Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) - Review

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) - Review

Mission: Impossible - Fallout is the franchise's co-masterpiece alongside Rogue Nation and one of the great action films of its decade, a film that takes the extraordinary dramatic intelligence and action craft of its predecessor and pushes both to their most spectacular and emotionally consequential extreme. Christopher McQuarrie's 2018 sequel surpasses its predecessor in almost every technical respect while maintaining the dramatic intelligence and character depth that made Rogue Nation so genuinely extraordinary. It is a film of such sustained practical stunt ambition, emotional consequence, and physical filmmaking craft that it stands as the definitive achievement of the action tradition the franchise has championed across its entire run. Fallout is not merely a great action film. It is a genuinely great film, and its HALO jump and helicopter sequence are two of the finest action sequences ever put on screen.

At a Glance

Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Runtime: 147 minutes
Starring: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Sean Harris, Vanessa Kirby, Angela Bassett
Release: 2018
Critics Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars, a co-masterpiece)
Audience Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars, a landmark of action cinema)

Review Breakdown

Plot

Hunt allows three plutonium cores to fall into the hands of a terrorist group called the Apostles in order to save Luther's life, and must then recover them before they are used to trigger simultaneous nuclear detonations. The plot is the franchise's most emotionally consequential, a narrative that uses the consequences of Hunt's past choices as a dramatic engine of real weight and personal stakes. The film's most significant structural achievement is its ability to maintain dramatic tension across its entire runtime without the relief of extended comedy or the distraction of subplot. The Kashmir helicopter sequence is the film's most celebrated set-piece and one of the finest action sequences ever put on screen.

Characters

Hunt is given the franchise's most demanding material in this entry, a man whose choices have real dramatic consequences for the people he loves. Cruise plays the character's desperation and physical exhaustion with a conviction and depth that makes this the finest performance of his franchise career, and his physical commitment to the role, including a broken ankle sustained during filming that is visible in the final cut, gives the action sequences a credibility and consequence the more digitally dependent blockbusters of its era conspicuously lacked. Henry Cavill's August Walker is the franchise's most physically imposing new character, a CIA assassin of extraordinary capability and menace whose function in the central dynamic gives the narrative its most purely enjoyable secondary thread. Cavill plays the character with a physical authority and wit that makes Walker the franchise's most entertaining new addition since Benji's elevation to field agent in Ghost Protocol. Ferguson's Ilsa is given the franchise's most emotionally affecting arc in this entry, played with a physical authority and emotional intelligence that makes this the finest performance of her franchise career. Vanessa Kirby's White Widow is the film's most dramatically interesting new supporting presence, a character of considerable intelligence and moral ambiguity whose function in the central plot gives the narrative a secondary dynamic of real interest.

Tone

McQuarrie pitches the film at the franchise's most relentlessly consequential register, a decision that suits the film's position as the culmination of the Rogue Nation storyline and generates a dramatic tension and urgency the franchise's more purely entertaining entries have not always sustained. Fallout has a tonal intelligence and dramatic precision the action genre has rarely equalled, maintaining its tension and emotional engagement across its entire 147-minute runtime with a consistency and craft that makes the experience genuinely rewarding.

Meaning / Themes

At its core, the film is about individual loyalty and collective responsibility, about Hunt's determination to save the people he loves and the suggestion that his choices have consequences extending far beyond those immediately around him. The suggestion that Hunt's greatest strength, his refusal to accept that anyone must be sacrificed, is also his greatest vulnerability gives the picture a psychological complexity the more straightforwardly heroic entries never pursued.

Direction

McQuarrie's direction is the finest of his career and one of the great pieces of action filmmaking in cinema history. Fallout demonstrates a practical stunt ambition and dramatic control the action genre has never surpassed. The HALO jump is the film's most purely spectacular directorial achievement, a demonstration of practical filmmaking of such complete physical ambition that it remains the most extraordinary single stunt sequence in the franchise's history. The Kashmir helicopter sequence is the film's directorial masterpiece, one of the finest action sequences ever committed to film. Lorne Balfe's score is the franchise's most propulsive and emotionally precise, a work of such complete sonic intelligence that it has become inseparable from the film's most celebrated moments.

Cultural Reception

Fallout was a major critical and commercial triumph on its release, receiving near-universal critical acclaim and becoming the franchise's highest-grossing entry. It is now consistently ranked among the greatest action films ever made and as the definitive achievement of the practical action filmmaking tradition, a film whose influence on the action genre is second only to the original Die Hard in the modern era. Cruise's physical commitment to the role, including the broken ankle sequence, became one of the most discussed moments in the franchise's promotional history.

Who Should Watch

Everyone who has seen Rogue Nation, without reservation. Fallout works best as a sequel to Rogue Nation, and viewers who approach it with that context will find the emotional payoffs considerably more powerful. Those who have not seen Rogue Nation should watch it first.

Final Verdict: The franchise's co-masterpiece alongside Rogue Nation and one of the great action films of its decade. Cruise's physical commitment is the franchise's most extraordinary, Cavill's Walker is the franchise's most entertaining new addition since Benji, and McQuarrie's direction demonstrates a practical stunt ambition and dramatic control the action genre has never surpassed. The HALO jump and the helicopter sequence are two of the finest action sequences ever committed to film. Fallout earns its place among the action genre's greatest works not merely through spectacle but through the emotional seriousness with which it treats its characters and their choices.

The Mission: Impossible Series

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