Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Angela Bassett, Michelle Monaghan, Alec Baldwin, Vanessa Kirby
Plot: Ethan Hunt and his team are tasked to retrieve three stolen plutonium cores from a terrorist group associated with Solomon Lane. To do so, they have to exchange the captive Lane for them, but CIA operative Walker, assigned to the team by the CIA director to oversee the mission, complicates matters. Further complicating matters is Ilsa Faust, who gets herself involved in an attempt to tie up her own loose ends.
Review: At some point I wondered if the Mission Impossible franchise was becoming little more than a highlight reel of stunts performed by Tom Cruise. Every film seems to up the ante on what he's willing to do on screen. And after hearing reactions from everyone on social media about this instalment, my hopes were high that this one will knock the ball out of the park.
Well, I don't mean to burst your bubble, but writer/director Christopher McQuarrie provides more quantity than quality in terms of action this time. Don't get me wrong, Fallout is very entertaining, but not the game changer everyone keeps making it out to be. We have car chases, foot chases, a bathroom fight, a HALO stunt and a helicopter sequence, but only the last one felt really fresh for me.
As for story, it's a mixed bag. The dramatic beats work better this time around as Cruise's Ethan Hunt faces a dilemma in dealing with Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa Faust, who has her own agenda. Their friendship is put to the test here, and I like how McQuarrie plays this one out. What doesn't quite work however is the terrorist plot, which like the first film, takes one twist too many, and the whole Apostles terrorist group angle gets abandoned at the end of the second act.
Cast wise, nearly everyone is on point. Cruise, Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg and Sean Harris all nail their roles, with Harris doing a good job despite the fact that Solomon Lane is a rather two dimensional villain. The weak link here is Henry Cavill as Walker, who excels in the action sequences (he's Superman after all) but is inferior in the acting department. He's clearly trying, but he just doesn't have the depth to play this character convincingly.
In the end, Mission: Impossible Fallout isn't as superb as I expected it to be. I liked it a lot, but for me, it isn't the best of the series. Ghost Protocol is still my favorite. (7.5/10)
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