The BRWC Review – Mission: Impossible – Fallout

21st August 2018

It’s time to see another Mission Impossible film, should you choose to accept it. I find myself in a minority here, but I don’t like this series. Mission Impossible was an interesting, yet uninspired spy-thriller to me. It had an uneven plot and managed to infuriate all the cast-members of the show that it was based on, not to mention the fans. There was a cool moment in a federal building, and a fun action scene involving a helicopter in the Eurotunnel, plus the casting of Jean Reno, but that was it for me. MI-2 was easily the worst one, yet it was at least laughably enjoyable, with John Woo action that was as over-the-top as ever. MI-3 had a good villain in Philip Seymour Hoffman and introduced Simon Pegg to the series but was otherwise a very dull and forgettable film.

Ghost Protocol was where things changed for me. It had a good story, interesting characters, fun action, jaw-dropping spectacle, good humour and was solidly directed by Brad Bird. I loved it and recommend it to anyone who loves a good spy-movie. Rogue Nation, sadly, knocked things down for me. It was a well-made action film but was beyond cliched and very dull to me – it not being as good as that years 007 Spectre (which wasn’t a great film) didn’t help matters either. Now we have a sixth film in the series.

Ethan Hunt has failed in his mission to retrieve military-grade plutonium. Now he must get it back, with help from Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg and CIA operative Henry Cavill. However, things turn for the absolute worst when an old ally – in the form of Rebecca Ferguson – and an old enemy find themselves in play too. Worse is that one of those who Hunt must trust on this mission is a villainous traitor. The odds are against him, and the mission is looking more and more impossible by the minute. It’s now a race against time to retrieve the plutonium or find out what its planned use is.

It’s admittedly hard for anyone to imagine this series without Tom Cruise. Like it or not, he is Ethan Hunt. Cruise’s dedication to his stunts is beyond commendable. It is nice to see an actor avoid the use of stunt-doubles and computers and do the stunts himself. I also find that Cruise works best when he’s surrounded by a strong cast to bounce off of. This is good in the scenes with Rhames and Pegg particularly. With that, we also have a pretty strong villain and an interesting set up. For a good twenty minutes I was being thrown through hoops. I wasn’t able to keep up with the plot, in a good way. I liked seeing things develop and unfold. Then thing’s got very predictable and very cliched very fast.

The story isn’t good. It’s too familiar and the pace is too slow, which is especially surprising for a film with as much action in it as this does. It’s very dialogue heavy, and if you tune out for the smallest moment then you will be completely lost. I know that some will appreciate this, with the reasoning behind it being that it’s more of a thinking man’s film – but the story is too familiar for that to work. You know who the villain is very early on, and yet the film carries on as if we don’t know who it is. It also falls into the unfortunate trend of the other Mission Impossible films – where the team element of this team film gets lost, completely at points, behind the Ethan Hunt character, who is really not an interesting character. He’s very one note and at the worst times comes off as an ego-trip for Cruise himself.

But, what we’re all here for is the action. In that the film is almost always on point, and at times is outright exceptional. The public toilet scene is a definite standout. There’s some fun foot and motorcycle chases throughout the entire film. The final action scene, involving a lengthy helicopter chase, was phenomenal. It went on a little too long for me, and come the end it got really ridiculous, but that doesn’t chase the fact that it’s a very fun and thrilling action scene. Some of the action does focus a little too much on luck for my liking – for example, a truck just happens to cut off the cops in a chase. I prefer action where a character is using their surroundings in a logical way, so relying on this method is a little irritating for me. But overall, it’s great action and that alone will appease the masses who go to see it.

Mission Impossible: Fallout does its job, and certainly works very well as an action film. I just couldn’t get into it. Maybe it’s because of the character of Ethan Hunt, or just the formula of the series so far that is putting me off it. Or perhaps it was just too long for me. Either way, I couldn’t get into it. But, those who are fans or just love their big action films (which I usually do) should find this to be a very enjoyable film. It’s not often a film of this budget is as well made as this. I just wish that it wasn’t wasted on this story or this character. By all means, go, see it and have a blast.

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