Mission: Impossible – Fallout had the best opening weekend of the entire series with $61.2 million (and another $94.6 million overseas). This is the film Tom Cruise broke his ankle on and the film Henry Cavill just had to have a mustache for that made those re-shoots for Justice League have such disastrous results. The sequel has a whopping 97% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 86 Metascore on Metacritic. Critics and the general movie-going audience emphatically and enthusiastically adore this film and personally it doesn’t register why the Mission: Impossible franchise is so cherished by movie lovers.
Writer/director Christopher McQuarrie, Sean Harris as villain Solomon Lane, and Rebecca Ferguson as former MI6 agent Ilsa Faust all return from Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation; this is the first film where a director and a villain have returned from a previous film. The technical aspects of the film are the easiest to admire and the action sequences are outstandingly breathtaking. The big action sequences include the parachute/free fall sequence with Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and August Walker (Henry Cavill), the bathroom brawl with Hunt, Walker, and John Lark, Hunt’s motorcycle chase, Hunt running and jumping across rooftops, and the insane helicopter chase.
It’s ridiculous (in a good way) how much room cinematographer Rob Hardy (Annihilation, Ex Machina) gives each sequence; these are scenes made for seeing and experiencing in IMAX. You can tell that the majority of the stunts were pulled off practically and green screens and computer generated effects are utilized minimally. The most impressive sequence is the motorcycle chase because Tom Cruise races through the wrong side of traffic without a helmet in the circle around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
But the helicopter chase features Cruise climbing up a rope dangling in the air while the helicopter is airborne. These sequences are extremely open with perspectives that not only make you feel like you’re with Tom Cruise being just as nuts and exhilarating as he is, but also seem to be making the statement that Cruise is still crazy enough to do the majority of his own stunts at the age of 56 despite his saggy jowls.
Many on social media were claiming that Mission: Impossible – Fallout is nonstop action over its nearly 150-minute runtime, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The film seems to be attempting this never ending adrenaline rush found within the likes of films like Mad Max: Fury Road and Speed, but it fails to do so. The action is superb, but everything in between is extraordinarily dull. Missing the first and third films in the franchise may have contributed to that, but there’s not much to miss here if you haven’t seen the other films in the franchise.
Hunt obviously still cares about his ex-wife Julia Meade (Michelle Monaghan), but currently has a connection with Ilsa Faust. The spy element of the sequel feels so cliché and predictable as every twist and big reveal can easily be predicted even if this is your first Mission: Impossible film. The inclusion of a bomb in a Mission: Impossible film feels explosively juvenile at this point and you legitimately have no investment in these characters whatsoever.
With every Mission: Impossible film that’s released, it seems like its main purpose is for Tom Cruise to be like Mad TV’s Stuart and yell, “Look what I can do!” before partaking in extracurricular activities a man in his fifties should probably be distancing himself from. To be fair, Cruise is still more than capable of doing incredible action films and is generally a part of films that aim to be exciting for everyone.
Fallout is extraordinary if you scrutinize without any sort of context. The film knows how to make your pulse race and your palms sweat as you gasp for breath. But the story is the same as any other Mission: Impossible film and the sequel is basically dead as far as any sort of emotional acting goes. There’s no substance here and impressive action doesn’t make up for a defused storyline.