Fallout is classic Mission Impossible. Fast-paced, stylish and vastly entertaining, this is not only a reminder of how insane Tom Cruise’s dedication to delivering big-screen thrills is but also a prime example of how movies are originally meant to be watched on the big screen. There are some stunts in the movie that will genuinely make you gasp, many performed by Cruise himself, which is commendable in itself, but he is also a tremendous actor who, between the fist fights, brings some solid emotional punches in the film.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout hits many of the same beats as the previous films - there are double crosses and triple crosses and there is the obligatory scene in which Ethan’s disregard for the rules prompts the chiefs to put him on a leash. So they assign a chaperone for him, a disarmingly named beefcake called Walker, played by Henry Cavill - who receives second billing after Tom Cruise in the delightfully retro opening credits incidentally and positively oozes machismo. Walker’s allegiances, of course, are spotty - and Cavill plays him less like a lunkhead than he could have, which is always a good thing.
The only sluggish moments in the film are the first minute where the titles appear over a black screen. Secondly, director Christopher McQuarrie makes Fallout feels a lot like the first Mission: Impossible movie than any other film in the franchise, but also cleverly takes everything good about the franchise and marinates it all into one movie.
Tom Cruise must be the fittest 56 year old around. He's forever running in the film, and jumping, and dangling off cliffs. Whether it's Paris, London or even Kashmir, every kind of terrain is mastered by his athletic abilities. He's as close to a superhero as he could be, coming close, but not crossing, the lines of implausibility. Tom Cruise has filled Ethan Hunt with vulnerability of late.