The Mission Impossible series has clearly missed the memo that 5th and 6th films in a franchise are supposed to be bad. If anything, these films are on an upward trajectory, with Rogue Nation being my personal favourite of the series. Falloutitself certainly follows the pattern - it's a tremendous piece of action cinema.
After an IMF Mission goes wrong, the world is at risk of nuclear catastrophe. Ethan Hunt, of course, takes it upon himself to achieve their original task but his progress is hampered by the presence of CIA agent Walker (Cavill), tasked to keep an eye on Hunt as the government begin to lose faith in him, and the return of Isla Faust (Ferguson), who is working with her own agenda.
Even with such a fantastic cast, Christopher McQuarrie's keeps the emphasis on character scenes short but sweet. Mentions of Ethan's love life or his relationship with his fellow IMF agents are fleeting, but they all land with plenty of impact. In fact, most of the character work is wrapped up in the first hour, which coupled with a fair amount of exposition and a needlessly overcomplicated arc of one of the villains might make the the opening feel a little slow. But it's only slow in comparison to the relentless final hour with is pretty much perfect.
The action scenes throughout are truly spectacular. Without exception, every single set pieces is jaw-dropping. The brawl in the bathroom is incredibly visceral and weighty, the race across London rooftops is the perfect mix of exhilarating and hilarious, and the closing helicopter chase is stunning. The level of technical work that goes into creating these sequences is mind boggling - take the HALO skydive, where Tom Cruise has to steady himself a couple of feet away from another dive with an IMAX camera strapped to his chest. My pick of the bunch in the motorbike chase through Paris, which is just mesmerising. You can genuinely feel the wind whipping past. The commitment of both Cruise and McQuarrie to the authenticity and originality of each set piece is staggering. As far as action set pieces go, these are not only highlights of this franchise but the genre as a whole.
Away from the action, the entire film is shot beautifully. Lots of effort went into scouting and accessing real locations to film in and they are used to full effect. There are numerous long, sweeping shots of some stunning landscapes in Paris, London and Norway.
The beating heart of this movie is Tom Cruise. He and McQuarrie build a fascinating narrative around the audacious action, presenting a character study of Ethan Hunt. The ever-present 'Your mission, should you chose to accept it' is dissected, as McQuarrie questions what kind of man would keep accepting these missions, continually risking his life for others. The answer is simple. Hunt cares about one life as much as the thousands, and he will do everything in his power to save them. Watching Hunt go toe to toe with Walker (played well by Cavill, sporting the most expensive moustache in cinematic history) is the perfect why is illustrate that.
Overall, Mission Impossible: Fallout is a fantastic movie. It's captivating plot and intelligent use of character work is excellent. The action set pieces are truly phenomenal. It's gripping, it's intense, the final hour doesn't let up for a second. It's a brilliant watch and is definitely up there with the best action movies of all time.
5/5 Stars
*Also please be sure to follow me on Twitter (@T_F_T_S_R) and Letterboxd (theboymarshall) for more film related fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment