Verdict
Summary
Mission: Impossible – Fallout is one of the most ambitious action movies of all time with jaw dropping stunts proving that Tom Cruise is the ultimate Legend of Action.
Plot: The best intentions often come back to haunt you. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT finds Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team (Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) along with some familiar allies (Rebecca Ferguson, Michelle Monaghan) in a race against time after a mission gone wrong. Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett, and Vanessa Kirby also join the dynamic cast with filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie returning to the helm.
Review: Critics have been raving about the latest entry in the Mission: Impossible series which immediately made me skeptical however, for once I am in 100% agreement with them and can safely say that Fallout may well be the best Mission yet.
Tom Cruise once again proves that he is arguably the greatest action star of all time with only Jackie Chan coming anywhere near him in terms of dedication to stunts. The action scenes in Fallout are the best you’re going to see this year with almost too many classic moments to mention; the helicopter chase is simply incredible but as someone who loves my hand to hand combat scenes I think the bathroom fight was my favourite of the movie. There were several impressive fights throughout with one jaw dropping sequence after another with no noticeable CG.
Henry Cavill is a great addition to the cast and as soon as he appears on screen there is immediate friction between he and Hunt.
Simon Pegg’s Benji is a field agent now and gets to be involved in several action/fight sequences and a highlight was when he actually showed up at our screening (below) and did an intro to the movie.
Sean Harris returns as the frankly terrifying Solomon Lane who is intent on destroying Ethan Hunt’s life in every way; he is one of the best villains of the series bringing an intensity like we haven’t seen before.
The plot has constant twists and turns keeping you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end; a few moments were a little predictable and as always there is a bit of an overuse of the masks but that’s all part of the series and it wouldn’t be Mission: Impossible without them. There are various connections to past movies and we get to know a little more about Hunt’s relationship to his wife who I always found was a little sidelined in previous movies.
The trailers gave away a little too much in terms of story but that’s really only a minor niggle and didn’t detract from the entertainment factor.
The music score is excellent with the end credits featuring a choral infused version of the theme tune which will make the soundtrack a must-have for me.
Overall, I don’t want to say anything else in case I spoil the movie but Mission: Impossible – Fallout is easily the best action movie of the year with some of the greatest action sequences of all time. Henry Cavill is an amazing addition to the cast taking the franchise in a bold new direction. The only movie that could maybe top it this year will be Mile 22 so we’ll wait and see about that one…