Mission: Impossible – Fallout has taken the franchise to a new peak. The series had a rough start, but the last three installments have been absolutely phenomenal, with Mission Impossible: Fallout easily standing tall as the best movie the franchise has to offer.
At first, Mission: Impossible – Fallout looked like it would be an overwhelmingly tiring experience with its whopping two and a half hour run time, but once the story started moving, and Tom Cruise started kicking ass, any shorter run time would not have done the movie justice. The story was more in depth than any of the other Mission Impossible movies, with enough twists and turns to keep audiences on the edge of their seats for the entire duration.
The one strategy that has kept the previous Mission Impossible movies entertaining is their clever ways of raising the stakes to new levels. While regular action movies will make things go wrong right when everything seems to going right, the Mission Impossible movies raise the stakes even when things are already going horribly wrong. Mission Impossible: Fallout uses this tactic to a tee, keeping audiences on edge throughout the entire duration of the movie. It also does a great job of making the stakes feel real, as a number of the things that went wrong did have serious consequences.
The only real problem with Mission Impossible: Fallout was how similar it was to its predecessors. If you’ve seen any of the previous Mission Impossible movies, especially if you’ve seen them recently, the plot of the movie begins to feel a bit more predictable. However, there were still enough shocking twists to keep things entertaining and not entirely predictable, and at times the movie played off of how predictable it was in order to subvert audiences’ expectations.
The best addition to this movie, though, was undoubtedly Man of Steel actor Henry Cavill. Cavill’s character was a new level of dark compared to the other agents in the movie, and became a threatening addition to the ensemble cast. While he didn’t provide humorous banter like Simon Pegg, his threatening demeanor added a new element to the movie, truly making his character stand out. Cavill isn’t playing the bright and optimistic Superman anymore. Now he’s just playing a burly man whose bad side you do not want to be on.
All things considered, Paramount Pictures has really done a phenomenal job fixing the Mission Impossible franchise. Not only is Mission Impossible: Fallout far better than the first couple Mission Impossible movies, but it’s even far better than Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation, which were both great. The fantastic use of raising the stakes truly made Mission Impossible: Fallout a worthwhile trip to the theater. Rest assured, this is not one you will want to wait for DVD for. Once the action gets moving, you won’t want to stop watching, making the big screen the perfect venue. If you like action, deeply detailed narratives, or extensive coverage of Tom Cruise running, Mission Impossible: Fallout is surely the movie for you.