Mission Impossible: Fallout Aims High and Hits Its Target
Darren Lang
Darren Lang
Mission Impossible: Fallout is the 6th film in the Mission Impossible franchise and by all accounts the best one yet. It follows Ethan Hunt, played by Tom Cruise; who has been playing this character since the first Mission Impossible, back in 1996. He is the type of heroic character that we have all grown used to. He is smarter, stronger, and wittier than any of the bad guys that he fights, and has a habit of getting out of any situation in just the nick of time. This time, after a mission goes wrong, him, the IMF team, along other familiar faces will have to combat the terrorist group known as “The Syndicate”. With one or two characters from the previous movies, this time he will be accompanied by the loyal Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), the tech expert and comic relief Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), and the arrogant August Walker (Henry Cavill), who seems the get in Ethan’s way more than he can help.
With that I can not give anymore away, without spoiling the last two films in the process. I do find it necessary to watch the last two films, (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation). For the fact of how much it adds to the film to know the relationships and backstories of these character, and in order to understand the characters involved and the role of which “The Syndicate” plays and the characters involved and they are also both solid movies that deserve at least part of your time.
One of the defining aspects of this movie is the action. From the opening mission gone wrong, to the skydiving sequence that seems to all happen in one uninterrupted shot, to the harrowing helicopter chase near the end, this is a story that is told through its action.
Acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert from The Chicago Sun-Times described it best, when speaking on the fourth film Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, saying that it achieves a sort of action poetry. The script, for what it is, is great. One of the best parts about is is that it allows for these action sequences to happen one after the other, and this fast pace keeps the film from possibly being bogged down by its complex plot or use of exposition. Another thing to admire about the writing of this film is the constant use of the twist. Things in this film constantly change from being one thing to the other and the same with the majority of the characters. There are constantly moments in the film which lead to my jaw being dropped with an “oh my god” expression on my face.
If I were to give any flaws to this film, it would probably only have to do with the Mission Impossible franchise and the style of these movies as a whole. I find that some viewers might get annoyed with the overt complexity of the plot and action, feeling that what it leads up to could be done much quicker, instead of this film’s length of 147 minutes (I must add that however long that may seem for a movie to be, it does not feel that way. The fast pace means that something is constantly happening to the point that this almost two and a half hour movie only feels less than two.) I can also understand some viewers becoming annoyed with some of the conveniences in this film, how Ethan Klein seems to get through everything even when by all accounts he should not have, or how him and his crew always seem to get rid of the threat just one to two seconds before it would have been too late. I asked some student at Hillgrove what they thought of this movie, as to understand a bit more of the public's opinion. I asked student Jay Rice if she thought this film was too long or just enough for what it was going for, “It was just enough for an action movie, it wasn’t excessive, and there were plot lines in between, the right amount of sequences, and fight scenes, and talking conversations, so it was pretty decent.”, she told me. I then asked a student named David Mathews if he thought it was the best film of the franchise, “No… I think the one before it was the best movie, Rogue Nation”.
This is a film for just about anyone. Its action packed but it is well-written at the same time, it is funny but also serious and melancholy when it has to, and it is a crowd pleaser but at the same time critically acclaimed (look no further than the 97% rating on RottenTomatoes.com). I remember seeing an elderly couple at the showing I went to, and seeing them gasp at the same twists, laugh at the same jokes, and after coming out of the theater looking satisfied just as I had. This is a movie that I feel has a little bit for everyone.
With that I can not give anymore away, without spoiling the last two films in the process. I do find it necessary to watch the last two films, (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation). For the fact of how much it adds to the film to know the relationships and backstories of these character, and in order to understand the characters involved and the role of which “The Syndicate” plays and the characters involved and they are also both solid movies that deserve at least part of your time.
One of the defining aspects of this movie is the action. From the opening mission gone wrong, to the skydiving sequence that seems to all happen in one uninterrupted shot, to the harrowing helicopter chase near the end, this is a story that is told through its action.
Acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert from The Chicago Sun-Times described it best, when speaking on the fourth film Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, saying that it achieves a sort of action poetry. The script, for what it is, is great. One of the best parts about is is that it allows for these action sequences to happen one after the other, and this fast pace keeps the film from possibly being bogged down by its complex plot or use of exposition. Another thing to admire about the writing of this film is the constant use of the twist. Things in this film constantly change from being one thing to the other and the same with the majority of the characters. There are constantly moments in the film which lead to my jaw being dropped with an “oh my god” expression on my face.
If I were to give any flaws to this film, it would probably only have to do with the Mission Impossible franchise and the style of these movies as a whole. I find that some viewers might get annoyed with the overt complexity of the plot and action, feeling that what it leads up to could be done much quicker, instead of this film’s length of 147 minutes (I must add that however long that may seem for a movie to be, it does not feel that way. The fast pace means that something is constantly happening to the point that this almost two and a half hour movie only feels less than two.) I can also understand some viewers becoming annoyed with some of the conveniences in this film, how Ethan Klein seems to get through everything even when by all accounts he should not have, or how him and his crew always seem to get rid of the threat just one to two seconds before it would have been too late. I asked some student at Hillgrove what they thought of this movie, as to understand a bit more of the public's opinion. I asked student Jay Rice if she thought this film was too long or just enough for what it was going for, “It was just enough for an action movie, it wasn’t excessive, and there were plot lines in between, the right amount of sequences, and fight scenes, and talking conversations, so it was pretty decent.”, she told me. I then asked a student named David Mathews if he thought it was the best film of the franchise, “No… I think the one before it was the best movie, Rogue Nation”.
This is a film for just about anyone. Its action packed but it is well-written at the same time, it is funny but also serious and melancholy when it has to, and it is a crowd pleaser but at the same time critically acclaimed (look no further than the 97% rating on RottenTomatoes.com). I remember seeing an elderly couple at the showing I went to, and seeing them gasp at the same twists, laugh at the same jokes, and after coming out of the theater looking satisfied just as I had. This is a movie that I feel has a little bit for everyone.