Mission: Impossible- Fallout review

About half way through the movie Mission: Impossible- Fallout, you will discover one of its big mysteries. But the great thing about it is that you'll doubt if you have the complete answer to the plot. This being a film written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie who wrote The Usual Suspects (1995), one can expect a twist or two. But M:I-Fallout is much more than a spy movie with red herrings. It's a great action movie.

Mission: Impossible- Fallout takes place after the events in Mission:Impossible-Rogue Nation (2015) so it's a sequel. The IMF (Impossible Mission Force) comprised of Ethan Hunt (Tom Crusie), Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames) is in Belfast to recover plutonium cores. The Apostles aka The Syndicate are also there to purchase them for a client. The mission goes awry and Ethan sacrifices the recovery to save his team. The CIA led by Sloane (Angela Bassett) tasks the IMF team to recover the cores in Paris. However, she demands that Superman... um, Walker (Henry Cavill) accompany them. They must find out who the buyer of the cores is, a guy by the name of Keyser Soze. Er.. that's The Usual Suspects. Sorry. They must find out who the buyer is and get the cores back. They fail and the world gets incinerated leading to a planet of apes. Okay, the last sentence doesn't happen.

Rebecca Ferguson returns from Rogue Nation as former MI6 spy Ilsa Faust. She's adept at martial arts, high speed motorcycle chases and really good with a gun. She's also sophisticated, sexy and beautiful. She's got a great English accent and lovely voice which I could listen to all day. I hope she gets an Oscar nomination. Oh, and Tom Cruise is in the movie too. Okay, I have to discuss Tom Cruise. In reality, Cruise is 55! And he's ageless. His stunt work is remarkable and considering he hurt his leg during the filming of a foot chase scene, one should never doubt his dedication. That scene is in the movie as Ethan limps away. With this movie and last year's American Made, it's quite a roll for him. We'll just forget about The Mummy. Anyway, Rebecca Ferguson is going to appear along with Captain Picard.. I mean Patrick Stewart in The Kid Who Would Be King. in 2019. Dear Academy, for your consideration, nominate Ms. Ferguson. Just saying. Okay, back to the review.

M:i-Fallout is why you go to the theater to watch movies. Director McQuarrie shoots everything big. I mean virtually all of his shots are epic. This is one big world. And the beauty of his direction is that most of it is well lit. He avoids shooting most of the action scenes in the dark. The audience sees all the action. Fight scenes are well planned. The editing makes sense. There's no confusion in action set pieces. And they are epic. The special effects mesh with the live action. The effect of all this is that it looks real and exciting. I mean, did Tom Cruise make a HALO parachute jump? Probably not but it looks like he did. Just like it looks like he's driving a motorcycle in a high speed chase through Paris traffic. Of course, you got your running Cruise scene and he's probably lost a step but that jump where he hurt himself is death defying. There's also a helicopter chase scene which had me sitting straight up. Seriously, this film makes every James Bond movie look tame.

All kidding aside. While it's great to see Rebecca Ferguson in the movie, there's not much stuff for the women to do here. Michelle Monaghan returns as Ethan's wife, Julia from M:I III (200^) and M:I-Ghost Protocol (2011). I don't want to give it away but her scenes seem forced and perhaps here to set up some changes for the next film. Let me put it this way. The IMF needs women.

Mission: Impossible- Fallout is perhaps best of the series. It's only rivaled by the first Mission Impossible's spy games. The film is one remarkable action movie. Thrilling. It's so good that you will not forget the excitement. It's a must see at a theater. The grade is A.