Every time I watch an entry in the ‘Mission: Impossible’ series, I always look at the stunts Tom Cruise pulls off and say to myself, “there is no way he can do something crazier in the next film.” Then I watched this entry in the series…holy s#@&!!!!!
Starring Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Henry Cavil, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Angela Bassett, Sean Harris and Alec Baldwin, ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ is the sixth entry in the ‘Mission: Impossible’ series, and marks the first time a director has come back to direct another entry.
It follows Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and the IMF team, as they join forces with the CIA to stop a nuclear disaster at the hands of a group of terrorists known as the Apostles.
That’s all you need to know plot-wise, but you all know the plot isn’t the most important aspect of a ‘Mission: Impossible’ film. I’ll cut to the chase right now by letting you know this is arguably the best entry in the series so far, and it happens to contain some of the best action movie set pieces I’ve ever seen!
First of all, director Christopher McQuarrie is back and has proved why he is one of the best directors in the series. He proved his talent in the director’s chair with ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’, and now he has crafted one of the best action movies of the 21st century. McQuarrie knows that the action can be over the top at times, but he makes it thrilling and original. This is what I love about the ‘Mission: Impossible’ series. You get an idea for what the outcome will be, but it always leaves you on the edge of your seat. It’s always thrilling, and ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ may be the most thrilling piece of action I’ve seen in a long time. My palms were sweaty by the end.
As I was just saying, the action itself is thrilling! Every ‘Mission: Impossible’ movie has their memorable action set-piece that everyone remembers. The first had the nail-biting vault scene which still manages to be sweat inducing as ever, and the fourth had the phenomenal Burj Khalifa scene. ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ happens to include at least four very memorable action set-pieces, that just get crazier and crazier as the movie progresses. You would’ve already heard about the Bathroom fight (which definitely lives up to the hype) and the helicopter chase (Tom Cruise actually learned how to fly a helicopter for this scene. That’s just crazy!). Overall, the action here may be the best in the series thus far.
This brings me to the cinematography, which happens to be the best yet! The best part about ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ is that very little CGI is used. It relies upon practical effects and real stunt work. This combined with the cinematography from Rob Hardy (who also worked on this year’s ‘Annihilation’, which was a beautiful movie), makes ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ one of the best-looking action movies of all time. From memory, I don’t remember any shaky cam, which is already a major positive. It was composed of many steady/long takes, which are treats for your eyes. There is a set-piece pretty early on that is all done in a long take (it may be made up of several shots but it looks like one continuous shot) and it made my jaw drop. Seriously, the cinematography is phenomenal.
One of the best aspects of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ films is the team aspect and the great cast of characters. ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ doesn’t fail in that department with some of the best performances of the series!
Tom Cruise is fantastic as always. He has played the character of Ethan Hunt for over two decades now and here he shows no signs of stopping. The way he portrays Hunt as a fragile man is fantastic. He may be able to do death-defying stunts, but he’s just a human like everyone else (but he is also Tom Cruise, who somehow hasn’t died from these crazy stunts). Cruise should be commended for both his performance and the amazing stunt work. He truly is an actor I respect.
Rebecca Ferguson has returned as Ilsa yet again and can now go on my list of the most badass female action characters of all time. I was very happy to hear that Ferguson would reprise her role from ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’, as she was one of the best parts of that movie. Here she is given even more great character development and her chemistry with Tom Cruise is wonderful.
Speaking of reprising roles, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin and Sean Harris are back yet again. It’s great to see that Simon Pegg’s role has gotten bigger every movie, ever since his first appearance in ‘Mission: Impossible 3’. He is hilarious and he leaves you wanting a Benji spin-off movie.
Ving Rhames is fantastic as always as Luther. Like Cruise, he has been in every entry so far and is one of the best characters in the series. Rhames has a great presence on screen, which is always enjoyable and his performance here is great. Luther may be my favourite character in the series and ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ brings out the best in him.
Alec Baldwin isn’t in the movie as much as the rest of the cast, but he brings his A-game to every scene he is in. Anyway, who doesn’t love to see Alec Baldwin be in charge of the IMF?
Sean Harris is great yet again as the villainous Solomon Lane. I’m happy to see that he came back for an even bigger role, as with ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’, I feel like he didn’t get much development and not enough screen time to be a memorable villain. Although he still doesn’t match the evilness and greatness of Philip Seymour Hoffman from ‘Mission: Impossible 3’, his character still has some memorable moments.
I should also talk about Henry Cavil, who’s infamous mustache he grew just for this movie, may have helped ruin ‘Justice League’. Although I feel like his dialogue delivery was pretty stilted at times, he made up for it in his physical presence. I may have already said it before but that ducking bathroom scene is amazing!
Before I sum it all up, I really want to talk about the score from Lorne Balfe. I’m just going to say it right now that this may be one of my favourite film scores of all time! It’s grand, bold and a treat for the ears. I don’t want to say much about it but seriously listen to it if you want a great film score.
Overall, ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ is the best entry in the much-loved series thus far. Christopher McQuarrie has done the impossible and crafted one of the sleekest action movies of all time, which still manages to make you sit on the edge of your seat. With amazing action, great performances and one of the best film scores in recent memory, ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ is the best action movie since ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ and one that will stand the test of time. Also, I must say the stuntwork here is beyond amazing and deserves every bit of praise it can muster.
Rating: 4.7/5
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