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Mission: Impossible – Fallout is the sixth film in the high octane action franchise where the stakes and the stunts are continuously raised to keep up with the demands and visions of leading man, Tom Cruise.

Christopher McQuarrie returns to the director’s chair, and is also on writing duty, as the pair piece together more insane sequences that push Cruise’s body to the limit and sometimes even breaking point.

Three nuclear bombs go missing and it’s up to Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and his gang of IMF agents to find them before it’s too late. Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Alec Baldwin all return and they’re joined by Henry Cavill’s no-nonsense CIA operative August Walker with Rebecca Ferguson’s MI6 spy, Ilsa Faust, also along for the ride.

And what a ride it is. A rather elaborate and slightly confusing plot full of double / triple / quadruple crosses, treachery and assumed identities take the team around the world in a whistle-stop tour of some famous cities. A frenetic car chase through the streets of Paris, a rooftop run through London and a helicopter ride from hell in Kashmir all impress as do the cast particularly Henry Cavill and Vanessa Kirby’s mysterious White Widow. Indeed, it’s credit to the fine ensemble that Jeremy Renner isn’t missed at all.

Tom Cruise is as reliable as ever and at 56 shows no signs of slowing down even if it might take him a little longer to recover from a battering these days. Whether it’s leaping from buildings, jumping from aeroplanes during a lightning storm or riding a motorbike the wrong way around the Champs-Élysées he’s coolness personified and is the catalyst for another adrenaline fuelled thriller that takes cinematic stunts to a new level.

Amidst all the mayhem there’s just enough time to explore Ethan’s human side as we learn what motivates him to be the superspy he is today. Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg make a nice double act and provide most of the laughs to inject, sometimes literally, some light relief into the proceedings.

Slightly darker and more mature in tone than the previous Missions (this one has a fair amount of swearing and a lot more violence), Mission: Impossible – Fallout is a thrilling, witty and intelligent blockbuster that manages to up the wow factor from its predecessors. Some clever acknowledgements of what’s come before coupled with excellent acting additions keep it fresh and inventive.

Let’s hope another mission is accepted soon.