“Your mission, should you choose to accept it” is to go see ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout.’ The real question is why you should care about the sixth installment of the spy franchise that began in 1996. That’s easy, it is because Tom Cruise does all of his own stunts. There is a noticeable lack of CGI in this action film. It makes the action sequences more gritty and suspenseful. Cruise runs, jumps and punches his way through the bad guys. There is something endearing about this action star in his mid-fifties who leaps from building to building (shattering his leg during a stunt sequence) to bungee jumping off of a helicopter. As you watch Cruise save the world, you will notice that he finally shows his age a bit. It makes his character Ethan Hunt more relatable and makes the action sequences more of a white-knuckle movie experience. ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ is the best popcorn film of the summer.
So let’s get into it. What is the plot about? It really doesn’t matter what the plot is since nobody will remember it anyway. It has to do with three plutonium orbs that have gotten into the hands of a terrorist group that call themselves The Apostles. The mastermind is Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) who plans to build three nuclear bombs and wreak havoc on religious sites around the world. It’s Hunt’s mission to get the plutonium and save the day. He’s once again joined by his IT guy Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and IMF teammate Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames). CIA director Erica Sloan (Angela Bassett) will only approve of the mission if Hunt takes along her top assassin, August Walker (Henry Cavill) who plays a nicely cast bad guy.
The real supporting cast that shines are the women. First there is the MI6 assassin Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) who starred in the last movie. She and Cruise have a thing for each other. We’re not exactly sure what her motivation is but she seems to turn up at the right moment to unleash her skills. Another welcome addition to the cast is actress Vanessa Kirby (The Crown) who plays crime boss White Widow. The scenes between her and Cruise are extremely flirtatious. This blonde vixen is also quite talented with a butterfly knife that she conceals in her garter belt. She is a femme fatale that needs to return for installment number seven. She’s that good.
Did I mention the stunts? Cruise does it all. He is chased by the gendarmes in the streets of Paris on a motorcycle. He runs and leaps from building to building along the skyscrapers of London. He learned how to fly a helicopter to make that sequence more authentic. He fights a Chinese guy in a perfectly choreographed bathroom scene. The scene is brilliantly executed. You might be saying that you’ve seen it all before. These action sequences are guaranteed to make you feel breathless. They are done with fluidity and a race against time that will make you gasp for air. You have to see it to believe it. It’s why audiences keep returning for another installment of the franchise. Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie returns for his second Mission film and it pays off. He understands the dynamic of the characters and Fallout is a true sequel to ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.’
‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ is the best Mission: Impossible movie of the franchise. It is also the best popcorn film of the summer. Tom Cruise brings his A-game to the role. He runs, jumps, climbs and punches his way through this precarious mission. He definitely earns his stripes as one of the most exciting action stars to come out of Hollywood. It’s a simple plot but let’s face it, we go to see Mission: Impossible for the stunts and Fallout never disappoints.
