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A spectacular six-quel: Rashid Irani reviews Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Arguably the best film in the series so far, you can look forward to heart-stopping stunts, a thrilling plot and Tom Cruise saving the world, yet again.
Action junkies, rejoice. Mission: Impossible is back with what is arguably the best film in the series so far. Ethan Hunt, played by an older but oh-so-agile Tom Cruise, is still saving the world at 56, and you can look forward to heart-stopping stunts and a ticking-clock countdown that will likely have you clinging to your armrests.
…Fallout finds the superspy and his cohorts (Ving Rhames-Simon Pegg) racing to retrieve three plutonium-powered nuclear devices before they destroy the planet. Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie — who won an Oscar for the script of The Usual Suspects (1995) — does an incredible job injecting pace and minimising confusion in this sixth installment. His plot is sleek and thrilling.
Rob Hardy’s action-intensive cinematography helps immensely, as does the razor-sharp editing by Eddie Hamilton and the magic worked by stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood. Cruise continues to perform most of his own gravity- and logic-defying stunts and they are beautiful and terrifying to watch.
Among the scenes that will have you gasping is a dramatic skirmish in the toilet of a Paris nightclub, a 25,000-ft skydive, and the extended climactic duel involving two airborne helicopters.
Returning characters include the former operative-turned-terrorist (Sean Harris), a beleaguered British agent (Rebecca Ferguson) and Hunt’s ex-wife (Michelle Monaghan). New to the mix are Henry Cavill (as a CIA spook with an agenda of his own) and Vanessa Kirby, as a sultry arms dealer.
In a time of lacklustre franchise offerings, it says a lot for MI6 that we can’t wait for a part 7.
