Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Mission: Impossible - Fallout [2018] is the sixth installment in the series of spy thrillers that never disappoint (forget about MI: 2, please and thank you). Tom Cruise teams up with Director Christopher McQuarrie again after the success of MI: Rogue Nation. This, of course, is odd considering Cruise has gone on record saying that he wishes each film in the series to have a different director in order for each film to feel fresh. But considering Fallout is centered around the decisions and relationships that were built from the previous three films, it is no surprise Cruise was willing to break that - as McQuarrie delivers yet another jaw-dropping film that rivals his initial installment in the series. Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and the gang go head to head with the force of evil that is Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) once again with even higher stakes than their first encounter with the terrorists. Your mission, if you choose to accept, will be to read why Fallout is the best MI film ever made.

Nostalgia: With a sixth film in any series it is difficult to be consistently unique. And there are times that Fallout makes obvious duplicate moments that remind the audience of the past stories and stunts. And that is completely fine! Those giddy moments that flash the audience back to 1996 and 2000 were both cheesy and satisfying. The characters that matter from the previous three films serve a purpose that makes everything have an aura of completion. The running, the love, the danger, the stunts. Everything that needed to be referenced was and there was nothing but a moment of pleasure to overwhelm any viewer.

Hunt vs Lane: Aside from the lifeless antagonist from Michael Nyqvist in Ghost Protocol [2011] there have been passable if not amazing performances that oppose Hunt and the team in each film. Until Rogue Nation [2015] there was no doubt that Philip Seymour Hoffman’s villain in MI: 3 [2006] would go down as the best MI villain of all time. And his actions in that film have caused a ripple effect since the third film in regards to Hunt’s ability to become close to anyone outside of the team. We are reminded of that in Fallout. But surprisingly it is the relationship between Hunt and Lane that defines this entire film series. Cruise and Harris have managed to create what seems like decades of hatred for each other in the matter of two films and maybe 30 minutes of combined screen time together. I have never wanted a villain to return for a third film more than Sean Harris as Solomon Lane. Lane drives Hunt to the edge of morality in this film; completely questioning what we all have known of Ethan Hunt for over two decades now.

Technical Superiority: Fallout is no different in that it has the running, car chases, shootouts, hand to hand combat, and seemingly “impossible” sequences of suspense akin to all the previous films. But that does not mean they are all not breathtaking moments in the film. Specifically, all the stunts that Tom Cruise and Henry Cavill share together. Violent and unexpecting. Every last second. Fallout hands down has the best action sequences in the series and maybe of all spy thrillers...that’s right the Bond and Bourne films.