Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Original Rating: 4/5 This is the best one, this is the best one, this is the best one, THIS IS THE BEST ONE, THIS IS THE BEST ONE, THIS IS THE BEST ONE!!!!!!!!!!! Holy shit... This is the best one. Once again, I couldn't resist. After seeing *Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015), just hours ago, I told myself I'd watch a different film, just to keep things fun and new and not overexert myself with too much Mission. Little did I know, there's never such a thing as "too much Mission: Impossible". I love Ghost Protocol, and it will go down as one of the greatest MI films ever, but Fallout* is on a whole other level. Everything is perfect to a tee: the humor, plot twists, action, performances, tension, emotional beats, lighting, writing, cinematography, score, editing, locations—everything is fucking perfect. I found myself at the edge of my seat, gripping my popcorn tightly, unable to breathe, unwilling to blink too many times to count throughout this film, and don't even get me a swear jar because the third act alone could pay for some black market plutonium. Basically, if you haven't picked up yet, I absolutely loved it. I honestly don't know where to start, but I'll settle on the action. I usually don't talk much about the action in films, even when I review action films, but this film upped the anti on everything. An example of this is how this film, more than any other installment in the franchise, uses hand to hand combat in so many of the action scenes. Something I often find slightly annoying in action films with heavy guns and artillery is that people always seems to have plot armour, unless of course, the plot requires them to be shot. It's no surprise that Mission often falls into this trap, but the inclusion of hand to hand combat makes the plot armour problem less... well, problematic. Moreover, it's sick as hell. The bathroom scene is the perfect example of just how compelling, brutal, and just incredibly cool good old fashioned punches and kicks can be. It's a scene that will go down in history as one of the best action scenes to ever exist and is in the top three for the best scenes in the Mission: Impossible franchise, for me. Another aspect of the action I absolutely loved were the stunts. It's kind of insane that I'm six films into the MI franchise and still haven't given my appreciation for good ol' Tommy Boy risking his life every seven minutes in each film, but I truly do enjoy it. May it be him climbing the Burj, or running, running, and running some more, he never fails to create a spectacle worthy of my utmost attention. 2018's Mission: Impossible - Fallout is no different. The sheer scale and insanity of the stunts, from the motorcycle chase through Paris and the rooftop running in London to the 25,000 ft. HALO jump above Paris and the Helicopter chase in Kashmir, is incomprehensible. It feels as though much of it must be green screens and CGI, even though I know it's not. His stunts are so hard to wrap my brain around that I often have trouble imagining him doing them in real life until I see the unedited, uncut behind the scenes footage and consequently fall down in shock. Cruise's dedication to these stunts and to cinema has always impressed me, and after this re-watch, I've gained a newfound respect for the man because anyone who can do all that he does at the age of 62, and still want to do it until he's 100 is no regular man. Scientology is one powerful drug—I mean, cult—I mean, religion... Secondly, the performances in this film are truly award worthy. My favorite was, without question, Henry Cavill as Agent Walker. From the first time we see him in Washington, right down to the last time in Kashmir, he was absolutely brilliant. His sneaky line delivery, deadpan expressions, and brutal performance all came together to craft one of the greatest characters in all of Mission. Just his presence on screen was so powerful and truly rivalled Cruise, which was exactly the point. Moreover, during the Lane swap scene, he really made magic with the few seconds he had to show his acting capabilities, as I found myself genuinely kind of scared. Other than Cavill, Cruise, as usual, gave a great performance. I know he has other better scenes in this film, but my favorite was probably during the helicopter chase when he's all by himself in that helicopter because it truly showed, in that moment, all that Ethan Hunt was. In that scene, Cruise presented the most real version of Hunt we've seen yet: nervous, plagued by his past, and vulnerable, but a determined hero, nonetheless, who will stop at literally nothing to do what's right, no matter how insane, or even impossible it is what he has to do. Sean Harris, who plays the main villain, Solomon Lane, is even better in this film than the last, in my opinion. His eerily deadpanned look and creepy, weasley voice both contribute to making him a really good villain, but the main factor was the writing. His character has the best writing in this film and it really shows. May it be the hauntingly evil dialogues he delivers to Ethan in Paris, or the terrifyingly tense scene in Kashmir in which he attempts to murder two people, I was very scared of him and his performance. Rebecca Ferguson also gave a great performance in this which is, obviously, no surprise, however, the surprising fact was how emotional it made me. During the scene when Luther is talking to Ilsa about Julia and what Ethan and her went through, I was almost brought to tears not only by the great writing, but mainly by the pure emotion Ferguson showed with just her eyes. It's one of her smallest scenes, and yet, in my books, one of her greatest. Finally, there are the technical aspects including everything from aspect ratios and lighting to the brilliant score and great locations. I am genuinely not kidding, but when the aspect ratio widened right before the helicopter chase, I audibly yelled out loud, "ABSOLUTE CINEMA!" And guess what? I'm not embarrassed in the slightest because it's true. The score for this film was also insane, and probably even better than Rogue Nation. It's the type of score that'll give you goosebumps and also make you feel like you're and undercover spy, even when you're walking your dog. In fact, I'm listening to it right now as I write this review. Then we have the lighting, something that I didn't realize the greatness of at first, but when I finally did, I couldn't stop noticing it. Every frame feels like an award worthy photograph because of the stunning lighting. May it be a scene in the Grand Palais, its bathroom, or Kashmir, the scene was beautifully lit, with thematic lighting as well as strategic. Woah. This film really was as good as everyone said and way better than I expected. I actually feel kind of stupid now for giving this a 4/5 initially, because now that I've seen it again, I can confidently say this is a five star film. If I were Tom Cruise, this is where I'd end it because even though I remember enjoying Dead Reckoning and I'm incredibly excited for *The Final Reckoning*, this really felt like an end of an era. So, if the eighth film in this brilliant franchise isn't that great, I know I'll be coming back to this, just to experience the best possible conclusion for any series ever. The world needs the IMF. We need people like you, who care about the one life as much as they care about the millions. [](https://boxd.it/HinBI)Mission: Impossible Ranked Tom Cruise Ranked IB Level: 7+ 5/5 **1 Jun 2025 chymp**