The M:I films have so far been standalone affairs, with Ethan Hunt (Cruise) typically being assigned some clandestine mission, hand-picking a team of expert spies, and chasing down bad guys and MacGuffins like there’s no tomorrow. Introducing continuity to the series, the sixth entry is rather a sequel to the fifth, with director Christopher McQuarrie, Hunt’s ally Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), and baddie Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) all returning.

Cue explosions, car chases, moral dilemmas and eye-popping stunts – all solid evidence that Cruise is still at the top of his game. This time, when a mission goes awry and Lane escapes from captivity, Hunt must go rogue to prevent global catastrophe.

Fortunately, Ving Rhames – the only actor other than Cruise to appear in every previous entry in the franchise – returns once again as Luther Stickell. Perhaps we can look forward to a future reboot of the series, retelling each story from Stickell’s point of view, perennially irritated by Hunt and having to rescue him from a never-ending sequence of scrapes and tricky situations. By my count, Stickell has saved Hunt’s life no fewer than five times already, making Rhames the unsung hero of this franchise.