Mission: Impossible - Fallout
(B+ or 3/4 stars)
'Mission: Impossible - Fallout' (directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who helmed Rogue Nation) is the 6th film in Tom Cruise's covert super-spy action franchise. It's intense, filled with incredible action, looks good, sounds good, & contains alllll the things you'd expect from a top-notch Cruise actioner. As far as stunts go, this one probably takes the cake as being the most audacious & thrilling. I sat in awe of what 56 yr. old Tom Cruise can accomplish. There is literally nothing bad about 'M:I-F' ... I just didn't love it. After watching the initial franchise framing device of a disposable tape being delivered to Ethan Hunt (Cruise) in an old-fashioned tape recorder to see if he accepts the next 'impossible' mission to save the world, the plot kicks into gear.
Hunt accepts & recruits his usual tech support team, the always-reliable Luther (Ving Rhames) & the cheeky Benji (Simon Pegg), to help retrieve 3 stolen silver balls of plutonium, which a terrorist group known as "The Apostles" plans to make into nuclear bombs. Their ultimate goal: nuke the world to serve as a lesson for the old world order over their hypocrisy over nuclear weapons. In charge of Hunt's team is the zealous transfer from the CIA, Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin). After a horribly botched meeting for Hunt's team to purchase the plutonium balls {from a character who looks eerily like John F. Kennedy, mind you}, said plutonium is lost and Hunt (+ co.) must venture to Paris in a new side-mission to get it back & prevent detonation.
There, Hunt tries to get the missing plutonium through the help of a black marketer arms broker named the 'White Widow' (Vanessa Kirby, cold as ice), whose clients have it. The not-to-be-trusted Hunt is forced by CIA big wig, Erica Sloan (Angela Bassett), to take shady CIA agent/bruiser August Walker (Henry Cavill, that's Superman to you), on this mission to keep an eye on him. Matters get trickier when rogue former British MI6 op, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), shows up again on her own secret mission. It all boils down to Hunt & his allies having to get their hands on imprisoned baddie from the last film, Solomon Lane (weasely Sean Harris), who started "The Apostle" mission, and swap him for the plutonium balls. After having to hopscotch around the globe for this mission, they all end up in Kashmir where the danger level is off the charts ... and an added element of high stakes shows up in the form of Hunt's ex-wife, Julia (Michelle Monaghan).
Viewers might hyperbolically say that this latest 'MI' flick is the best one yet. Sure, it's very, very good. But I'd still place 2011's Ghost Protocol above it. Yes, the action goes up another notch -- fist-fights (a rousing brawl in a Paris bathroom); parachute leaps to the roof of the Grand Palais; motorcycle, car & foot chases through Paris, London, & Kashmir; slick abductions; the time-consuming dismantling of bombs; clinging from an airborne helicopter {unreal!}; and climbing a steep mountain -- all executed in exceptional ways. There are also the usual twists, betrayals, double identities, mask disguises & MacGuffins. Cruise, in this role, is a well-oiled machine -- again, what he can achieve with his body is mind-blowing, including that (now famous) building leap in which he broke a toe. The mission, at hand, contains the high stakes that we look for in a spy actioner like this. And the consequences of failure also go up another level.
I can't believe what the stunt crew, actors & effects team achieved! Having said all of that, there's little time for respite in-between the action and, those slower scenes - while acted fine - didn't give me the spark, humor or interest enough to care about what might happen in the plot or to the characters. I just didn't care. Tears didn't well-up in my eyes during pivotal moments. It's just another standard, complex, enigmatic super-spy plot that happens to be plopped into an exceptional visual & aural beast of a movie. The supporting cast is fun - Rebecca Ferguson is a bad-ass & Henry Cavill makes for a fun 'is he good, or ain't he?' type of guy. But the absurdity of the death-defying, logic-defying stunts can't be ignored {even while you're grinning at said absurdity}, & I was left "observing" {not getting "INTO"} the proceedings; which prevented an emotional impact from hitting me. In explaining my admiration-if-not-love for 'M:I-Fallout', it also must be said that this is all nitpicking what's really a well-crafted, FUN summer blockbuster.
Hunt accepts & recruits his usual tech support team, the always-reliable Luther (Ving Rhames) & the cheeky Benji (Simon Pegg), to help retrieve 3 stolen silver balls of plutonium, which a terrorist group known as "The Apostles" plans to make into nuclear bombs. Their ultimate goal: nuke the world to serve as a lesson for the old world order over their hypocrisy over nuclear weapons. In charge of Hunt's team is the zealous transfer from the CIA, Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin). After a horribly botched meeting for Hunt's team to purchase the plutonium balls {from a character who looks eerily like John F. Kennedy, mind you}, said plutonium is lost and Hunt (+ co.) must venture to Paris in a new side-mission to get it back & prevent detonation.
There, Hunt tries to get the missing plutonium through the help of a black marketer arms broker named the 'White Widow' (Vanessa Kirby, cold as ice), whose clients have it. The not-to-be-trusted Hunt is forced by CIA big wig, Erica Sloan (Angela Bassett), to take shady CIA agent/bruiser August Walker (Henry Cavill, that's Superman to you), on this mission to keep an eye on him. Matters get trickier when rogue former British MI6 op, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), shows up again on her own secret mission. It all boils down to Hunt & his allies having to get their hands on imprisoned baddie from the last film, Solomon Lane (weasely Sean Harris), who started "The Apostle" mission, and swap him for the plutonium balls. After having to hopscotch around the globe for this mission, they all end up in Kashmir where the danger level is off the charts ... and an added element of high stakes shows up in the form of Hunt's ex-wife, Julia (Michelle Monaghan).
Viewers might hyperbolically say that this latest 'MI' flick is the best one yet. Sure, it's very, very good. But I'd still place 2011's Ghost Protocol above it. Yes, the action goes up another notch -- fist-fights (a rousing brawl in a Paris bathroom); parachute leaps to the roof of the Grand Palais; motorcycle, car & foot chases through Paris, London, & Kashmir; slick abductions; the time-consuming dismantling of bombs; clinging from an airborne helicopter {unreal!}; and climbing a steep mountain -- all executed in exceptional ways. There are also the usual twists, betrayals, double identities, mask disguises & MacGuffins. Cruise, in this role, is a well-oiled machine -- again, what he can achieve with his body is mind-blowing, including that (now famous) building leap in which he broke a toe. The mission, at hand, contains the high stakes that we look for in a spy actioner like this. And the consequences of failure also go up another level.
I can't believe what the stunt crew, actors & effects team achieved! Having said all of that, there's little time for respite in-between the action and, those slower scenes - while acted fine - didn't give me the spark, humor or interest enough to care about what might happen in the plot or to the characters. I just didn't care. Tears didn't well-up in my eyes during pivotal moments. It's just another standard, complex, enigmatic super-spy plot that happens to be plopped into an exceptional visual & aural beast of a movie. The supporting cast is fun - Rebecca Ferguson is a bad-ass & Henry Cavill makes for a fun 'is he good, or ain't he?' type of guy. But the absurdity of the death-defying, logic-defying stunts can't be ignored {even while you're grinning at said absurdity}, & I was left "observing" {not getting "INTO"} the proceedings; which prevented an emotional impact from hitting me. In explaining my admiration-if-not-love for 'M:I-Fallout', it also must be said that this is all nitpicking what's really a well-crafted, FUN summer blockbuster.