Review: Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)

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cinema, film, mission impossible fallout, movies, review, tom cruise

My Scientology Movie meets James Bond

Ethan Hunt is back, with a mission he chooses to accept. Laced with traps and tribulations, his task involves preventing nuclear weapons coming into the possession of an illusive terrorist group with deadly intentions. Should be easy?

I’ve never been the biggest admirer of Tom Cruise, or the action movie genre, really. But this was one trip to the movie theatre that I was glad I took.

The spy action movie is tiresome to me unless it’s particularly striking. We’re overtly familiar with the narrative arc of this genre, so what we experience on screen must be impressive and seamlessly engaging, what unfolds between the characters must be dynamic and interesting. I was pleased to see that as a duo, Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise successfully achieve this.

M:I – Fallout gets straight to the point and pulls us immediately into the true chaos of the mission as Ethan Hunt and his assigned babysitter, CIA agent August Walker, casually jump out of an aircraft and plummet through stormy skies. An impressively diverse range of adrenaline inducing action occupies the majority of the screen time, not just your average car chase. There’s falling, jumping, helicopters, hanging, running, flying, a lot of which Tom Cruise choreographed himself in a spectacular show of stunts.

There’s a few interesting moments of tension, when Ethan Hunt must address his morals and make a decision that either threatens his humanity or the success of the mission.

The thespians?
If Tom Cruise is willing to continue through a scene with a broken foot (he struck it at an terribly awkward angle whilst jumping from building to building, as you do), his dedication to the integrity of the movie is unquestionable. I liked Vanessa Kirby as the unnerving White Widow. I’m looking forward to seeing more of her.

Lastly
With a duration of 2hrs 27 minutes, this movie kept me entertained and on the edge of my seat. Lots of twists and turns in the plot motivated me to try and figure out who’s the baddies and who’s the goodies, and kept me rooting for the success of Ethan Hunt and his team.