This addition to the Mission Impossible franchise depicts Ethan Hunt (once again) attempting to save the world as this time, plutonium is taken from the IMF team after a mission gone awry, and now the world is at risk of multiple nuclear attacks. Most of the usual Mission Impossible cast returns (sorry Jeremy Renner), as well as there being some newcomers such as Henry Cavill, a man who I look at and instantly feel an emotion resembling jealousy. Which I never thought I would say about a man sporting a mustache.
I would say with confidence that the Mission Impossible series is one of the best modern action franchises, with the previous two installments (Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation) being particularly strong and entertaining films, but does Fallout meet the standard set by its predecessors? Honestly, Fallout has many great elements that do work, but it also has some flaws that did slightly hamper my experience watching it, which is why I personally believe it to be slightly weaker than the majority of the films that came before it. Now before you whip out your pitchforks and torches, I am by no means saying that Mission Impossible: Fallout is a bad film, because it really is not, but some elements just did not work for me.
If a scene in this film is meant to be entertaining, it succeeds in every way possible. Whether it be a fight scene, a shootout, helicopter chase, car chase or motorcycle chase, every scene intended to be intense and fun to watch was absolutely amazing. The acting, stunt work and choreography all worked in tandem to make every punch or gunshot feel realistic and brutal, with the cinematography consisting of many still shots (not involving the shaky-cam nonsense of modern action movies), so every angle of the confrontations and chases are easily taken in by the viewer’s eyes with joy. One fight scene in particular takes place in a bathroom; I did not want this scene to end and it is quite possibly one of the best and well constructed fights I have ever witnessed onscreen. Unfortunately, all other fights in the film pale in comparison to the bathroom fight scene, which is a bit of a shame when the climactic end fight is nowhere near as entertaining as a brawl which took place much earlier in the film.
As usual, Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson and Alec Baldwin shine as the IMF team (again, sorry Jeremy Renner); the respectful and caring yet lighthearted interactions between them makes these characters feel like a genuine, and feel more like a family than teammates. An actor who I found to be genuinely impressive was Henry Cavill, which was surprising as his acting has always felt a little bit flat to me, especially his line delivery, but here he is incredibly intimidating, both physically and verbally and he really did impress me in his role as Agent Walker.
As to be expected with a Mission Impossible film, we are taken to some beautiful locations around the globe, all of which look great. Congratulations to Christopher McQuarrie for somehow managing to make the rain-soaked back alleys and rooftops of London look visually appealing, with crisp visuals and a heightened but not overly-saturated colour palette. These locations are not just eye-candy though, as the story ensures that these places are utilised as well as they could possibly be; a scene set in Kashmir takes us from a seemingly peaceful medical camp in a village to the skies where we soar above lakes and mountains and then to a rocky cliff face, and back to the village where multiple confrontations are happening at once. I would praise the story for this reason; we get to visit many great locations, and every aspect of these locations are brought forth for us to witness.
Despite the praise that I gave the story about how well the locations are utilised, the story in general is the weakest part of this film for me. How many times have we seen spy thrillers or action movies about bad guys wanting to blow something up? The antagonist of this film has a powerful weapon that will cause devastation to the world, and only Ethan Hunt can stop him. With a plot like this, you could predict there being a bomb with a countdown so that the protagonists have time to defuse it (despite there being no realistic reason why the antagonist would actually set a countdown) and an obligatory wire cutting scene. Guess what? These are in the film.
Some entire scenes feel predictable and the story could be described as recycled, but something that bugged me the most were single lines of dialogue that just felt plain lazy. There were at least three moments where I was sat watching this film thinking to myself “If this was a typical action movie, this specific character would say this specific thing at this specific moment” and all three times, that specific character did indeed say that specific thing at that specific moment. The antagonists of the film utter lines such as “You should have killed me, Ethan” and “Why won’t you just die?”. There are other examples tucked away in my head that I would like to mention, but I consider them to be too spoiler-heavy to include here. If this was any throwaway film, these lines and scenes would still annoy me, but with the previous films in this franchise constructing such original scenes, a slightly cliché script disappoints me just a little bit more.
Mission Impossible: Fallout is a movie that you will enjoy yourself with, especially if you are a fan of action because there is plenty to digest here. I left the cinema reflecting on all the fun there was to be had and feeling pretty satisfied as a whole. Despite the story being quite underwhelming it did not completely compromise the typical intensity or humourousness of Mission Impossible. This is another solid installment and I am looking forward to whatever comes next.
My Cinematic Ramblings 