is pretty much just an excuse to string these sequences together, but given the general virtuosity with which they've executed, most of the critics seem pretty OK with that. And far from the blurry CGI nonsense of so many blockbusters these days, "with Robert Elswit shooting it, it's absolutely gorgeous, with crisp, clean action choreography that you can actually see." Though critics still appear to regard the iconic Burj Khalifa scene from Ghost Protocol as the franchise's high-point (literally and figuratively), Rogue Nation nevertheless serves up a ton of visceral action, far from the cartoonish absurdity of John Woo's second MI movie.