Spoiler Warning: This discussion features some important narrative information that could spoil the text for you. It does not necessarily spell out the film’s conclusion, but it does talk about events in detail.
"What's done is done when we say it's done."
Did somebody say perfect action film? Mission: Impossible – Fallout, the sixth film of the series, somehow outdoes every other film with the distinguished title. It enters a prestigious league in my books, as undoubtedly one of the most insane yet ingenious pieces of action ever put to film. It is produced to the absolute maximum, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Fallout starts a little differently to its two most recent predecessors. Where Bird and McQuarrie opted to open their films with intense action sequences, this opens with a surrealistic dreamscape and some exposition projected from Homer’s Odyssey. As the credits hit, the most action we’ve had is a brief Mexican stand-off. It’s unusual for Cruise not to have thrown himself onto a moving object or to have leapt off one by this point. I must admit it is a tad slow. However, what follows is anything, but.
Enter Henry Cavill as, initially, a new member of the team. Brutally physical but able to hold his own in the comedy chops alongside Cruise and the team. He feels a welcome addition. Harris returns as Solomon Lane, Hunt’s most psychologically imposing opposition in the history of the franchise. Call it what you may; I think genius is the right word for having Cavill switch sides early on. His intimidating physique established fighting capabilities places him in the upper echelons of MI villains. The turn works well narratively, it adds the first real piece of connective tissue between two of these films, and it works an absolute treat.
However, a tight screenplay is not what makes a Mission: Impossible film, a Mission: Impossible film. It’s the action, and this is full of it. A real-time HALO jump with Cruise and Cavill actually plummeting towards the ground? That sounds about right. Is that the most intensive action set piece in the film? It’s genuinely not even close. The following bathroom fight sequence is beautifully choreographed, having the same rhythm and artistic beauty as a dance sequence, but with less delicacy, more tile smashing, and headshots. McQuarrie decides that his bike chase sequence in Rogue Nation wasn’t intricate enough and provides a twenty-minute chase scene throughout Paris. All the while, masterfully crafted story beats are placed at the centre of these sequences, with character relationships and moral decisions punctuating the small breaks of movement.
There’s another chase sequence, this time on foot, where Cruise legitimately breaks his ankle on camera and walks it off for the sake of our entertainment. It brings Ethan’s wife back into things, again proving that the greatest climaxes come when Hunt’s humanity is brought into the equation. Up to this point, it has shaped up as a tidy entry into the series, amongst the best, but without the punch of a Burj Khalifa sequence to really elevate it. The final act would change that.
Once again, Cruise, McQuarrie and the team, not satisfied with a twenty-minute action sequence without a breath, create a forty-minute one instead. Indeed, the entire third act is one action sequence. It’s some of the most incredible filmmaking that I have ever seen. It’s virtually impossible to comment on how breathtaking every moment of it is. It’s perfect. The IMAX helicopter scenes fill out the entire screen, pitting Hunt in his most difficult scenario yet, with so many of his attempted outs failing at each turn. Cruise and Cavill bring out the best in each other here. You’ve never seen something so incredibly outlandish feel so authentic. This is the magic of the franchise in one extensive clip. Forty minutes of balls-to-the-wall, foot-to-the-floor, hard-hitting action. The framing device is simple enough to linger in the back of your mind with every punch thrown, every second ticking by. Cue one of the most satisfying, gnarliest moments in action history, and you’ve got yourself a winner.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout has reaffirmed itself as one of my favourite films on record. It remains one of the best cinema experiences I have ever had, and the thrill persists at home. It is a film I think everyone should see. It encapsulates the genre; it is the landmark of the series. It’s distinctively Mission: Impossible, Cruise’s fingerprints are all over it. However, this entry works so well because it has all the inventiveness of John Wick; all the charm of Bond; and the signature genuine stuntwork that this series has chiselled out for itself. An instant classic.
Connor Clarke Film 