Fallout is the 6th instalment of the Mission Impossible franchise and it has to be said that this is the most thrilling adventure yet for the IMF team. In fact I would go as far as saying that Fallout is probably one of the most breathtaking action films I have ever seen. When Ethan Hunt and the rest of the gang mess up a mission involving some plutonium, they have their work cut out for them. Mix in arch nemesis Soloman Lane, the enigmatic White Widow and a star turn from Henry Cavil as CIA assassin August Walker and you have the major players ready to engage.
The action starts in Belfast then moves to Berlin and Paris evoking those location hopping James Bond escapades, as Ethan and team lock horns with all manner of adversary’s. The plot in Fallout helps moves the pieces across the board, and as an audience we all patiently await the next superbly directed set piece by Christopher McQuarrie. McQuarrie is also the writer here, and as you watch things unfold you can almost hear Cruise saying “But how can we make that better?”. Each action sequence outdoes the previous one. Even the obligatory confined space fight scene is packed with tension and things just escalate from there.
There are car chases and motorcycle chases through the streets of Paris, that are as thrilling as anything you may have seen before, but the sequences where we see Cruise performing the sort of stunts that would kill a normal man, are jaw dropping. Let’s face it, when it comes to those death defying moments, there is nobody that does it better. When you see him running flat out across a London rooftop and leaping from building to building, it’s really him doing it. The now notorious broken ankle jump, is even more visceral when you see it played out on the big screen. We know he makes the jump, and we know he breaks his ankle, for real, when shooting it, and you can’t help but physically wince when it happens. In our screening you could actually hear audience members gasp at the moment it occurs.
Either Cruise has a death wish, or they already know how to clone him in the event of the worst happening, but as the film twists and turns through to the final reel, you wonder if the man truly has a death wish. There are extraordinary scenes with Cruise hanging from a helicopter and performing the whole rock face climbing thing, without a safety net in sight. In other areas, the cast give a good show, and character wise fans of the series will delight in seeing some old favorites doing what they do best. By now, everyone involved know what they do and McQuarrie makes sure they all have roles to play. The whole film is shot very well indeed, the musical cues enhance the mood when required and despite an odd dream sequence in the first reel, everything felt relevant to pushing the plot forward.
This is a masterpiece of action adventure film making and it has set the bar very high indeed for further outings, or indeed anything else in the genre. If you are a fan of these films you are in for a treat, and even if you’re not, you should still make a trip to check this out, even if only to marvel at the stunt work. Seeing the determination and grit in Cruise’s face in those action set pieces, you realise that at that point he is no longer acting but genuinely caught in the moment and performing more for survival than entertainment purposes. This is a must see for Summer, don’t miss it!