MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — FALLOUT
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Kirby
Rating: (M)
★★★★ (out of five)
I guess he took the hint, because Mission: Impossible — Fallout, the sixth, and possibly best, of this seriously entertaining franchise, pretty much feels like two and a-half hours of Cruise being tossed about in a tumble dryer for our delight and amusement.
There’s almost nothing the man won’t jump over, climb up or dangle from if it makes for an impressive, highly improbable action sequence. Like a modern-day Buster Keaton or Harold Lloyd, the 56-year-old Cruisemeister is willing to put his body on the line for the sake of the audience’s enjoyment.
The plot is essentially irrelevant ... there’s some plutonium that everyone wants to get their hands on, leading to a series of terrific set pieces in some amazing locations: a motorcycle/car chase through the streets of Paris which rates as one of the greatest ever filmed, a phenomenal rooftop sequence in London complete with the now infamous, ankle-snapping leap, and a ridiculously nerve-shredding finale involving two helicopters, a machine gun and a couple of nuclear warheads.
The supporting cast, especially Henry Cavill as the mustachioed villain, are top-notch, and if it falls short of being a blockbuster classic it’s only because the attempts to inject a little heart are, well, a little half-hearted.
- Jeremy Quinn
