Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) Review

“Mission: Impossible – Fallout” Japanese Theatrical Poster

Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Writer: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Angela Bassett, Michelle Monaghan, Alec Baldwin, Liang Yang
Running Time: 147 min.

By Paul Bramhall

In the closing of my review for Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, I’d mentioned how if Tom Cruise waited until 2020 to grace us with another instalment of the franchise, I’d still be first in line to see it. As it is, the sixth in the series has arrived a whole 2 years before, marking the shortest amount of time between any of the previous Mission: Impossible movies. The speedy arrival of M:I – Fallout, 3 years after Ethan Hunt’s last outing, isn’t the only unique aspect of the production. This is the first time both for a director of a previous instalment to return to the franchise, with Rogue Nation’s Christopher McQuarrie at the reins, and similarly Rogue Nation’s villain Solomon Lane (played by British actor Sean Harris) back for a second try at blowing up the world.

Indeed in many ways M:I – Fallout feels a little bit like McQuarrie’s attempt at a M:I – Rogue Nation redux. An established screenwriter (in between Rogue Nation and Fallout he contributed to the script of the ill-fated Cruise vehicle The Mummy), the fifth Mission: Impossible was his first real attempt at helming a full blown action movie. There may still be some people out there that argue the Mission: Impossible series was never supposed to be about being full blown action flicks, but let’s face it, that’s what they’ve evolved into. While it was an admirable attempt, McQuarrie’s biggest faux pas was making Rogue Nation’s showstopper stunt (Cruise hanging onto the side of a plane) a pre-credit sequence, one which was all but superfluous to the rest of the plot. It also completely disregarded the character of Hunt’s (now ex-)wife, making her a no-show and subsequently losing some of the humanity of the series.

So it is with Fallout, all of those issues have attempted to be addressed. The action is more evenly spread, escalating rather than flat lining, and Michelle Monaghan is back as Cruise’s love that he had to let go of. McQuarrie has also decided to keep the stuff that did work – everyone loved the car chase from Rogue Nation that eventually segued into a motorbike chase, so here we get the exact same thing, only this time it’s bigger and even more hair raising (try not to grip your seat as Cruise rides against traffic around the Arc De Triomphe in Paris). More than anything though, Fallout feels like it’s found the right balance between the double crossing espionage antics that dominated Brian De Palma’s original, and the action driven aesthetic, that could be argued to have become the focus since Hong Kong action maestro John Woo directed M:I-2.

This time around Cruise and his cohorts, that feature returning team members Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg (whatever happened to the female contingent like Maggie Q and Paula Patton!?), need to stop 3 nuclear bombs that a group of terrorists for hire called The Apostles plan to use to blow up the world. Complicating matters is the revelation that there’s a double agent operating in the CIA, and the return of the British agent from Rogue Nation (played by a returning Rebecca Ferguson), who’s come to discover that leaving MI6 comes with a few unexpected terms and conditions. Double crosses, questionable allegiances, and backstabbing aplenty all come together to make Fallout feel like the most espionage-centric Mission: Impossible since De Palma’s original, and sure enough McQuarrie sprinkles in a few subtle nods to the first instalment for those looking for them.

Outside of the stunts, now as much a part of any Mission: Impossible marketing strategy as its star, is the inclusion of Superman actor Henry Cavill, here playing a CIA agent assigned to partner with Cruise on his mission to retrieve the 3 nuclear bombs. Cruise, Cavill, and the Mission: Impossible franchise have an interesting history. Cruise was originally set to play Solo in 2015’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E., however had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with Rogue Nation, which led to Cavill taking the role instead. Cruise was so impressed by Cavill’s performance, that he suggested to McQuarrie to bring him on-board for Fallout, which he gladly accepted. On a side note, the moustache Cavill has in Fallout is the reason for his sometimes odd appearance in Justice League, as he had to go back for reshoots after filming on Fallout had already started, leaving the effects team on Justice League with the job of giving him a ‘digital shave’.

The pair have good chemistry, and as much as any of the large scale stunts, a 2 vs. 1 fight in which they have to team up against stuntman Liang Yang, is one of action highlights. Taking place in the bathroom of a Paris super-club, the fight was scheduled to be shot in 4 days, but due to its complexity ended up taking 4 weeks, and it was time well spent. Yang is a beast, and goes at Cruise and Cavill with a ferocity reminiscent of Yaya Ruhian’s Mad Dog from The Raid, as the pair attempt to sedate him so they can make one of the infamous masks. Some seriously heavy punishment is dished out, with plenty of collateral damage being inflicted along the way. If someone was to ask me to make a top 3 bathroom fight scenes (and why wouldn’t they?), this would be right up there with Won Bin vs. Thanayong Wongtrakul in The Man from Nowhere, and Jet Li vs. Mike Lambert in Unleashed.

As for the stunts themselves though, Fallout crams in a whopping 4 major set pieces, perhaps the most out of all of the current entries in the franchise. Apart from the aforementioned vehicle chase through Paris, which is right up there with anything found in John Frakenheimer’s Ronin, we also get a HALO (High-Altitude Low Opening) jump through a lightning storm over Paris, an epic foot chase across the rooftops of London, and a helicopter vs. helicopter showdown (which I’m sure will have given Wu Jing a few ideas for Wolf Warrior 3). We may live in an era were green screen effects work is so good there’s no longer any need to do these kind of things for real, so it’s entirely admirable that everything was done for real. The HALO jump alone took 106 takes (which means, yes, they jumped 106 times), which doesn’t include the practice jumps before filming and the year of preparation it took to arrange. Jackie Chan would be proud.

Similarly for the rooftop chase, on one of the jumps Cruise had to make between buildings, his foot hit the side of the building so hard the impact smashed his ankle, delaying filming for 2 months. In true Hong Kong action cinema style, it’s this shot which remains in the final cut, which includes him standing up and limping past the camera (before breaking into the classic full speed ahead run in the next shot). With so much physically visceral action on show, the only real fault I could place on Fallout would be that the helicopter chase goes on for slightly too long. I mean yes, we’ve seen Cruise jump out of a plane, throw down against various assailants, and be chased every which way, which is all great, and yes that’s also him piloting a helicopter. But watching someone in a helicopter isn’t quite as exciting as any of the previously mentioned activities, and McQuarrie keeps it going for just a little longer than needed. But hey, this is nit-picking.

Whichever way you look at it, the Mission: Impossible franchise is one of the most consistently entertaining action franchises not only in Hollywood, but the world. While Rogue Nation felt like a step down from the adrenaline rush that was Ghost Protocol (which remains my favorite of the series), Fallout propels it back to the level of a series which always punches above its weight. While the 007 franchise has struggled to maintain the relevance that put it back on the map with Casino Royale, Cruise has kept to the formula of ensuring the amount of espionage and double crosses are complimented by an equal amount of action and ridiculous stunts, and it’s proving to be one that works. With Fallout on track to be a solid box office success, Cruise has said he’s open to making more, so for now, all that’s left to do is for someone to hook him up with Gareth Evans for Mission: Impossible 7. Too much to ask?

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 8/10