‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ Movie Review: Cruising Along The Redemptive Thriller of the Year

It’s been 22 years since we first saw Tom Cruise as MacGyver-ish spy Ethan Hunt, but it’s only now that we get to share in his agony and moral qualms about the job. Mission: Impossible – Fallout is the sixth installment of the MI franchise, and the follow-up to 2015’s Rogue Nation, both directed by Christopher McQuarrie. Cruise is at it again—he flips and engages in a brawl (where you least expect it), runs so perfectly (if that can even be possible for an average person to achieve), escapes from expensive cars in the streets of London, and successfully hangs from another flying aircraft. Six films of choosing and accepting missions can take its toll on you both physically and mentally, but Ethan is the epitome of an agent full of emotional battle scars. Fallout successfully drives the series into a hard wall of perfection and makes for the franchise’s best film entry.

Paramount Pictures

Frankly, I wasn’t expecting much after Rogue Nation. That film was a bit convoluted, if not brashly excessive. However, McQuarrie’s direct sequel is the redemption that the Mission: Impossible franchise needed—if not considered its best. The action sequences and the weight of the story mean more than it ever did in six films. For the first time since 1996, Ethan slowly succumbs to the dilemma of morality and saving lives for the greater good. After a failed mission of acquiring three plutonium cores from a weapons contractor, Ethan begins to evaluate whether his decisions affect his team negatively. Two years after Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) was captured, the remnants of his terrorist group have sprouted another subgroup called “The Apostles.” Ethan is tasked to intercept a sale of three plutonium cores that The Apostles need to supply to their client, a terrorist big shot named John Lark.  When the team’s “man in a chair,” Luther (Ving Rhames), was held at gunpoint, Ethan had to choose between saving him or securing the plutonium. He goes with the former and ultimately loses the WMD in the process. This dilemma sets up Mission: Impossible – Fallout‘s exceptional narrative that’s different from its five predecessors.

Due to the failure, CIA Director Erica Sloan (Angela Bassett) loses confidence in what the IMF could do, even going as far as calling them “a bunch of grown men in rubber masks playing trick-or-treat.” Even though IMF Secretary Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) still banks on Ethan’s abilities, Erica has none of it. That’s when shady Special Activities operative August Walker (Henry Cavill) comes in to “babysit” Ethan as he goes on another mission to retrieve the plutonium cores in Paris.

Chiabella James/Paramount Pictures

Newcomer Cavill is a welcome addition to the franchise. Now I understand why Paramount didn’t want him to shave off his mustache for the Justice League reshoots—Cavill’s character would lose his iconic essence if he lost it. Kidding aside, Cavill’s acting chops go way beyond Metropolis and Krypton. He portrays his role very well that it’s a bit hard to figure out Walker’s ulterior motive. Throughout Fallout, you’re always left wondering whether or not he’s for or against the CIA and IMF.

From the get-go, Ethan’s dilemma of having to make up for his mistakes take a toll on him slowly. The movie opens with a dream of him and his ex-wife, Julia Meade-Hunt (Michelle Monaghan), tying the knot. But the ceremony turns into a finger-pointing litany of mistakes that Ethan has done in the past, with Lane officiating the entire ordeal. Setting up this kind of moral dilemma for Ethan makes Fallout a more meaningful entry of the whole Mission Impossible series. That and the intense chase scenes in the streets (and roofs) of London, mind-blowing fight scenes in Paris, and a death-defying helicopter dogfight that puts Cruise’s plane-hanging stunt in Rogue Nation to shame. The usual servings of the more recent Mission: Impossible films are also present, with Benji’s (Simon Pegg) state-of-the-art rubber mask imitator and the voice changer, as well as the massive car scenes and chases (that weirdly don’t include explosions this time), and the overbearing sense of danger at every turn. Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) also makes her return as the disgraced MI6 operative who serves as another moral dilemma for Ethan.

Paramount Pictures

The writing of Mission: Impossible – Fallout is significantly better than the previous films, with it leaning towards a more grounded take on Ethan’s abilities for espionage. Not a second is wasted in this two-and-a-half-hour-long feature that perfectly lays its bricks with expert precision. You won’t even notice that your jaw has been open for two hours while cruising along McQuarrie’s sequel. The cast chemistry is masterfully fleshed out, with Ferguson, Rhames, and Pegg serving as the pillars of the storyline. Cruise’s Ethan and Ferguson’s Ilsa have this muted connection that also helps Ethan regain his bearings from the absence of his wife. There are also subplots that make for a strengthening foundation to the direction of the story. Of course, action movies are bound to contain shocking twists, but Fallout unravels it slowly and painstakingly well.

McQuarrie’s direction serves as the franchise’s redemption. I’m not saying that Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation were terrible MI films, it’s just that it lacked a more “raw” and distinct connection to the story and execution. Protocol was impressive, but the story was a bit haphazard. Rogue had a compelling story but was executed poorly. McQuarrie returns to the fore to lift the series back up, and correct the wrongs that he did in the previous film. The incredible scenes in London and France fit McQuarrie’s vision well, and the final act delivered a genuine sense of awe. It’s like witnessing a never-ending fireworks display—with each explosion better than the previous.

Paramount Pictures

‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ Overall Verdict

Action films are meant to shock and surprise you. Mission: Impossible – Fallout goes way beyond the confines of a typical action movie. Fallout is pretty impressive with its stunts and doesn’t hold back with every twist and turn. The humor from Rogue Nation is dialed down; which is good, considering its more “serious” overtones. McQuarrie has successfully made the definitive film of the entire franchise—and it’s tougher and more solid than one could ever impossibly expect.