RATING: A
Normally if you manage to get as far as *six* installments in one movie franchise (not including reboots), we're not talking about that sixth one being one of the very best in the series. And we're certainly not talking about it being arguably one of the better action movies of the decade. By this point, even if the series in question is still making plenty of money and there are plenty of fans who like it, many others are still lamenting the fact that the franchise still exists. And yet... both Rogue Nation and now this one have made us want more. The fact that the more recent sequels in this series have been this good is definitely improbable; yet it's a trick that Christopher McQuarrie makes look easy.
The story here involves some plutonium cores that are out in the loose, with certain evil types wanting to use said cores for... nukes, obviously. And while I rolled my eyes at them apparently going back to *that* well again, this isn't another Ghost Protocol. This time, much of the evil plots are a bit more personal. Remember the bad guy from the last movie? Solomon Lane? Yeah, he's back and still alive (a first in this series for a villain). And he is broken out of prison. And his plan involves dealing Ethan a world of hurt as revenge for the last movie--while still dealing the actual world quite a bit of hurt as well, because anarchists gotta do anarchy stuff.
So how good is this movie? It's pretty excellent. And how good are the action scenes? So good that they make much of Rogue Nation (an excellent movie as well) look like an afterthought. Rarely will you ever see this many action sequences that are this well directed, this well shot, and this exhilarating. I talk a lot about exciting action scenes in movies, but these ones are truly special. Heck, they are arguably some of the best ones I've ever seen. And almost each one is unique and special in its own right. You have the bathroom fistfight scene, which immediately became one of my favorite fight scenes ever. And then you have the excellent breakout and chase scene. And then you have the helicopter scene, which becomes the latest popular example of Tom Cruise's apparent insanity as he continues to do his own dangerous stunts for our enjoyment. And those are just the biggest highlights.
Really, the action scenes are so great that they can actually make you forget about how convoluted the plot gets for a little bit midway through the movie. There's a lot of names in play and it's pretty easy to lose track of who's betraying whom. And a few characters' motivations and actions are a little confusing at times, but it irons out a bit more clearly down the stretch. Still, even if you're feeling a little confused at times, you'll be wowed pretty shortly by a great action sequence that'll make you forget about it and marvel at how Cruise manages to keep on doing what he's doing at age 56.
Speaking of the cast, we still have a pretty good one. Besides the typical returning members that do well (Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson), there's at least one special mention to be made. Henry Cavill has been merely serviceable as Superman, but he is excellent here and establishes himself as a strong action movie actor as well (when given a better movie to work with). Sean Harris also does well; he was in the last movie too (as Solomon Lame), but he does a good job of seeming more unhinged this time around. The more relatively unknown Vanessa Kirby does well too; her character is unfortunately a little underused.
With both Rogue Nation and Fallout to his name, Christopher McQuarrie has established himself as one of the better action directors in the business. While I hope to see one more M:I movie out of him (and only one more, for Cruise's sake), I'm very interested to see what he does next besides this franchise. He's going to have a tough time topping himself with whatever he does next regardless, though. The story is nothing special, but that's never been the biggest strength of this series anyway. It's good enough to get by and to prop up the various set pieces that feel intended to dominate the screen here. And while that might be a risky gamble to some, it works for Fallout. Because on a pure action entertainment level, it really does not get a whole lot better than this.
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