Given the ever-increasing amounts of rubbish that Hollywood serves up on the big screens, it is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine that anything from American mainstream cinema could age like fine wine, improving over the years. It seems one such exception could be Mission: Impossible, an action film series that nearly three decades ago as a not particularly inspired or high-quality remake of a popular 1960s spy TV series, yet today its installments have gained a reputation as some of the finest examples of the action genre in contemporary Hollywood. Credit for this is often attributed to Christopher McQuarrie, the screenwriter and director who helmed the previous installment, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, three years ago and now directs the latest chapter, Mission: Impossible – Fallout.
For most viewers, Christopher McQuarrie’s name at the helm will mean far less than that of Tom Cruise, who reprises the role of Ethan Hunt for the sixth time—an American secret agent and leader of a small but elite IMF team tasked with carrying out the most delicate and dangerous operations. One such mission in Berlin goes awry, partly due to Hunt himself, who refuses to sacrifice the life of his colleague and friend Luther (Ving Rhames), resulting in the plutonium—capable of being used to create nuclear bombs—falling into the hands of mysterious villains. Hunt is given a chance to rectify his mistake and retrieve the plutonium, but the rival CIA agency assigns him a partner against his will: August Walker (Henry Cavill), an agent specialising in 'wet work,' whose arrogance and penchant for violent problem-solving starkly contrast with Hunt’s discretion and methodical approach. Their trail leads them, along with the rest of the team, to Paris, where the plutonium is held by a mysterious woman known as the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby), a broker willing to sell it to the highest bidder. Hunt’s efforts to prevent a nuclear catastrophe are further complicated by the presence in Paris of his former acquaintance, British agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who clearly has her own interests in the entire affair.
McQuarrie’s script, while quite good, is the least important element of Fallout. The complex and at times difficult-to-follow plot (which is also hard to grasp without familiarity with previous installments, including Rogue Nation) essentially serves as little more than a MacGuffin to justify a series of spectacular and exceptionally gripping action sequences. In these sequences, McQuarrie not only demonstrates his exceptional skill but also Tom Cruise reaffirms his status as one of today’s greatest action stars. Cruise’s achievement is even more impressive not only considering his age, which by Hollywood standards is far from negligible, but also because he performed the majority of these scenes without a stunt double, even sustaining a serious injury on one occasion. Cruise has imbued his character with elements of humanity, including vulnerabilities uncharacteristic of action superheroes, making Ethan Hunt far superior to Craig’s Bond. His performance is even stronger when sharing scenes with Henry Cavill, an actor who may have realised that Man of Steel might not be the definitive film, and that the role he will be remembered for could well be the moustachioed villain he portrays in Fallout. Alongside the rest of the regular cast portraying Hunt’s colleagues, who deliver more than solid performances—particularly in the climactic, intricately choreographed scene where the world is simultaneously saved in three different locations—credit must also go to newcomer Vanessa Kirby, the relatively unknown British actress whose enigmatic and glamorous character is one of the most striking examples of a femme fatale in contemporary Hollywood cinema.
Although there are sound reasons to believe that Fallout, at least regarding the convoluted and often obscure details of its plot, will quickly fade from memory, it offers those who watch it an incredibly fast-paced two and a half hours of quality entertainment that Hollywood is increasingly unable to provide.
RATING: 7/10 (++)
(Note: The text in the original Croatian version is available here.)
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