A Reel Review: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT

The MISSION IMPOSSIBLE film series has always taken one important page out of the 1960’s TV series from which it originated; to be full of surprises. The plots have taken many twists and turns to always keep us guessing and more than often sends us down the wrong path before a clever reveal. The sixth film, subtitled FALLOUT…brings us the biggest, and best surprise of all.

IMF Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), accepts a mission with his colleagues (Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson), to recover stolen plutonium before it can be made into a rogue nuclear weapon by terrorist Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). To complicate things, Hunt is teamed with, and monitored closely by CIA Agent Walker (Henry Cavill), who has orders which differs from Hunt and his team.

The plot of FALLOUT in broad strokes is simple; stop the bad guy from detonating a nuclear bomb (or two). This is exactly what Hunt and his team are doing, but the path to get there is a thick maze of many turns and dead ends. Deception, misdirection, switching allegiances, and entire scenes which are not really what they seem are all over the film…and although it gets a little too convoluted in places (you’ve got to pay attention), things eventually get sorted out.

Hunt is dealing with a lot. His instant rivalry with Walker stemming from political posturing and differences in style (Hunt is a planning operative, Walker is a brute), his grappling with his past, and being framed as the secret leader of the terrorist group at work to blow the bomb keeps him at stress at all times. The weight of the world is literally on his shoulders, and it makes the action all the more meaningful.

And if action is what we want out of a MISSION IMPOSSIBLE film, FALLOUT delivers and delivers big. Director Christopher McQuarrie brings us tension-filled and jawdropping sequences that have to be seen to be believed; car-chases, bike-chases, helicopter-chases, foot-chases, fist-fights, fire-fights, and more HOLY SHIT moments than can be counted; it’s a masterpiece of action with a total commitment to practical effects and stuntwork. There is no green-screen here and very little CGI, making FALLOUT one of the most unique action films in this modern era and its own franchise. The film has breathtaking pacing which pauses at just the right times to reset things, and the end result isn’t exhausting as much as it is thrilling. McQuarrie films a vast, globe-trotting canvas…and the sequences filmed in the glorious IMAX format are eye-popping.

With such a commitment to practical stunt work, the burden was on Tom Cruise to pull it off, and the man rises to the occasion. The physical work he does is most-impressive for the 55 year-old Cruise, as he is required to run (and run, and run, and run…), jump across buildings, dangle below helicopters, ride motorcycles at 88mph sans helmet, and get tossed around like a rag doll in a dryer. It’s an impressive feat and a high mark for Cruise. Henry Cavill is nearly equally tremendous and makes a great foe to Hunt. Sean Harris’ reprisal as the chief villain is excellent. The rest of the cast is very good as well; Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin, Angela Bassett, and Rebecca Ferguson.

After all the twists and turns and a stunning finale involving two ticking nuclear bombs and two helicopters tumbling down a cliff, FALLOUT wraps up with the best surprise of all; it is the absolute best out of the franchise that launched way back in 1996. It is thrilling, meaningful, and one of the most impressively shot and edited films in this era or the action genre.

BOTTOM LINE: See it