The Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie collaborations just get better and better – by firing out a masterful genre-defining action-thriller.
They both made Jack Reacher greater than it had any right to be, and then teamed up to make the fifth instalment Rogue Nation the best Mission: Impossible yet – that was until Fallout came along.
And the reason why this is soooo good, is because it’s high on practical thriller ‘smarts’ and low on computer-generated action sequence ‘stupids’ – which arguably makes it the best of its ilk for a generation.
No kidding. It’s probably the best of its type since 2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum – which is no mean feat.
This time fallout acts as a ‘proper’ sequel compared to the previous standalone outings, following on two years from the events seen in the aforementioned Rogue Nation.
Ethan Hunt’s (Cruise) capture of terrorist mastermind Solomon Lane has inadvertently sent the world into chaos, with several of his Syndicate members having gone rogue – tagging themselves as The Apostles – led by a mysterious ring leader only known as John Lark, with the aim of being armed with nuclear weapons to cause destruction around the world on a devastating scale.
Enter Cruise – with his IMF pals Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames) under the guidance of Alec Baldwin’s Hunley – being begrudgingly assisted by the CIA’s top man August Walker (Henry ‘Superman’ Cavill) at the behest of Angela Bassett’s head honcho Erica Sloan, to try and stop a global catastrophe with the clock ticking.
Throw in Hunt’s ex-lover and MI6 agent with a separate agenda Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), his ex-wife Julia (Michelle Monaghan) who gets caught up as a pawn in the sprawling plot, and more double crosses than all the thrillers out in the past year combined – and this turns into one hell of a ‘fallout’ indeed.
It also has several of the best set-pieces of the year – see female cop shoot-out and Walker/Lane jail scenes to name just two of several movie-stealing scenarios – to really make it feel organically fresh and original, and quite clearly a cut above the rest. And by some margin.
Even the cinematic backdrops from Paris to London – with picturesque waterways to leaf-swept historic locales – ooze a touch of class.
It does outstay its welcome a touch, and gets a little far-fetched at the end – but even the finale is such a nerve-jangler that Cruise, McQuarrie and co can be forgiven for any minor missteps.
Which doesn’t just put this up there as the best Mission: Impossible yet, or the best action-thriller of the year or past decade, but seriously one of the best of all-time – with that comment not being made lightly.
And even with doing the majority of his own stunts you have to hand it to Tom for always accepting the mission – as he still looks like he can do this in Cruise control.
Which still makes him undoubtedly one of Hollywood’s top stars – and after this performance rightly so.
Gavin Miller
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Cast: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Sean Harris, Vanessa Kirby, Alec Baldwin, Michelle Monaghan, Wes Bentley, Liang Yang, Frederick Schmidt, Kristoffer Joner & Angela Bassett
Running Time: 2 Hrs27 Mins
Director: Christopher Mcquarrie
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