‘Mission: Impossible Fallout’ Is ‘The Dark Knight’ Of The Franchise (Movie Review)
Having been revisiting the Mission: Impossible franchise as of late on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format (our reviews here, here, here, here and my favorite one here) I was pumped to take in the latest one dubbed Fallout. My giddy excitement for this latest installment was further fueled by the early reports of reviewer peers of mine lucky enough to live on the West Coast have hailed this as one of the best action films of all-time. That says a lot when you can make a bold statement like that. In the olden days we would have said you have big you know what to make such a declaration, but we’re so politically correct nowadays I just have to digress for the best and safest results. So without further ado ladies and gentlemen I give to you Mission: Impossible Fallout.
Christopher McQuarrie pulls off the trifecta here. He produced, wrote and directed Mission: Impossible Fallout, which if you’re keeping score up above makes this the sixth installment in the franchise. This is also a first for the franchise too because no director has even done two of them until McQuarrie, who directed the last one, Rogue Nation. The cast includes Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris, Michelle Monaghan and Alec Baldwin, all of whom reprise their roles from previous films, while Man of Steel‘s Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett and Vanessa Kirby join the franchise. And as you can see from the title of this review I deem this “The Dark Knight” of the franchise and coming from me that’s one of the highest compliments a film can ever receive via my fingertips. Let’s talk about that now!
In Mission: Imposible Fallout Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team spend the entire film basically stopping a familiar terrorist from the last one from wreaking explosive havoc on the world. Oh yeah there’s also a CIA Agent (Cavill), whom we really never know what side he’s on before it’s too late. From my point of view this is pretty much a sequel to all the films that have come before and in my opinion you really couldn’t ask for a better resolve than the way this one wraps up. You basically have a direct sequel to Rogue Nation tackling the antagonizing storyline of anarchist Solomon Lane (Harris) and Ethan’s dual love interests, his ex-wife (Monaghan) and the one he’d be crazy in my opinion to ever turn away again, Ilsa Faust (Ferguson). Like the past few films Ethan’s usual motley team of members joins him in all the fun err I mean dangerous moments. Ha ha.
Now let me tie up some lose ends here. I wish I could go into detail of why I compare this one to The Dark Knight, but to do so would be very much to spoil things. I sat there the whole time watching this movie in awe thinking of all the similarities such as some of the themes, epic action moments and amazing score. Then it happened. In Act 3 it figuratively and literally speaking took on the spectacle of The Dark Knight. You’ll see why say that when you see it for yourself, but let’s just say there are many larger than life moments sprinkled throughout here. While I hate to say this one is better than my beloved Rogue One I’d be lying to you if I didn’t. I didn’t think it was possible, but this one had it all. Surprisingly though Tom kept his shirt on throughout, but who’s watching Tom when you have Rebecca Ferguson donning a tight black leather cladded biker outfit. Vroom vroom!
James Bond, Jason Bourne who? Ethan Hunt is one of the greatest international spy hero and Mission: Imposible Fallout proves this point in epic fashion. This is everything you expected from a follow-up to Rogue Nation and at the same time so much more. The action is BIGGER. The stakes are BIGGER. And most importantly for me, the payoff is BIGGER. It has a whodunnit and who’s/who storyline, twists and turns, breathtaking cinematography, larger-than-life action sequences, unbelievable physicality, love interests (although Ferguson is a no-brianer) and oh yeah the real stunts (including the end of one that went “rogue” on Tom in real life). We have a new champ here, ladies and gentlemen. I hate to say it because of my adoration of the last film so much, but we have a new King of the franchise. It’s the greatest action show of the year for me. My only question is will there be another? As sad as it pains me to say this, I sure hope not. It’s not hat I don’t ant another wild romp with Tom, Rebecca, Ving and Simon, but I couldn’t think of a better resolve than what we are given to work with here. Your mission if you choose to accept it, is to see the biggest action film you’ll ever see this year, Mission:Impossibe Fallout or as I call it my “Dark Knight” of the series. Enjoy it!
Brian White
Owner/Writer/Reviewer/Editor, Dreamer, Producer, Agent of Love, Film Lover, Writer of Screenplays and a Devoted Apostle to all things Ford Mustangs (the real ones with V8's!). Some of my favorite films include FIGHT CLUB, MOULIN ROUGE, THE DARK KNIGHT, STAR WARS alongside television shows such as SEINFELD, 24, SANFORD & SON and even the often loathed in the geek community BIG BANG THEORY. Outside of my three lives I live I also enjoy spending time with my girlfriend and our three girls (of the furry kind).
