‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ (Film)

‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt with Walker, Ilsa, Benji and Luther

I must have seen this movie more times since I first saw it at the cinema in July 2018! 🙂

When my parents and I seriously first ventured into the ‘Mission: Impossible’ film series, it started with seeing ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’, the fifth film of the series, which my Mum had on Blu-ray for Christmas in December 2017. Later, my Mum had two birthday presents in March 2018. 🙂

They were of course the first ‘Mission: Impossible’ movie and ‘Mission: Impossible III’ on Blu-ray. After that, I purchased ‘Mission: Impossible 2’ and ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’, the fourth film of the series, for Mother’s Day in March 2018. It was pretty exciting to get into these ‘M:I’ films.

This of course was in the build up to see the movie ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’, the sixth film of the series, which we saw on the big screen in July 2018. It was one of the highlights of 2018 for me, as ‘Fallout’ turned out to be a tremendous film. My Mum and I saw the movie at the cinema twice. 🙂

I later purchased ‘Fallout’ on a 2-disc Blu-ray for my Mum that Christmas in December 2018. Disc 1 contains the movie itself whilst Disc 2 is a bonus disc containing 60 minutes of unseen special features. I saw the movie more times on Blu-ray at home, even during the spring lockdown of 2020.

‘Fallout’ is rather special for me, since it was the first ‘M:I’ film I saw properly on the big screen at the cinema. I did see a trailer for ‘M:I – III’ once on the big screen back in 2006, but nothing came of it me seeing the movie at the cinema. Seeing ‘Fallout’ on the big screen was pretty amazing, since it was thrilling!

Beforehand, I heard many good things said about the movie before watching it at the cinema. I hoped the good things said would be well-justified when my parents and I saw the film at the cinema. It turned out to be the case. The film was so awesome to watch, as it’s full of drama, character and action!

I found myself feeling pretty excited, engaged and entertained whilst watching the film. Some of the time, I was on the edge of my seat, panicking for good reason when characters were in jeopardy. Even watching the movie on Blu-ray, I felt those moments of tension when our heroes were in peril.

I was also laughing at some of the funny moments throughout the film. Most of that is down to the character building, which I can find in the fifth and sixth films of the series rather than the first four. The story is well-written; the cast involved are superb; and the action scenes are fantastic indeed!

Once again directed by Christopher McQuarrie who did ‘Rogue Nation’, he also wrote the whole screenplay himself. Christopher McQuarrie also produced the film with Jake Myers, J. J. Abrams and Tom Cruise (the star of the film). As stated in another review, Tom Cruise drives these films forward.

I know I make criticisms on how the ‘M:I’ films can be so inconsistent in terms of direction and style, but a large amount of why they’ve been so successful is Tom Cruise’s enthusiasm for making these movies happen. I’m currently looking forward to what’s in store for the seventh and eighth movies!

‘Fallout’ follows on from what happened at the end of ‘Rogue Nation’. Maybe having the ‘M:I’ films being currently directed by Christopher McQuarrie helps to provide that consistency. There are certain characters and elements from ‘Rogue Nation’ and ‘Fallout’ going to be featured in films seven and eight.

The movie has Ethan Hunt on a dangerous assignment to recover three stolen plutonium cores. Maybe they’re going to be used for Doc Brown’s time machine in ‘Back to the Future’. 😀 Ethan Hunt however puts his team first before completing the mission, allowing the plutonium cores to be stolen. 😐

This is something the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) and the US’ CIA are unhappy with. The enemy that our heroes tackle against are called the Apostles, remnants of the former Syndicate. Ethan and his IMF team, including Benji Dunn and Luther Stickell, have to save the world that’s now become at risk.

They run into old ally Ilsa Faust from ‘Rogue Nation’ as well as teaming up with a hard-hitting CIA agent called August Walker. There’s also the threat of former Syndicate leader Solomon Lane taking over the Apostles’ objective with the plutonium. Will the personal stakes rise for Ethan in this mission? 😐

Tom Cruise returns to play Ethan Hunt in this sixth movie of the ‘M:I’ film series and continues to save the world. It was at this point that I discovered Tom Cruise did most of his own stunts whilst starring in the ‘M:I’ films. I find that to be amazing, considering he’s done these films for some time.

He was also in his fifties when doing ‘M:I – Fallout’. I wondered whether he’d stop doing his own stunts should he do more action-packed films. I believe he’s done his own stunts for the seventh and eighth ‘M:I’ films. I did like the journey Ethan went on when putting the lives of his friends in danger.

It’s also nice to see Tom Cruise interacting with people like Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson and Ving Rhames when their characters are saving the world from an immediate terrorist threat. It emphasises that it’s not all about Tom Cruise, as the other hero characters have a part to play in this particular film.

For ‘Fallout’, Tom Cruise is joined by Henry Cavill as August Walker, the CIA agent/assassin who monitors the activities of Ethan and his IMF team during their mission. For many, Henry Cavill is well-known for playing Superman in the ‘D.C. Extended Universe’ of films. I was very pleased to see him!

Though he does need to mind his language when dropping the F-bomb at one point! 😀 I initially thought of Henry Cavill’s character to be on the good side, considering he and Tom Cruise were allies in the film’s first half. It came as a shock when the twist came that he turned out to be a bad guy in the film.

I didn’t see that coming when watching the film for the first time! 😀 There are plenty of surprise twists featured in the film, with the character motivations going all awry at times. That’s certainly the case when unveiling Walker’s duplicity and how Ethan’s team get to expose him as a villain. 😀

Ving Rhames returns as Luther Stickell in ‘Fallout’. Luther has been in all of the ‘M:I’ films so far and he’s due to appear in the seventh and eighth films as well, I believe. It’s amazing how loyal Luther has been to Ethan from the film series’ beginning and how he’s a valuable contributor to all the missions here.

As well as being one of the tech guys, Luther also gets to have some nice scenes with people like Ilsa Faust and later on with Julia Meade, Ethan’s ex-wife (more on that later). Luther knows how Ethan’s mind works when it comes to putting the lives of his teammates first whilst conducting the missions.

Simon Pegg returns as Benji Dunn in ‘Fallout’. I love seeing Simon Pegg in these movies. He’s not there just to provide comic relief. He’s also there to provide valued support and contributions to the missions he’s on. Benji has come a long way from being a minor character in ‘M:I – III’, hasn’t he? 😀

I loved that scene where Benji tracks Ethan down and tells him where he needs to go to chase after Walker in London. I found that scene pretty exciting. He’s also very good in the action sequences as well as carrying a gun when he and Ilsa are hunting down plutonium. It was tense for Benji in the film’s climax!

Rebecca Ferguson returns as former MI6 agent Ilsa Faust, who previously appeared in ‘Rogue Nation’. It was interesting to see Ilsa back in ‘Fallout’ and how she becomes involved with the plutonium cores’ theft along with Solomon Lane. There’s a deeper connection between her and Ethan.

Whilst at times Ilsa can be seen as a threat to Ethan’s mission, including her exciting motorcycle chase scene in Paris which followed another exciting motorcycle chase scene in Paris, she does end up being supportive and becoming a part of Ethan’s team. Ilsa also gets to understand Ethan more as a person.

Like I said, I did like how Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg and Rebecca Ferguson eventually become a team in the movie. I was disappointed Jeremy Renner didn’t come back as William Brandt in ‘Fallout’, as he starred in ‘Ghost Protocol’ and ‘Rogue Nation’. I don’t know why he didn’t return. 😐

Whether it was scheduling conflicts because he was busy playing Hawkeye in ‘Avengers: Endgame’ or whether it was a behind-the-scenes dispute with the director, I’m not sure. Either way, Brandt doesn’t appear in this film, which is a shame. I hope Brandt will come back for a future ‘M:I’ movie. 🙂

Sean Harris returns as the villainous Solomon Lane, the former leader of the Syndicate from ‘Rogue Nation’. And yes, it is Solomon Lane despite having grown a beard since the last time we met him. Like Mum, I got confused, as in ‘Rogue Nation’ he was beardless and he wore glasses. Quite a change here! 😀

The film clearly illustrates how dangerous Solomon Lane is as a villain, especially when he gets help from August Walker as his partner. Solomon Lane seems to know Ethan’s weaknesses and can be pretty cruel when it comes to world domination and stating that our heroes have no chance of defeating him.

Michelle Monaghan returns as Julia Meade, Ethan’s ex-wife. Having seen the previous ‘M:I’ films beforehand, it was nice to have that follow-up with Julia’s character, since she’d only had a main role in ‘M:I – III’ and a cameo in ‘Ghost Protocol’. It was nice how she reunites with Ethan in the movie. 🙂

Ethan didn’t expect to see Julia when he and his team turned up at a medical camp in Kashmir in order to defeat Solomon and Walker. I like that Julia doesn’t resent Ethan for being a spy, since she’s happy with the life she’s had in being a medical doctor and she knows that the world is safe because of him. 🙂

Alec Baldwin, who was also in ‘Rogue Nation’, returns as Alan Hunley, the former CIA director who has now become the new IMF secretary in the film. I like how Hunley interacts with Ethan compared to ‘Rogue Nation’, since he has to put his trust in Ethan when achieving the plutonium cores mission.

There are tensions between Ethan and Hunley in certain parts of the movie, but I liked it when Hunley actually helped out to expose Walker for being a double agent. It’s rather sad when Hunley got killed off in the film by Walker in a gunfight. I like how Ethan’s team honour Hunley in the film. 🙂

There are some new faces featured in the film. This includes Angela Bassett as Erica Sloane, the new director of the CIA. I’ve also seen Angela Bassett in the ‘MCU’ film ‘Black Panther’ where she played T’Challa’s mother Queen Ramonda. Nice to have a Wakanda queen be in charge of the CIA. 😀

Erica Sloane’s character is rather unusual, since she tends to backstab people at the last minute, like when Ethan, Hunley and the IMF expose Walker as a double agent. She also doesn’t entirely trust the IMF’s motives and can be cold-hearted when Ethan is putting his friends first before the mission.

The film also features Vanessa Kirby as Alanna Mitsopolis, also known as the White Widow (the Black Widow’s sister. 😀 Na, only kidding) who is a black-market arms dealer! There’s also Wes Bentley as Erik, Julia Meade’s new husband. All of the cast deliver great performances in the movie.

I’ve noticed during the climax scenes that the aspect ratio for the helicopter shots with Tom Cruise is different to how our other heroes are tackling the bombs with the plutonium cores on terra firma. With Luther, Benji and Isla’s scenes, there are black bars on the top and the bottom of the screen. 😐

With Ethan, there aren’t any black bars on the top and bottom, as it’s full screen like it wasn’t presented in a widescreen ratio, since director Christopher McQuarrie expanded the aspect ratio for the helicopter scenes. It doesn’t spoil the enjoyment and action, but it does look really inconsistent.

The music composed for this film is by Lorne Balfe. I liked the dynamic, brooding music Lorne Balfe delivered for the score of ‘Fallout’. His take on the ‘M:I’ theme music is very good and the balance of action and drama is neatly placed, especially when Ethan pursues the bad guys so that he can stop them.

The Blu-ray special features are as follows. On Disc 1, there are three audio commentaries. The first one is with director Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise. The second one is with director Christopher McQuarrie and editor Eddie Hamilton. The third one is with composer Lorne Balfe.

On Disc 2, there’s the seven-part documentary called ‘Behind the Fallout’, ‘Foot Chase Musical Breakdown’, ‘The Ultimate Mission’, storyboards, a deleted scenes montage with optional commentary by director Christopher McQuarrie and editor Eddie Hamilton, and a trailer for the film.

‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ was a film definitely worth waiting for! Having seen the first five ‘Mission: Impossible’ films beforehand, I was able to get an overall sense of what was going on in the story. This is especially when ‘Fallout’ borrowed elements from previous films and not just ‘Rogue Nation’.

Tom Cruise and the rest of the cast shine throughout. The action sequences are great and the story is well-written, thanks to director/writer Christopher McQuarrie. My parents enjoyed seeing the film too. I’m pleased I was able to see ‘M:I – Fallout’ more than once at the cinema as well as on Blu-ray.

I’m currently looking forward to seeing the seventh and eighth ‘M:I’ movies. I’m hoping they’ll be completed by the time they come out at cinemas. At present, I’ve already seen behind-the-scenes photos of the seventh ‘M:I’ movie being made. The cast and crew are filming in Venice and Rome! 😀

‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ rating – 9/10

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