Brow Beat

The Entire Mission: Impossible Series, Summarized in Six Minutes

Tom Cruise has been through a lot in the Mission: Impossible movies.

Still from YouTube

Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation, the fifth installment in the still-spry Mission: Impossible series, is out on Friday, and early reviews are very, very good. If you’re one or three movies behind, or if you’ve seen literally none of Ethan Hunt’s breathless, ultra-high-stakes adventures, take heart: The folks at IGN have made an excellent video that recaps the entire series in a brisk six minutes. (Though, weirdly, the video’s title claims it does so in five).

Of course, one could probably grok whatever happens in Rogue Nation without knowing everything covered here, as the Mission: Impossible films aren’t interdependent sequels so much as loosely connected excuses to see Tom Cruise run, hang off things, and generally fulfill his duties as the most game action star alive. But there’s a touch of character backstory—and a lot of face-mask plot twists—that’ll be good to know as you watch the actor’s high-flying stunts.