'Fallout' Propels the 'Mission: Impossible' Film Series to New Heights

The Mission: Impossible film series is already more than two decades old.  And all these years, it has been headlined by Tom Cruise, who is almost pushing sixty.  Considering such circumstance, there should be some noticeable depreciation at this point.  But Tom Cruise is like fine wine; he only seems to get better with age.  As a result, Mission: Impossible – Fallout – the sixth installment of the series – is arguably the best one to date.

If I felt Rogue Nation was like what a perfect 007 film would be, Fallout made me consider for the first time that the M:I series may be superior to the 007 series – and this is coming from a huge James Bond fan.  That is how good I think this movie is.

I had a blast with Fallout.  So since the rest of this review is basically all praises for it, let me first enumerate the things that I didn’t like.  First, the trailers/stills essentially giving away what the role of Henry Cavill would be (the mustache actually makes the horrible CGI job on Superman’s upper lip in Justice League worth it, by the way).  Second, two dream sequences that are laughably obvious of being dream sequences, and almost as ridiculous as the dream sequence in Jurassic Park III (i.e. a raptor uttering, “Alan!”).  I would have forgiven if there was only one of such.  But two?  Two is simply hokey.  Third, the disappointing absence of Jeremy Renner’s William Brandt.   Other than these three, I have no other nits to pick.

As I’ve already stated above, the biggest reason of the excellence of the M:I films is Tom Cruise.  He’s simply amazing.  He’s already in his mid-50’s, and yet he can almost pass off as someone in his 30’s.  But his youthful appearance doesn’t make him appear less gritty and formidable.  After all, he has always been successful in projecting an august, badass screen presence despite just standing 5 feet, 8 inches tall.  Thus, Ethan Hunt is already a very appealing hero appearance-wise – much the more so as a completely realized character.

But what’s more impressive than Tom maintaining a young appearance is his dedication for performing his own stunts – regardless of how terrifyingly dangerous – as well as having the necessary, optimum physical conditioning to match.  My most favorite is still Ghost Protocol’s Burj Khalifa scene, and second is Rogue Nation’s plane opening.  Nevertheless, Fallout delivers its share of epic set pieces – most especially, the HALO jump scene and the climactic helicopter sequence.

Indeed, a huge reason why Fallout – or the M:I film series as a whole, for that matter – is awesome is because of these iconic white-knuckled, jaw-dropping, breathtaking, heart-pumping action sequences.  And what probably makes them more distinctively visceral than most action films’ set pieces is the fact that these came as a result of actual stunt work rather than CGI, which means there are more “real” on what’s unfolding and less “illusion” (same reason why Mad Max: Fury Road is an action masterpiece).  In addition, the fight scenes – whether involving guns or hand-to-hand combat – are outstandingly gratifying as well (especially the bathroom scene).

What’s further more incredible is that it manages to have all these fun, exhilarating action sequences without compromising depth and substance.  Usually, when an action movie decide to be “fun” with its action, it has to settle itself with being “dumb” as well – a “fun, dumb action movie”, as the term goes.  But that isn’t the case here.  It successfully manages to be both agreeable and sophisticated.  Moreover, it has solid laughs, but the humor never feels overpowering or out-of-place in this action movie of serious tone.

The plot is honestly a bit by-the-numbers.  It even has a couple of elements that are somewhat similar to previous M:I movies.  However, it doesn’t come off as pretentious or stale at all as it’s enriched by a strong sense of thrill and unpredictability.  The aforementioned hokey dream sequences notwithstanding, the narrative – at times, working in conjunction with the editing – actually pulls off several clever instances where it makes you think for a moment that what’s happening is one thing when what’s really happening is another.

All things considered, Mission: Impossible – Fallout is an intense, masterful spy action film.  And it’s definitely one of the best movies of the year – a strong contender for my year-end top 20.