Mission: Impossible – Fallout
A mission you should choose to accept
The sixth film in a series is rarely the best of the bunch, but that’s what Tom Cruise and co. have achieved with Ethan Hunt’s latest impossible mission. Not only that: it’s the best action movie since Mad Max: Fury Road.
A sequel to 2015’s Rogue Nation, Fallout is the first Mission to ask what makes its leading man tick. The plot, as with most Missions, is a labyrinth of fake-mask fakeouts, quadruple crosses, and I-can’t-believe-they-just-did-that stunts in pursuit of [insert name] MacGuffin. Here, Ethan must re-acquire some stray plutonium before returning nasty Solomon Lane can wreak havoc.
Christopher McQuarrie, the writer/ director, is the first man to helm two Mission movies. But rather than a Rogue Nation rerun, Fallout is a radical reinvention for the series; a muscular urban thriller which takes its cues from The Dark Knight, Sicario, and Heat.
Cruise’s daredevil commitment to authentic stunt work pays off hugely, and the film’s exemplary set-pieces are all the more thrilling because you can tell they were achieved with minimal effects. Highlights include a vertiginous helicopter chase, a bone-crunching fist fight in a bathroom, and a high-risk HALO jump, all of which Cruise performed forreal.
With Lorne Balfe’s soul-quaking score, Rob Hardy’s striking cinematography, and Cruise’s most complex performance as Hunt to date, it’s a film which not only delivers the best action of the year, but finally gets under the skin of its hero. Impossible to resist. Jordan Farley