The IMF is now disbanded and a syndicate is putting effort to ensure it is completely destroyed.
Ethan gathers his team and joins forces with Ilsa Faust; a disavowed British agent who may or may not be a member of this deadly rogue nation.
Of the many heists and grabs that litter the movie, none is as blatant as the deft, irrepressible manner in which Ferguson, displaying a light smile and a brisk way with a knife, steals the show.
What does set Rogue Nation apart, beyond the dependable presence of Cruise, is the humorous subtext - best displayed by Simon Pegg, as funny here as he is in J.J. Abrams' reboot of Star Trek.
The franchise has gradually refined its combination of jaw-dropping action set pieces and sleekly cool world of espionage into something that's approaching pop perfection.
There's a kind of soldierly camaraderie among the agents, who constantly find themselves betrayed by politicians, military officers, and even their own commanders, and they band together to save the each other along with saving the world as we know it.
Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie, whose action movie skills are at best high-adequate, compensates by being good at interpersonal stuff. He can make us feel for the characters as something more than action toys.
Rogue Nation's secret weapon is Anglo/Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson, who has more star quality than any Bond girl I've ever seen and reminded me at times of a young Romy Schneider.
You don't overcome the "impossible" by thinking it over a little more carefully. You overcome it through the application of sheer, unvarnished willpower, a quality that Cruise has always possessed in abundance.
