The title is terrible though...the posters said Live. Die. Repeat. That should have been the title of the movie. He just came off of Oblivion, which was decent enough, but I think people were kind of tired of Cruise in the sci-fi type movie. The movie was smart, the action was excellent...and he and Blunt were excellent together.
He is right up there as far as my favorite actor goes...and you are right about the charisma. He puts everything into his roles as well...you see guys like Willis doing a money grab and sleepwalk through a role, but not Cruise. The MI franchise was one I did not see coming, but outside of the 2nd one, they have all been excellent. MI3 was flatout greatness.