August 1, 2018 3 min to read

Mission Impossible: Fallout

Loud, unapologetic, sleek, and sometimes gimmicky. Everything you'd want from an action movie is here and then some.

by Zach Saul

Why don’t more movies lean into themselves the way Mission Impossible does? I can’t call myself a diehard action fan, a Tom Cruise enthusiast, or even someone that’s seen every MI film—yet I loved every second of Mission Impossible: Fallout. There isn’t a dull moment in the movie, and it doesn’t seem to run out of steam at any point. At several points when you think Ethan Hunt (Cruise) has “The Apostles” cornered, the action ramps back up again, and the team reconvenes. When a movie is the 6th installment, like MI6, it’s important the film doesn’t take itself too seriously, and director Brian De Palma tiptoes that line very effectively. The cold-open was one of the best, and most fun I’ve ever seen in an action movie, as Cruise conspires with Wolf Blitzer to trick a terrorist into surrendering his phone using a fake newscast. When the walls to the fake hospital room raised at the end of the hijinks, there was a involuntary smile on the face of everyone in the theatre we were in.

There a really poignant, and politically appropriate moment near the end of Mission Impossible where Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is asked if they should involve the CIA in their plan to save the world. Ethan replies bluntly “the only people I trust are the 4 people in this room”. There’s certainly a comedic undertone to this scene—but it encapsulated how a lot of people are feeling right now on both sides of the isle in Trump’s America: like they’re just not sure who to trust. As with any action movie worth it’s weight, MI6 features four separate twists where characters double-cross each other, and you’re completely unsure who is on what side. The difference for MI: Fallout versus it’s lesser counterparts is that the situations and gadgetry used are just believable enough that you could image this happening in thirty years, but not so hyper realistic that the audience gets caught in the bureaucratic weeds.

The stunts in this film are genuinely inventive, and the gut-wrenching helicopter scene is something seldom attempted in action movies. Apparently Cruise spent 2,000 hours learning to fly helicopters, and had cameras specifically designed to show he was truly the one flying the copter - and that the stunts were real during the chase. Say what you want about Tom’s ego (which undoubtedly factored into that decision) but the dedication and end result were legitimately impressive.

The Good: It’s really fun to spend an hour and a half with Tom Cruise for Mission Impossible: Fallout, and that’s something I never imagined myself writing. The stunts are inventive, the jokes are timely and well delivered, and the plot moved quickly and deliberately though two and a half hours. Say what you want about Cruise’s involvement with Scientology - the man is very good at making action flicks, transgressions aside. Rebecca Ferguson and Vanessa Kirby were also excellent in their supporting roles, and probably deserved even more screen time.

The Bad: As much fun as MI6 was, there’s a strange and unnecessary ten minutes that seems to get added to every Cruise film, and it was again included here. These ten minutes feature a slough of beautiful women approaching Cruise while biting down on their lips with lust, and read lines borrowed from a lifetime achievement award introduction speech. In regards to MI6: it just made no sense why such a sequence was necessary—the audience had just watched a heroic helicopter chase where Cruise narrowly beats a 15 second bomb clock and saves the world. We already have a deep understanding of the sexual tension between Ferguson and Cruise because of several other sequences in the movie that alluded to their past.