Mission: Impossible – Fallout Plot Summary:
After a failed mission leaves nuclear material in the hands of terrorists, IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team must redeem themselves before the terrorists unleash global chaos.
Considering how many Mission: Impossible movies there have been, it’s a little surprising Ethan Hunt isn’t more of a household name. I’d argue it’s because the series didn’t hit its stride commercially and critically until Ghost Protocol, the fourth film in the franchise. Look at the Rotten Tomatoes scores the newer movies have. They’re in the ’90s. That’s crazy for such an old franchise. It’s over 20 years old (older if you count the TV series).
The first two movies had some cool moments but they had narrative issues, and the third film was darker and felt less like Mission: Impossible and more like your standard action movie. With the fourth and fifth, the tone was lighter, the supporting cast had more personality, and the stunts were as ludicrous as ever.
So, while the series has become more of a retread as Ethan continues to go rogue, if you shut at least the first two movies out of your mind, you’ll enjoy the newer ones more. Even though characters are hardly in real danger or the villains aren’t that good, the movies are fun. If you’re not shooting for an Oscar, fun is enough for most critics.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout reunites Tom Cruise and the returning cast with Rogue Nation writer/director Christopher McQuarrie, the first person to direct more than one film in the series. Since the movies have had so many different people helming them over the years, the movies’ styles vary. If there’s one noticeable characteristic that carries over from Rogue Nation, it’s McQuarrie’s love of speed. Remember that car/motorcycle chase in the last movie? There’s a sequence like that in Fallout too.
So, as I said before, the series has a tendency to retread material and that doesn’t change here. The plot points of Fallout are basically cherry-picked from previous entries. Early on Fallout has a couple opportunities to go in a direction thematically distinct from its predecessors, but the movie doesn’t take the risks. Had it there’s a chance fans might have not enjoyed the movie or the risks might’ve gone against the spirit of the franchise. However, they would have given the movie more dramatic weight.
Despite redoing general storylines, Mission: Impossible – Fallout also contains several callbacks, and the movie is a direct continuation of Rogue Nation. Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) and Ethan’s wife Julia (Michelle Monaghan) are back, as is British agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson). While I’ve been a fan of Julia and Ilsa; Fallout does to flesh out Solomon Lane’s goals which makes him a weaker villain. He’s essentially just a madman in this movie.
Ethan’s other adversary in this film is Agent Walker (Henry Cavill), who the CIA assigns to keep him in check. Much commotion has been made about Henry Cavill’s involvement in Mission: Impossible for how it negatively affected Justice League. So, was it worth it? For the most part, the answer is yes. Cavill’s inflection feels bizarre at times and Walker’s motivations are whatever. Yet, Ethan Hunt has never had a greater physical opponent. This movie should fully cement Cavill as an action movie star.
Still, the movie pulls its punches the way PG-13 movies often do. Situations that should end messily tend to leave characters with few to no wounds. Fallout does drop the series’ first f-bomb, but if there were a chance we could have gotten more blood and bruises by omitting it, I would’ve taken it.
For all my gripes about how similar or safe this movie is, I have to admit that the final act is great. If I were rating this movie on the last third alone, it would easily get an 8 out of 10. The visual spectacle coupled with the pumping score makes this movie worth it. Christopher McQuarrie should be proud.
So, despite my review sounding mostly negative — this is not a bad movie. It’s well-made, it does hints of dramatic weight, and Tom Cruise gives it his all. The way it incorporates his wife Julia does provide some of that risk I wanted, though I wouldn’t be surprised if it splits fan opinion.
If you’re familiar with Mission: Impossible, take what I’ve written into consideration. It depends on if stunts alone can hold your interest for a two-and-a-half-hour movie. If you don’t see it in theaters, I would definitely recommend seeing the movie On Demand.
If you’ve never seen a Mission: Impossible movie (or have only seen a lesser entry like Mission: Impossible II), go to the theater and see this movie. You don’t need to have seen any of the others to understand the plot. You’ll have a blast.
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