The Mission Impossible franchise is one of the rare movie series that gets stronger with each installment while managing to top the previous film in terms of spectacle. The first Mission Impossible film directed by Brian De Palma worked as being a mystery Spy thriller/action movie that was boosted by Tom Cruise's mega starpower during the 1990's era. Mission Impossible ll despite being bigger financially was a stepdown in quality. Mission Impossible lll was not only a massive improvement over the second but managed to be more thrilling than the first film largely due to JJ Abrams impressive directorial debut and previous experience with the TV show Alias. Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation continued the upward trend in quality for the Mission Impossible series boasting clever storylines mixed with crazy stunts that managed to outdo the ones in the previous films. With Fallout, the franchise has quite possibly hit it's peak with it's finest installment yet both in terms of storytelling as well as action with Cruise delivering a commanding performance as Ethan Hunt, the Spy that manages to complete the most impossible missions while saving the day.
The plot for Mission Impossible: Fallout centers around Ethan Hunt and his IMF team combined with familiar allies in the CIA to track and squelch attempts to use nuclear weapons that made it into the black market. Like the other previous installments in the Mission Impossible franchise, Fallout carries many of those films themes over such as death of loved ones, protecting everybody, threat of nuclear weapons, terrorism, betrayal, guilt, anarchy, revenge, and relationships. The message of Fallout that resonates with the entire Mission Impossible franchise as a whole says that one should think of the greater good, a reasoning that defines the character of Ethan Hunt. Written and Directed by Usual Suspects screenwriter and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation helmer, Christopher McQuarrie manages to create a sixth installment in the popular franchise that's fast, sleek, fun, and lives up to expectations of surpassing the previous installment with even crazier set pieces and a storyline that's both exciting and keeps the audience guessing on the plots twists and turns.
As far as acting goes, Tom Cruise delivers another strong performance as Ethan Hunt further demonstrating that he was born to play the role as well as showing that even in his fifties, he still has what it takes to be an action star that performs the most daring of stunts himself. Henry Cavill does a fine job playing the CIA operative whose assigned to work with Hunt on his mission while providing a contrast to Hunts approach of getting things done. Cavill feels right at home with the rest of Hunt's team which includes Simon Pegg delivering a strong supporting role as well as returning faces such as Ving Rhames, Alec Baldwin, Rebecca Ferguson, and Sean Harris playing both friends and foes of Ethan Hunt. New additions to the cast such as Angela Basset and Henry Cavill leave strong impressions with the audience as their characters are effective with the actors making them believable. With the ensemble cast, Fallout has everyone giving their all while showing them to be having fun with the storyline presented while remaining professional. The stunts in Mission Impossible are only as amazing as the actors and characters that sell them, and thankfully with Fallout, Christopher McQuarrie understands that with his strong writing and directing. Having previously worked with Tom Cruise on the Jack Reacher films, McQuarrie understands Cruise's style as an actor as well as his dedication to his craft, and writes the character of Ethan Hunt so effectively in Fallout. With Ethan, there is a sense of detachment to his character that makes him a tragic figure in a sense that he went through a great deal of loss and sacrifice during his previous missions to ensure that the world is safer while completing his job. Though he happens to succeed everytime, it doesn't come without a price and Cruise conveys that beeautifully through his performance adding emotion to the story,
manages to raise the bar up another notch for the series as a whole. Tom Cruise once again shows audiences that regardless of how they feel about his personal antics off screen, he's still one of the worlds greatest movie stars as well as one of the most dedicated actors to ever grace the big screen. Fallout shows that just when you thought the series had reached it's peak and couldn't get anymore incredible nor amazing, Fallout comes and shows how it should be done. As for the future of the Mission Impossible series, there is still life left in this franchise to tell more Spy stories involving Ethan Hunt performing another crazy stunt but one also feels that perhaps they should consider quitting while their ahead as they don't want to wear out their welcome with the audience. While that is a different type of discussion, Mission Impossible: Fallout remains one of the summers biggest highlights while being one of the films that brings it to a satisfying close. For Spy fans and fans of the Mission Impossible series, this film is a real treat and until it's topped by the next film, this is the franchises highest point thus far. Mission Impossible: Fallout is a must see.
Final Verdict: SEE IT
