Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Producer and mega-star Tom Cruise has had the good sense to keep the Mission: Impossible films interesting by handing each sequel to a different A-list director and a new team of high-powered writers. Choosing the TV scribes Andre Appelbaum and Josh Nemic (Alias, Life on Mars) and an animation director like Pixar vet Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) might seem like a scaling-down of the franchise, but the unlikely team delivers the strongest entry in the M:I series. The plot of this impossible mission is much more interesting than any of its three predecessors, and the stunts and special effects are next-level.

Amazingly, Tom Cruise has continued to be a major star for so long, but you can’t deny his commitment to his movies. Here, as with many of his performances, he seems to will the film into shape by the sheer force of his energy. The supporting cast is cool too, and some characters have at least a modicum of substance. The film's Dubai locations give it a fresh and contemporary feeling, and the set piece on the vertiginous exterior of the Burj Khalifa Tower represents big-budget cinema at its best. Yes, the film requires a massive suspension of disbelief and has no points to make about anything, but it's a more than decent summer action film, which, these days, is rare.