MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT

12A

BACK in 1996, when a 30-something Tom Cruise accepted his mission to revamp the classic 60s TV series, it’s unlikely he envisioned he’d still be breaking sweat as gung-ho IMF agent Ethan Hunt two decades later. Life is full of surprises and few are as sweet or exhilarating as Mission: Impossible – Fallout. The sixth and arguably best instalment of the franchise welcomes back Oscar-winning writer-director Christopher McQuarrie for a suspenseful thriller that unravels tangled narrative threads from the 2015 film Rogue Nation. While other blockbusters rely heavily on digital tricks, Fallout puts its most expensive special effect, its leading man, in almost every shot. Cruise does his own death-defying stunts including speeding through Paris on a motorbike without a helmet, piloting a helicopter during a stomach-churning downward spiral and freefall jumping at 25,000ft from a plane.

McQuarrie keeps the camera as close as possible to Cruise so we can appreciate every straining sinewy and split-second decision between life and horrific injury, including a leap between buildings which resulted in the star breaking his ankle.

IMF’s communications might self-destruct after five seconds but Cruise grimly and gallantly endures.

Hunt receives word from his superiors at Impossible Missions Force that the terrorist network fronted by jailed Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) is poised to take delivery of stolen plutonium.

The sale is being brokered by an arms dealer called the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby) and Hunt must infiltrate the exchange to prevent the payload falling into the hands of Lane’s disciples.

Fellow IMF operatives Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) join the mission, overseen by boss Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin). However, their movements are closely monitored by CIA operative August Walker (Henry Cavill).

Mission: Impossible – Fallout is turbo-charged by Cruise’s boundless energy and a script peppered with double-crosses and shadowy ulterior motives. And the brilliantly choreographed action sequences set pulses racing. DAMON SMITH