Mission: Impossible - Fallout: Review

We've seen Brian De Palma, John Woo, J.J. Abrams and Brad Bird all have a crack at this spectacular spy series but Christopher McQuarrie is the first director to return for an M:I sequel. The previous instalment Rogue Nation offered McQuarrie's complex, not so far fetched take on the spy genre - upping the ante so much that making a superior MI flick seemed unimaginable. After a mission goes terribly wrong, Ethan Hunt and his IMF crew must race against time to retrieve three nuclear bombs. 

Hearts will race and fingernails will be bitten down as Mission: Impossible - Fallout delivers a masterclass in how to make spy cinema history. With nuclear bombs, HALO jumping and mountain top helicopter chases all in the mix the only impossible aspect of this mission remaining is creating a sequel better than Fallout. Six films in - Mission Impossible remains the most consistent film series in Hollywood and the only one to get increasingly better by each instalment. McQuarrie as well as Tom Cruise have surpassed themselves, constructing an adrenaline rush adventure that stands among genre greats. 

Just when you think there's no ground untouched Fallout makes new space for a story concerning figures of authority, nuclear warfare and the motives that drive an agent to get the job done despite the risks. Sean Harris' Solomon Lane is also the first villain to return for an MI sequel as well as the first to get inside Hunt's head - except possibly Philip Seymour Hoffman in MI3. The words "You're mission, should you choose to except it" play as an underlying theme of the story - challenging Hunt as to why he chooses to lay his life on the line every single time. Fallout aims the lense at Ethan Hunt in a way that MI3 did - we understand that he fundamentally cares about saving the individual as well as the masses - every time.

Cruise is at the top of his game, continually broadening the take on the standard action hero. As the films develop Ethan Hunt becomes more compelling as the scenarios increase in danger. Hunt risks his life for the sake of the wider world yet again, this time Cruise learned how to fly a helicopter, whilst acting and operating the cameras alone inside the cockpit. The action is used to support and propel the storyline which is more that can be said for a lot of current blockbusters. In all their realism the stunts pose genuine risk - it's no CGI illusion. Much like the IMF the Mission Impossible production team insist on delivering a genuine experience that's worth every penny - this is why the series excels and is head and shoulders above the rest.
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​Paris and London act as Fallout's main playgrounds and McQuarrie makes perfect use of them - choreographing thrilling action whilst capturing the beauty of both cities through expansive camera work. Fallout - as the title suggests - is the most chaotic and challenging mission Ethan Hunt has accepted but it's the greatest one he's ever going to accomplish. A slick, sharp espionage puzzle that's the best of its kind - Mission: Impossible - Fallout is so good it makes contemporary James Bond look like Johnny English.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout: 

Masterpiece