Written by: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames
It's Mission: Impossible as you've always known it. Ethan Hunt (Cavill) and his crew are back to save the world one more time as terrorists try to set nukes on the world so that a new world order can be established out of the ashes, with all the twists, turns and thrills of the series on full display, the action taken to new heights, as well as (for some reason) an attempt to humanise the impossible man himself. It's a shame it's taken until the sixth entry in the series for a writer to treat the events of the previous films like they were culminating to something; a lot of the stuff in Fallout acknowledges the events of the previous film and tries to work them together to make it look like Ethan Hunt has had a character arc. It doesn't really succeed in this regard, but at least it's trying.
The film often delves in to moments where the motivations for Ethan's actions are discussed in order to give his choices a bit more weight than we're used to, but the emotions of these scenes usually fall flat as they slow down the action and feel tacked on when you consider that none of this has really mattered until now. I appreciate the effort this must've taken, especially to make Rhames and Simon Pegg's characters feel more than their roles in the movies and to give Hunt a real reaction to the return of Solomon Lane (main villain of Rogue Nation) but a lot of this feels as wasted as the rare previous attempts. I like these movies fine, but there hasn't ever been much to the meat of the stories themselves, and while I hope the attempt to bring more to the table provokes deeper meaning and more characterful installments in the future, here it all feels prototypical at best. The extends to things like Cavill's Agent Walker's dynamic with Hunt, which never feels completely realised beyond "brute force vs. not quite brute force", as if its unsure where to go, and falls by the wayside as the movie dashes its way to what everyone who sees these things really cares about.
With that in mind, the action here is absolutely fantastic. The series has always been good for this sort of ridiculous, nail-biting stuff, but here it often feels at its absolute best. It employs the same visceral style as the previous few, toeing the line between utter ridiculousness and surprising credibility so that even when things seem completely unbelievable the movie keeps you on the edge of your seat, all supported by the film's hard-hitting editing and breakneck pace. The film may drop its rhythm for story beats but when the action's on this whole thing moves with such incredible agility and force, as fight scenes break the room with its choreography (literally) and chase scenes throw themselves around with all the weight that seems to be missing from the story. It's big dumb and exquisitely made action with some edge wrought out of espionage and constant double-crosses and preposterous wheelings and dealings; it's a Mission: Impossible movie, through and through.
The Short Version: The action is heart-pounding, some of the series' best, but it's broken up by story beats that try and don't always succeed in matching that intensity with the usual twists and turns, and an attempt to make the events of the previous movies matter somewhat and pretend that Ethan Hunt is more than a static character. Thankfully, the visceral style and punchy editing keep things on pace and none of the parts that feel inconsequential are around for long.
Rating: 7/10
Published August 4th, 2018
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