Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

Review

147min

Genre:       Action, Adventure, Thriller

Director:    Christopher McQuarrie

Cast:         Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Rebecca Ferguson…and more

Writer:      Christopher McQuarrie

-Synopsis-

Hunted by his government and pitted against a dangerous old foe, IMF super-agent ‘Ethan Hunt’ and his team return for their deadliest and riskiest mission to date, plunged into a race against time to stop sophisticated international terrorists from wreaking global havoc—in this latest instalment of the stuntastic action franchise.

After major production delays, broken superstar limbs, and a mighty moustache which brought down the ‘Man of Steel’, Hollywood titan and part-time daredevil Tom Cruise’s reunification with writer/director Christopher McQuarrie (Jack Reacher, Edge of Tomorrow) is finally complete—giving expectant audiences a worthy follow-up to 2015’s pleasantly surprising ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’ while captivating us with relentless levels of action, a healthy dose of humour . . . and the spectacle to match.

Cruise returns as the unstoppable agent Hunt, flanked by fellow trusted IMF operators ‘Benji’ (Simon Pegg) and ‘Luther’ (Ving Rhames), still scrambling across the globe to stop the remnants of dangerous puppet-master  ‘Solomon Lane’s’ (Sean Harris) anarchist organisation—still hell-bent on causing global catastrophe for the benefit of mankind. When his latest mission plunges him into a web of conspiracy and deceit which reaches into his own past, Hunt must risk everything while trailed by British spy ‘Isla’ (Rebecca Ferguson) and shadowed by CIA agent ‘Walker’ (Henry Cavill), as they head towards an ominous endgame . . . where no one can be trusted.

Just when you thought you’d seen all the stunts a fifty-six-year-old megastar could muster, Tom Cruise returns with even more dangerous, complex and carefully choreographed set-pieces, including the much publicised ‘HALO jump’, plus plenty of shootouts, fight sequences and of course chases—of the car, bike, helicopter, and even the good ole’ fashioned foot variety.

Yet ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ is more than the sum of its stunt parts, proving to be very much a direct continuation of 2015’s ‘Rogue Nation’—the first Cruise/McQuarrie ‘Mission Impossible’ collaboration—rather than a self-contained episode within a series, sticking to the narrative formula and mix of humour with spectacle of its expectation-surpassing predecessor, while building on the characters it introduced and providing a natural progression to the story.

This sixth cinematic outing for the franchise may also be its most stylistically polished, taking full advantage of yet another globe-trotting adventure to light up the familiar streets and rooftops of London and Paris, and would-be Himalayan mountaintops, all stylishly captured by Alex Garland’s go-to cinematographer Rob Hardy. Any atmosphere created by the film comes down to one thing really, the score, as emerging Scottish composer Lorne Balfe (Ghost in the Shell, Churchill) adds his dramatic flourishes to the classic original series theme from Lalo Schifrin, and creates a more elaborate soundscape to drive the film.

‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ certainly deserves much of the praise it has garnered from fans and critics alike, but for us this has gone slightly overboard, and we can’t help but feel that lowered expectations, a slick promotional blitz, and newfound Tom Cruise appreciation (which we never lost) have affected their judgement to an extent. Yes this may be about as good as big action blockbuster escapism gets these days, but it’s not much more than that, and it’s certainly no modern classic—only ever flirting with legitimate character drama, atmosphere or mystery, and not exactly wowing with narrative finesse.

Yet it clearly has no intention of ticking every filmmaking box, and more than makes up for its shortcomings with unexpected charm, humour and relentless white-knuckle action—and if you take it for what it is, this latest instalment of a resurgent series delivers everything you want from a high summer action blockbuster.

Ultimately much of this film’s acclaim should be reserved for its predecessor ‘Rogue Nation’, the film which re-invigorated the series with a more effective balance of spectacle, character and humour—thanks largely to the involvement of writer-turned-director Christopher McQuarrie—although ‘Fallout’ does a sterling job of upping the stakes and polishing the stylistic elements, while sticking to the formula. It’s clear though that for the time being, the future of impossible missions looks bright in the hands of messrs Cruise and McQuarrie.

The Bottom Line…

All-action summer blockbuster escapism at its most entertaining, ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ sticks to the successful formula of its 2015 predecessor while adding the necessary elements to go bigger, slicker and more daring, proving a worth follow-up which breathes new life into a now twenty-two-year-old film franchise . . . and adding another notch in the belt of the Cruise/McQuarrie filmmaking partnership.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)

After secret agency the ‘IMF’ is terminated for misconduct and super-agent Ethan Hunt is branded a “rogue agent”, with a little help from some old friends and some new ones he must track down “The Syndicate”, a mysterious and powerful group of equally skilled agents intent on causing global mayhem in this high-octane stunt extravaganza starring Tom Cruise.

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson and Jeremy Renner among others.

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