At age 56, Tom Cruise (like his alter ego Ethan Hunt) is the living manifestation of destiny. Doing this film series is already his mission.
For this sixth installment of the blockbuster franchise, ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’–it finds superspy Ethan Hunt (Cuise) and his IMF team, Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and former CIA director and now, the new IMF Secretary, Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) together with former MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) race against time to recover a weapon of mass destruction that they lost after a mission gone wrong.
Ethan tries to recover the mission weapon with his own methods to fulfill his original mission, the CIA starts to question his loyalty and motives; hiring August Walker (Henry Cavill), CIA Assassin to eliminate him and his team.
Christopher McQuarrie, who directed the previous installment, Rogue Nation, helms this sequel.
Just when you thought that the previous installment, ‘Mission : Impossible – Rogue Nation’ (2015) was already the best film in the MI canon, ‘Fallout’ then takes the series to another level. The last film was already a tough act to follow but the sixth installment of the hit franchise has just raised the bar, not only for succeeding sequels to come, but for every other action film that will hit theaters after it.
What makes it stand out among the other five films of the franchise is it’s narrative. Most action films don’t really have the time to keep the continuity of the series one installment after another. Even the Marvel Cinematic Universe has it’s own issues when it comes to it’s continuity timeline. The writer and director Christopher McQuarrie fixes that by incorporating the storyline of the other MI films into Fallout’s narrative.
Fans of the MI series will definitely love the film as it serves as the link to the past MI films. One example is that one of the film’s antagonists, a market arms dealer named White Widow (Vanessa Kirby) is actually the daughter of Max (Vanessa Redgrave) an arms dealer that Ethan Hunt has made a deal with in the original Mission Impossible film back in 1996.
The film also sees Michelle Monaghan returning as Ethan’s wife Julia from the third installment of the MI series, who was missing from the past film (she did have a cameo in ‘Ghost Protocol’) since Ethan wanted her to stay away from him and live a secret life for her own safety after the events of the third installment. Aside from that, the latest flick continues the story from the previous film, ‘Rogue Nation’ as Sean Harris reprises his role as Solomon Lane, an anarchist mastermind and leader of the Syndicate.
Audiences will surely overdose from the film’s unrelenting action scenes that will definitely take their breathe away. These action scenes range from a brutal bathroom brawl between Ethan, Walker and another guy to heart-stopping jumps from one building to another. The bathroom fistfight is a must-see as it is the best fight scene from the whole MI film series.
Feel every punch from that scene.
The Paris car chase is also one of the film’s highlights and will put viewers on the edge of their seats. But nothing can beat that unforgettable aerial chase between Walker and Hunt. Tom Cruise even had to learn how to fly a helicopter in preparation for this film. In one scene, Tom Cruise is seen in one of his most death-defying stunts, as he flies a real helicopter and does a dangerous 360 degree barrel roll in the air. Then, there’s also that dizzying sequence where he clings to the underside of a flying helicopter that will make your heart stop for a moment.
It was great to see returning cast members such as Pegg, Rhames, Baldwin and Ferguson; for their presence help a lot in reminding audiences of the continuity of the series. Michelle Monaghan’s return as Ethan’s wife was a nice throwback to MI3 and gave us the closure that fans needed after her character abruptly disappeared from the series.
Vanessa Kirby was perfect as one of the film’s villainess. She has this alluring yet mysterious appeal that matches her character perfectly. Angela Bassett was also a great addition to the cast and I’m actually looking forward to see more of her in the future installments of the series. Henry Cavill was scorching hot as CIA assassin August Walker. He moves swiftly and full of intensity that you can feel his punches. He was the perfect match to Tom Cruise’ Ethan Hunt.
Cruise, as always, manages to surprise us every single time with his outrageous stunts. At his age of 56, he seems like he has no interest of stopping anytime soon. His passion and commitment to this project is evident in every dangerous stunt that he performs in the movie. And that dedication alone makes watching his stunts worthwhile.
I am very confident to say that ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ is the best by far to date. It managed to exceed the expectations made by the previous installment and sets the bar higher not only for the next sequels to come,
