Franchises aren't supposed to get better as they continue. It's just not supposed to happen. It goes against the rules of the universe. Sequels are supposed to mean repetition and diminishing returns. There's something in the water lately though. First with the Fast and Furious series that gets more crazily entertaining and outlandish with each installment and now with the Mission Impossible series that is improving with each new movie. It's a modern phenomenon and one that's very welcome after decades of piss poor film franchises that are made as cynical cash grabbers with scant regard for audience enjoyment
Ethan Hunt and the IMF gang are on the hunt for stolen plutonium. A rash decision sees the plutonium turned loose on the world and that same decision sees the gang under scrutiny from the US government in the form of CIA agent August Walker. Their mission which they of course choose to accept is to prevent global annihilation.
This film rocked. It's so much fun. Big ridiculous over the top fun. Helicopter chases through mountain valleys, a stunning bike chase in central Paris, a bathroom fight that makes the one in True Lies look like 3 toddlers wrestling and all the rubbery mask goodness and backstabbing intrigue we've come to expect from these films. Plus longtime IMF members Benji and Luther finally get to do something other than crack jokes in the background. That was much appreciated. You have to wonder how each film seems to top the last. Did star Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie sign some kind of Faustian pact with the devil? It's the only thing that makes sense. It's easily the best blockbuster of the year so far and for a franchise movie on it's 6th installment to manage that really is something else.
It's not all perfect of course. 2 hrs 27 mins is a stretch for a film like this and you will feel a lull in the first half of the movie when the story line starts getting unnecessarily convoluted and seemingly pointless characters are introduced. One character in particular only seems to turn up so we'll remember her face in future installments. It does damage the pace of the movie but just as your arse starts getting numb the second half kicks off and you'll forget where you are. Setpiece after setpiece punctuated with laughs and brutally efficient fight scenes. It really is breathless stuff.
The best special effect in this film is Tom Cruise. He's brilliant. There's no better way to suck an audience in a film like this than to show your leading man in genuine danger. Here we see him hanging off cliffs, leaping between buildings (The stunt where he broke his leg is shown but thankfully cuts away before any unnatural bending of limbs) and dangling below helicopters and it's always clearly him. No cheap inserts. It will have you grinning like a loon.It's not all about the stunts though. Ethan Hunt may be a hero but he's not a superhero and the film goes to lengths to show the toll the job is having on him both psychologically and physically. It's adds a nice depth to the film that was lacking before. Cruise as always sells it perfectly.
It's Cruise's movie but the supporting cast gets to shine too. Simon Pegg as Benji gets put through the wringer in this one and Ving Rhames as Luther gets a couple of lovely moments that show he's far more to the team than just the driver. Rebecca Ferguson and Sean Harris as Elsa and Solomon who both first appeared in the fifth installment return again. Sadly Ferguson has a smaller role this time around but Harris as always plays a genuinely unsettling part. I'm sure he's a lovely chap in real life but he's going to be typecast as creepy bad guys forever after this. The big new addition is Henry Cavill as Walker. He brings an immense physicality to the role and gets a few laughs too. One moment of him sitting nonplussed in a chopper will make you snort.
This is director Christopher McQuarrie's 6th collaboration with Cruise and it's his best so far. He's a great actor director. Big stunts are shot clearly and unfussily, it's easy make out who's who and what's going on. Too many action directors (cough Christopher Nolan) think shakey cam and quick cutting makes things exciting but it just gives audiences a headache. We want to see what's going on and here we do and seeing Ethan clearly in the middle of it all makes for very exciting viewing.
I hope this duo stick together for the next installment. It's a combination that clearly works. After John Woo's disastrous 1st sequel back in 2000 you wouldn't be blamed for assuming the Mission Impossible series was dead in the water but 18 years later it's quite possibly the best continuing franchise on cinema screens. It's easily the most fun.
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