Based upon the television series created by Bruce Geller
Written and Directed by Christopher McQuarrie
**** (four stars)
RATED PG 13
I just cannot believe it! I saw it with my very own eyes and I still cannot believe it!!
Dear readers, for all of the Summer movies in recent years that you and I have all seen, for all of the bombast--CGI or otherwise--and for all of the sound and fury that shakes the walls of or local cineplexes, how many of those films are ones that are truly memorable, let alone ones you would salivate over to see again? The very films of the type that feel like the ones of say 30-40 years ago, where filmmakers consistently took the task of creating exciting, thrilling, and even revolutionary forms of sheer popcorn entertainment seriously. Regardless of any behind the scenes Hollywood business shenanigans, when Summer arrived, it is always a joy to be filled with a level of anxious anticipation for the latest cinematic event, and more often than not, we were all rewarded with movies that exceeded all expectations and even changed the game at times.
Now, we have more than enough "event movies" but too few that are really of any consequence as we are given the latest CGI bludgeoning that feels to exist to simply shatter box office records rather than give the audience an experience to remember. It all feels so cynical, so mercenary, so impersonal that it is clear that so many films being made are being created by those who feel the audience exists as nothing but product and not as people deserving of great entertainment.
Thankfully, we still have Tom Cruise.
For whatever reasons, it is clear that whatever attracted him to making movies in the first place remains the hotly pumping engine that fuels his continuity, which often feels simultaneously feverish and devotional. For all of his larger than life celebrity and tabloid controversies, I d feel that it has often been lost just what a kinetic, magnetic movie star and first class actor he actually is. Even when a film in which he is involved turns out to not be terribly successful or is even a bad film, I would dare absolutely anyone to question his commitment as Tom Cruise has not ever once displayed anything that could be considered "phoned in" or lazy. Frankly, I believe that one could easily discern just how much he deeply cares for his own craft as well as doing his finest work to try and ensure a great time at the movies for all of us.
With his "Mission: Impossible" series, which he rebooted from the classic television series beginning with Brian DePalma's "Mission: Impossible" (1996), Tom Cruise has taken his signature franchise and has essentially achieved the seemingly impossible...again and again and again. While DePalma's film and John Woo's "Mission: Impossible 2" (2000) were loads of fun, it was when Cruise teamed up with J.J. Abrams for "Mission: Impossible III" (2006), when the series truly shifted into a higher gear altogether as that excellent film was topped by Brad Bird's "Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol" (2011) and topped even further in the series' fifth chapter, Christopher McQuarrie's "Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation" (2015).
And now, with McQuarrie's "Mission: Impossible-Fallout," Tom Cruise has achieved the seemingly impossible again as this sixth installment is far and away the very best of the series to date and furthermore, I feel it has raised the series bar to the heights set by the likes of Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" (2008) and Sam Mendes' "Skyfall" (2012), which for me, remains the finest James Bond adventure I have ever seen. Speaking of 007, and for that matter, Jason Bourne, I think it just may be time for both of them to just come in from the cold as Cruise's super-spy Ethan Hunt has outpaced both of them furiously, tirelessly and relentlessly. There truly is no reason for any film series--especially in its sixth installment--to be any good at all. But "Mission: Impossible-Fallout" has completely, entirely and undeniably accomplished its mission and then some.
Essentially working as a more direct sequel than past installments, "Mission: Impossible-Fallout" picks up two years after Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team--Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames)--plus the superior additional aid of former MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) apprehended anarchist/terrorist Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). Since that time, the remains of Lane's organization The Syndicate have splintered and formulated a new organization of terrorist cells known as The Apostles, who have planned to sell three plutonium cores to the mysterious fundamentalist John Lark, who, of course, plans to create three nuclear devices.
Hunt and his IMF team go on the globetrotting chase--from Berlin to Paris to London and finally, Kashmir--alongside an unwanted guest, CIA operative August Walker (Henry Cavill) who has been instructed by CIA Director Erica Sloane (Angela Bassett) to serve as a shadow for Hunt. And then, there is the surprising return of Ilsa Faust, yet whose side is she working for?
While the race against time plot is simple enough to explain and furthermore to understand as you watch, it is in the execution where Christopher McQuarrie's "Mission: Impossible-Fallout" finds its complexities as well as its gravity. With this film, McQuarrie, the only director to helm two installments in this series, takes the opportunity to delve into Ethan Hunt's backstory and psychology, therefore giving this film a greater, more personal purpose and urgency to superior effect.
And "superior" is indeed the perfect adjective that I can use in order to describe the experience that s "Mission: Impossible-Fallout." It is indeed a superior effort as well as superlative, outstanding and formidable. As previously stated, both James Bond and Jason Bourne are left far behind in the dust as this new Ethan Hunt adventure is the type of first rate, top tier and defiantly non special effects/CGI driven entertainment that is rarely seen anymore.
I wish for you to think of all of the times you have gone to the movies in recent years and just remember the last time you were truly awed by the spectacle upon display. The times when your eyes absolutely POPPED with wonder, amazement and that "How did they do that????" sense of awe. Yes, we do still have those films but in an age where special effects are not that special anymore as they have become so commonplace that we see them everywhere, even in the most innocuous television commercials, they have lost considerable luster. Even the nature of stunts and action sequences have lost their nature to keep our pulse rates pounding due to sloppy direction, poor choreography, through ADD editing and for quite some time, the dreaded shaky cam (a trend that has thankfully subsided).
"Mission: Impossible-Fallout" suffers not even one of those specific fates as McQuarrie, Cruise and working with their expert team have delivered a sleek, beautifully orchestrated experience that more than gets the job done with several "How did they do that?????" sequences. But it is all not simply razzle dazzle. I loved how McQuarrie figured out how to not solely make great action sequences as he accomplished brilliantly within "Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation." This time around, he has deduced how to make those on a more character and story driven level so we are still learning about the characters even as we are sitting upon the edges of our seats.
To that end, McQuarrie achieved the same feats that he performed so successfully in "Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation" as well as his other Tom Cruise starring action thriller, "Jack Reacher" (2012) as he utilizes the mayhem to allow the story to keep being told visually, unlike most action films in which the movies seem to halt for a fight/shootout/chase sequence. For McQuarrie, every element is a proponent of the crucial storytelling.
From its intense opening sequence to its often gasp inducing, furiously white knuckle climax and everything in between--from HALO jumps through lightning stricken clouds, an exhausting motorcycle chase through Paris, a punishing fist fight in a nightclub Men's Room, for instance--the strict attention to the motivations, obstacles, inner fears and demons and the severely raised stakes for all of the characters involved, thus making a film where you give a damn about the individuals involved and the various predicaments they are engaged with.
I also greatly appreciated how McQuarrie utilized this film to thread backwards to elements of the past five films, all the while allowing us some crucial bread crumbs into the character of Ethan Hunt and what precisely makes him tick, what makes him risk life and limb again and again as he consistently chooses to accept each mission when others would have long walked away. And why is it so paramount to him that saving EVERY life is greater than the "greater good" when dealing with...ahem...impossible global situations?
Truthfully, like Bond and Bourne, Ethan Hunt is essentially an enigmatic sort of character as we have never learned terribly much about him over these 20 plus years, Yet, with this series, it strongly feels like all we need to discern about him is entirely through his actions and intrepid, dogged (and some would say, damn foolish) determination rather than through a lot of superfluous expository dialogue--although late in this film, Luther has a lovely monologue that does provide some well deserved texture.
To that end, it is amazing and perhaps, intentional that the character of Ethan Hunt carries many of the same attributes as his portrayer Tom Cruise. As with Hunt, we really do not know, and frankly, have never really known terribly much about Tom Cruise aside from what has been reported and alluded to in entertainment magazines and tabloids. He is a figure for whom we really do not understand precisely what makes him tick, especially for these movies in which he has risked his life for the sake of our entertainment and the process of making potentially great movies.
Why does Tom Cruise do what he does? I mean--honestly. Why? Really...why? It's only a movie. And he's not getting any younger! In the grand scheme, it is not important whatsoever but over and again through the years, and even now as he performed a High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) jump from an airplane (a process that he performed 100 times in order to obtain the three shots needed for the film and without the aid of a green screen), for instance, I have regarded him in interviews with a blindingly gleeful expression that exudes, "I can't wait for an audience to see this!!!"
And with that, there is that peerless, unstoppable level of commitment that is Tom Cruise and how he brings that idiosyncratic quality to all of his movies, especially with what has now become his signature series. He is having an absolute blast of a time making the impossible possible and we get to have that theater seat to regard him in his glory certainly, but more generously, for the film and the audience overall.
I also liked how he even weaved potential self-reflexive elements into the film, as in commenting upon his age (his aches, pains and groans) to even within some of the high octane action sequences themselves--most notably, the climactic helicopter battle, during which Hunt coaches himself in how to fly the chopper, itself a funny commentary about Cruise's past film roles, because really...Maverick from Tony Scott's "Top Gun" (1986) doesn't know how to fly a helicopter?
This is the inexplicable magic that surrounds Tom Cruise and the "Mission: Impossible" series, a love for the movies so pure that he is willing to undergo all manner of stunts and pain in order to give us a film to remember during a time when so many movies are not even worth remembering. And now, with Christopher McQuarrie's astounding "Mission: Impossible-Fallout," we have been given a film that makes us believe the wholly unbelievable, even when we are seeing everything unfold right before our very eyes.
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