IT’S pretty remarkable that by the sixth instalment in an action franchise things haven’t become stale. The Mission: Impossible series, powered for more than two decades now by the incomparable Tom Cruise, has always strived to be different, to change things up film to film and push things forward in terms of scale and wow-factor stunts.
What’s even more amazing is that it’s the best one yet, going about its business with clockwork narrative precision, thrillingly achieved action and surprising emotional resonance, fully earning its hefty 147-minute runtime with barely an ounce of fat on it. It’s something of a triumph.
Interestingly, Fallout changes things up by actually keeping things the same. It’s the first to keep the previous film’s director in Christopher McQuarrie, female co-lead in Rebecca Ferguson’s enigmatic British agent Ilsa Faust and villain in Sean Harris’s now-imprisoned but endlessly scheming Solomon Lane.
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We catch up with IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) who finds himself in hot water with the US government after a mission to retrieve some stolen plutonium goes awry. Another mission is then sanctioned by his superior, Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin), for Hunt and his loyal tech-savvy team members Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg, still providing great comic relief) to defuse the imminent nuclear threat for good.
Hunt finds himself clashing with world-class and ruthless Agent Walker (Henry Cavill), who has been sent along on the mission at the behest of cautious CIA chief Erica Sloan (Angela Bassett) to make sure it all goes to plan this time.
McQuarrie’s sharply written script gives the cast the chance to really shine in smaller character moments peppered throughout the film, lending it a refreshing emotional clout so often missing from these sorts of gargantuan summer movies. Cruise brings forward the resonance of a character he’s inhabited since the mid-90s in a way that proves satisfying for those who have followed it over the years.
Needless to say he commits to the role 100%, unafraid to show emotional and physical vulnerability as a hero and diving head first (sometimes literally) into the all-important action in a way that few other actors would. That sort of commitment really does make the difference and is part of why the series has endured so well.
It’s in those action sequences where the film truly comes alive. They are many and fruitful, combining seamless CGI and astonishing practical stunt work for big-screen spectacle that is nothing short of astonishing to behold – more than ever before you’re left sitting there thinking: “Is that really him doing that?!”
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There isn’t a single false step or cheap action beat; each one feels grand and exciting and perfectly paced. They almost feel in competition with one another to up the ante, from an utterly brutal hand-to-hand fight in a pristine club bathroom that feels like it’s straight out of The Raid, to a stunning helicopter dogfight that’s as good as anything you’re likely to see in action cinema.
They’re the life-blood pulsing through the veins of an intelligent and intricately plotted spy movie, one that knowingly plays into the tropes of the genre – bomb timers ticking agonisingly close to zero, impossibly high-tech gadgets, double and triple crosses – whilst also subverting those preconceived notions with shrewd plot turns or surprising character reactions layered into against-the-clock chase sequences.
Cruise and McQuarrie continue to make for a great star-director combo, succeeding with flying colours in their accepted mission to outdo themselves. This is how you do an action blockbuster.
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