MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT (12A)

TOM CRUISE (right) returns as Gung-ho agent Ethan Hunt for the sixth and arguably best instalment of the globetrotting franchise. Hunt receives word from his superiors at Impossible Missions Force (IMF) that the terrorist network fronted by Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), who is behind bars, is poised to take delivery of stolen plutonium.

The sale is being brokered by a black market arms dealer called the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby) and Hunt must infiltrate the exchange to prevent the payload falling into the hands of Lane’s disciples, who intend to detonate portable nuclear devices in Rome, Jerusalem and Mecca.

Fellow IMF operatives Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) join the mission, overseen by boss Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin).

However, the team’s movements are closely monitored by CIA operative August Walker (Henry Cavill). He has been instructed by his boss, Erica Sloane (Angela Bassett), to terminate Hunt if the plan goes sour.

A deadly game of cat and mouse is complicated when undercover MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) resurfaces with her own agenda.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout is turbo-charged by Cruise’s boundless energy and a script peppered with doublecrosses and shadowy ulterior motives.

Christopher McQuarrie’s film has plenty of narrative tricks up its sleeve and treats us to brilliantly choreographed action sequences that quicken the pulse.