‘Fallout’ stands on its own in ‘M:I’ franchise

Ranking 6 ‘M:I’ films

Continued from Page 15

Although relatively restrained when compared to director dizzyingly kinetic and flamboyantly stylized previous films (“The Killer,” “Hard Boiled,” “Face-Off,” etc.), this chronically and unfairly under-rated sequel serves up a generous amount of suspensefraught thrills and impressively choreographed spills, along with a side order of borderline-operatic emotional intensity. Yes, the climactic seaside confrontation between Ethan and Ambrose (first on motorcycles, then up-close and lethal) is outrageously over the top. But, well, it’s supposed to be. Also worth noting: The sly allusions to

classics, especially “Notorious” (the racetrack sequence and the entire Ethan/Nyah relationship) and “North by Northwest” (Ambrose’s back-and-forth with an underling played echoes the vaguely kinky

and

Cruise

by give-and-take between

3-1/2 out of 5 stars.

After Ethan Hunt is (wrongly) blamed for destroying a significant section of the Kremlin, the Impossible Missions Force is temporarily disbanded. On his own, he employs three comrades — techie Benji Dunn special op Jane Carter analyst” William Brandt — to stop a deranged Russian nuclear strategist

from triggering World War III because... because... well, because he wants to.

Making a smashingly successful debut as a live-action director, (“The Iron Giant,” “The Incredibles”) propels the globe-hopping narrative at an entertainingly brisk clip, pausing only for such sensational set pieces as Ethan’s death-defying dangling outside an upper-floor of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa (a.k.a. “The Tallest Structure in the World”) and a climactic confrontation on various levels of a Mumbai automated parking garage. And yet: The primary appeal of “M:I4” is its wink-wink willingness to repeatedly demonstrate how the high-tech gadgetry sometimes doesn’t work — at one point, even the usually reliable mask-making dingus is glitched — forcing Ethan and his teammates to improvise while ratcheting up the suspense. (This occasionally happened on the old TV show as well.) Only complaint: Franchise mainstay

appears only in a fleeting cameo as ace computer hacker Luther Stickell. (By the way: You know that Ethan/Julia marriage in in the third “M:I” movie? It is more or less removed from the equation here.

4 out of 5 stars.

and “intelligence

Overcoming efforts by CIA director Alan Hunley to absorb the IMF into his agency, Ethan leads compatriots Benji Dunn, William Brandt and Luther Stickell in a mission to neutralize The Syndicate, a rogue outfit led by fanatical former British spy Solomon Lane

Another Brit operative — the formidable Ilsa Faust — may be friend or foe.

Writer-director keeps the franchise firing on all cylinders while effectively emphasizing, to a degree greater than in previous “M:I” films, IMF teamwork as much as Ethan’s solo derring-do. The most memorable sequence is at once low-tech and highly suspenseful, an ingeniously sustained, cleverly Hitchcockian backstage skirmish during a performance at a Vienna opera house. (Bad guys wish to assassinate someone; Ethan doesn’t want that someone to be assassinated.) And it’s nice to see that Ethan isn’t the only one who gets to kick ass during a final-reel face-off: Ferguson’s Ilsa Faust is a knockout as she causes grievous bodily harm to a villain who foolishly mistakes her for just another pretty face.

4-1/2 out of 5 stars.

Ethan once again deals with a hostile takeover attempt as new CIA boss Erica Sloan demands that her handpicked operative, August Walker go along for the ride to observe and report (and, maybe, eliminate) while our hero tries to retrieve three plutonium cores seized by The Apostles, an offshoot of The Syndicate (see “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation”).

The latest and best entry in the ongoing franchise certainly can stand on its own as a rousing rush of breakneck excitement and sensational stunt work. (Credit “Rogue Nation” writer-director Christopher McQuarrie with leaping over the bar he raised in the previous outing.) But for anyone who’s been following the adventures of Ethan Hunt over the past 22 years, “Fallout” is all the more satisfying as a cinematic class reunion, with pointed allusions to images and incidents from previous “M:I” movies (note the reprise of Ethan’s rock-climbing from the opening of “M:I2”)and welcome return appearances by long-time and recently introduced series regulars. As Ethan Hunt, Tom Cruise has aged gracefully into something like gravitas while maintaining his boundless and infectious enthusiasm. And Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell and Simon Pegg’s Benji Dunn do standout double-duty as backup crew and Greek chorus, playing it fast-and-frantically straight during the turbo-charged action but also offering wink-wink observations about Ethan’s trademark penchant for unpremeditated risk-taking. All that’s missing is a paraphrase of

“Whoops! He did it again!” The very best thing about “Fallout,” of course, is that it leaves you hoping that Ethan Hunt will keep on doing it.

5 out of 5 stars. (RTRS)