A sleek and spectacular ride
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT Direction: Christopher McQuarrie Actors: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson Rating:
Action junkies, rejoice. Mission: Impossible is back with what is arguably the best film in the series so far. Ethan Hunt, played by an older but oh-so-agile Tom Cruise, is still saving the world at 56, and you can look forward to heart-stopping stunts and a ticking-clock countdown that will likely have you clinging to your armrests.
…Fallout finds the superspy and his cohorts (Ving Rhames-Simon Pegg) racing to retrieve three plutoniumpowered nuclear devices before they destroy the planet. Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie — who won an Oscar for the script of The Usual Suspects (1995) — does an incredible job injecting pace and minimising confusion in this sixth installment. His plot is sleek and thrilling.
Rob Hardy’s action-intensive cinematography helps immensely, as does the razorsharp editing by Eddie Hamilton and the magic worked by stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood. Cruise continues to perform most of his own gravityand logic-defying stunts and they are beautiful and terrifying to watch.
Among the scenes that will have you gasping is a dramatic skirmish in the toilet of a Paris nightclub, a 25,000-ft skydive, and the extended climactic duel involving two airborne helicopters.
Returning characters include the former operative-turned-terrorist (Sean Harris), a beleaguered British agent (Rebecca Ferguson) and Hunt’s ex-wife (Michelle Monaghan).
New to the mix are Henry Cavill (as a CIA spook with an agenda of his own) and Vanessa Kirby, as a sultry arms dealer.
In a time of lacklustre franchise offerings, it says a lot for MI6 that we can’t wait for a part 7. n