Very seldom do long running film franchises get better with age. Even James Bond needs a “reboot” to keep the excitement going. But watching Mission: Impossible – Fallout Thursday evening proves to be the exception. Warning, spoilers ahead…
Tom Cruise and company return for their sixth adventure and they certainly live up to the “impossible” with its daredevil escapades that will make your jaw drop as you suspend your disbelief. The tag line for MI: F is “some missions are not a choice” which is the case for Ethan Hunt (Cruise). When a mission goes wrong, Ethan and his IMF team (Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames) must race against time to save the world from nuclear annihilation.
What makes Fallout different from its predecessors is that this is the first to have continuity. Previous films could be watched independently and the audience may not feel like they’re missing something. Fallout does a very good job with exposition to help move the story forward without overdoing it and losing its momentum. Speaking of momentum, the cornerstone of the Mission: Impossible series is the fast and dare I say furious pace of its action sequences. No matter how over the top they are, it’s a visual delight to watch.
To say that Tom Cruise is polarizing is an understatement. You either like him or you don’t it seems. What’s not an understatement is Cruise being a bonafide action star of the highest order. At 55, Cruise continues to do his own stunts (or at least most of them), and it would be very short-sighted of anyone to not appreciate what he does. As for the film itself, the premise revolved around a plutonium deal gone bad and now in the hands of a terrorist cell who want to exchange it for Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), a terrorist mastermind that was captured by Hunt at the end of Rogue Nation. We also see the return of MI6 Agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) with a personal score to settle.
Part of the reason Hunt and company find themselves in such a predicament was Hunt’s loyalty towards his IMF teammate, Luther (Rhames). His unwillingness to sacrifice Luther causes a domino effect in which the plutonium gets stolen and now the C.I.A. led by new director Erica Sloan (Angela Bassett) along with her assassin for hire Agent Walker (Henry Cavill) enter the picture to clean up the mess. It doesn’t take long for Hunt and Walker to be at odds as Hunt wants to limit collateral damage and Walker just wants the plutonium at all costs. I will say that Cavill is as good a bad guy as he is a Superman. And may I add when Daniel Craig decides to no longer be 007, I hope the powers that be will give Cavill a chance.
One of the greatest strengths of this film franchise is how well orchestrated their action scenes were produced. Yes many of it is way over the top but who cares. Movies should entertain us and at today’s prices, very few make us feel like we got our money’s worth. With the release of Fallout, Mission: Impossible has cemented itself as the industry standard when it comes to action films as well as one of the Summer’s best films to entertain moviegoers.
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Alec Baldwin, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Kirby, Michelle Monaghan and Henry Cavill
PG13 147 mins
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT **** (out of 5 stars)
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
