By Marc S. Sanders
Mission: Impossible Fallout is the best of the so far seven films in the series. It is carried not only by the stunts that Tom Cruise insists on risking his middle-aged self to perform, for the sake of his fans. As well, the film’s casting and the puzzle twisting script from Christopher McQuarrie, writing with inspiration from his famed Oscar winning screenplay for The Usual Suspects is a treat for the eyes and mind. If this were a novel, I’d quickly be turning each page to see what comes next. Like McQuarrie’s well-known invention of Keyser Soze, this movie questions Who is John Lark? Is Ethan Hunt (Cruise) John Lark?
Hunt chooses to accept the mission of locating this unidentified Lark who is interested in purchasing enough plutonium to wipe one third of the world population, likely in and around Pakistan and China. However, the CIA doesn’t trust Hunt’s cavalier instincts and insists he partners up with a hulking Henry Cavill playing an agent named Walker. Benji and Luther (Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) are back for hacking, field work and some clever mask trickery. Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), the dubious British MI6 agent from the prior film (Rogue Nation) is a welcome surprise and just as perplexing with her actions. The big bad, Solomon Lane (a snake like Sean Harris), also returns.
Like all the M:I films, Fallout operates with the same kind of formula. We have to accept the promise that there’s a world ending MacGuffin. Ethan and the team are assigned to find who has it and who wants to buy it and can use it. All of this is written outside of the lines of planning out the action scenes these pictures are recognized for. It’s as if Cruise, with his producer hat on, sketches stunts with skydives, cars, motorcycles, trucks and helicopters and then assigns his writer/director to apply words for the donut filling within the movie. Mustn’t forget a reason to include a running sequence for Ethan to perform on rooftops. Fortunately, all of it works best here, more than in any of the other films.
What sells these pictures, and again Fallout is the best example, is the photography and editing applied to these scenes. Two sequential car/motorcycle chases occur throughout the streets of Paris. (Look! I see our honeymoon hotel, The Hotel Regina located across from the Louvre, as Ethan races by in a BMW!!!!!) A smashing three-person fist fight in an impeccably white men’s room is a brawl for the ages.
The highlight of this installment is a helicopter chase above and within a mountain valley that first focuses on Tom Cruise himself climbing a rope up, up, up to a chopper and swinging his legs onto the railing to get a foothold. There’s time dedicated to him falling and inching his way back into the vehicle. Then it becomes a chopper chase followed by a collision that ends with the remains wedged within a narrow mountain crevice. What a set piece this is! Absolutely outstanding camera work. The wide and close editing, sound and visuals work so perfectly in sync with one another. I don’t want to watch the making of documentary for this picture. The trickery of McQuarrie’s camera crew is such a treat. I’d rather savor the finished product on repeat viewings.
Juxtaposing against this chopper fight are two other scenarios involving Ethan’s teammates. This is where I’m especially grateful for Christopher McQuarrie’s writing. Two bombs are rigged in line with each other, and a detonator also must be retrieved by Ethan. The whole team has to work cohesively, otherwise it is sayonara to much of the Asian continent if both devices explode. McQuarrie’s “impossible mission” is orchestrated beautifully with suspense cranked way up. His imagination for adventure allows a magnificently edited third act. To date, I consider the stakes here to be the highest in the entire series.
The presence of this collection of actors is marvelous with recognition deserving of Henry Cavill donning an untrusting mustache and looking like a brutal, blunt instrument against the superspy Ethan Hunt. Cavill also plays CIA agent wisely. He’s got a stoic expression for most of the film but that is because he trusts the audience will assume what a dangerous threat he can be. Cavill occupies one of the best characters in the seven films.
Mission: Impossible Fallout is truly one of the most thrilling pictures you’ll find. What’s most important is the action serves the story. Action just for the sake of action is tiring like in the Fast/Furious films. There has to be a cost and a tangible feeling to the speed, obstacles and pain that good action scenes serve their characters and the story as a whole. When Ethan falls from a helicopter or has to jump out a window, I grip both arm rests and let out a collective bellow with the audience. Films with the grandest of adventure must draw out responses like that. Otherwise, it’s all just a ho hum journey to the end credits. Fallout is anything but a stroll. It’s an absolute balls to the wall, explosive crowd pleaser.