Mission: Impossible - Fallout - Review

Growing up, I was enthralled by the fantasy and adventure of films like Harry Potter and Star Wars. So naturally, those were the franchises that I attached myself to the most. Over the years, other film franchises would enter into the "favourite film franchises" list of mine like Indiana Jones and James Bond. However, slowly but surely, another franchise had been creeping closer and closer to that list. That franchise was Mission: Impossible. Now, after I saw this magnificent movie, I can safely say that Mission: Impossible is now one of my all time favourite movie franchises and that Mission: Impossible - Fallout is an absolutely terrific film.

At the centre of it all is Tom Cruise. This movie has cemented him as one of, if not my favourite actor because of the amount of dedication and conviction he brings to each role. He may not have the range as some of my other favourites like Denzel Washington, but no matter what movie he is in, no matter what role he is playing, I am along for the ride. In this film, not only does he bring his action hero charisma, but he pushes boundaries in terms of the lengths people will go to entertain their audience.

I'm obviously speaking about the truly sensational, massive action set-pieces. This is a movie that absolutely requires an IMAX screen to experience one of the most jaw-dropping set-pieces I've seen in recent years. The Shanghai fight sequence in Skyfall, and the many chase scenes in Mad Max: Fury Road, and now all the action scenes in Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Yes, they are that good. Extremely impressive.

Speaking of impressive, Tom Cruise has surrounded himself with a great cast for Ethan Hunt's latest mission. Simon Pegg returns as Benji who is always a blast to see with his witty humour, Rebecca Ferguson as the badass Ilsa, Ving Rhames as the smooth talking tech expert, Alec Baldwin as the head of the IMF and Sean Harris who is absolutely menacing as the returning Solomon Lane. But who I have a shoutout too is none other than Henry Cavill.

While I have only ever seen him in the DC Expanded Universe playing Superman and in a fairly forgettable movie called The Man From U.N.C.L.E, I can safely say that Henry Cavill is now in a movie where he actually is able to show off not only his acting talent, but his physique and stunt work.

That brings up one reason why I love these films, at least from the third entry onward. While it is very clear that this franchise is Tom Cruise's franchise and he is absolutely the main hero, this movie has always been about the team. Ethan Hunt is of course the leader, Benji and Luthor being tech and weapons specialists and, while interchanging characters depending on the movie, there is a marksman or another brute fighter. What makes these films so interesting and engaging is that each team member relies on each other to get the job done. Sure, Ethan always gets to do the "coolest" job or stunt, but it is made very obvious that his actions would be useless unless his other team members carry out their tasks. This leads to more opportunities for problems to present themselves thus creating tension and stakes which of course means were invested more in the story and action scenes. These movies have become masters at this and it especially shows in this movie.

The only issue I have with the movie is that you need to pay attention to every single line of dialogue. What I mean by that is that the plot can get a little confusing at times because of all the double crosses, the political espionage jargon and so on. However, even though I didn't understand the plot at all times through the first viewing, this film was still entertaining all the way through because even after 22 years, this franchise still knows how to twist expectations and throw things at you that you haven't seen before or you simply didn't see coming.

This film has a bunch of the tropes you'd come to expect from a Mission: Impossible movie like double crosses, rogue agents, spy equipment, heists, chase scenes, and the classic Scooby-Doo masks, but they still manage to surprise you. Also, when you hear that theme song, it gets my heart pumping every time.

I smiled and did a head nod in the theatre once I heard those first few notes from the violin in the theme song.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout absolutely blew me away. It is great to know that we have franchise like this one around today that gets better and better with each entry. Mr. Cruise, I will be there for opening night for the next mission and I will joyfully accept it.