Mission: Impossible [6] - Fallout (2018) [Blu-ray]
Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline: Some missions are not a choice.

The best intentions often come back to haunt you. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT finds Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team (Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) along with some familiar allies (Rebecca Ferguson, Michelle Monaghan) in a race against time after a mission gone wrong. Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett, and Vanessa Kirby also join the dynamic cast with filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie returning to the helm.

Storyline: Two years after Ethan Hunt had successfully captured Solomon Lane, the remnants of the Syndicate have reformed into another organization called the Apostles. Under the leadership of a mysterious fundamentalist known only as John Lark, the organization is planning on acquiring three plutonium cores. Ethan and his team are sent to Berlin to intercept them, but the mission fails when Ethan saves Luther and the Apostles escape with the plutonium. With CIA agent August Walker joining the team, Ethan and his allies must now find the plutonium cores before it's too late. Written by Anonymous

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, November 28, 2018 As the Mission: Impossible films continues to grow in count, the filmmakers refuse to say they can't. A franchise that has its roots in television and made the transition to the big screen by way of Brian DePalma's solid spy thriller from 22 years ago has emerged as a cinema powerhouse featuring the ageless Tom Cruise pushing himself, and the cinema medium, well beyond any and all reasonable expectations. Yet the more intense stunts and more complexly moving parts have not gotten in the way of satisfying storytelling and quality characterization. Cruise and Director Christopher McQuarrie, with whom the actor has collaborated on several high profile films, obviously work well together, whether McQuarrie is pulling duty as writer (Valkyrie, The Mummy), producer (Jack Reacher: Never Go Back), or director, or all three as the case may be with Fallout. With this film, the pair doesn't simply build a movie, they engage with it, they become part of it. They bring character depth and emotional intimacy to the story and construct high-risk, high-reward action pieces that are unquestionably the most intense and the most involved yet in a Mission film. It's familiar -- the culmination of every previous Mission film, they say -- but it's also unflinchingly unique beyond the core.

Ethan Hunt's (Cruise) latest impossible mission tasks him and the key members of his team -- Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) -- with tracking down three missing plutonium cores, stolen out of Russia and capable of destroying an entire city in a bomb that can fit in a suitcase. The terrorist group believed to have acquired them, called "The Apostles," is an offshoot of Solomon Lane's (Sean Harris) defunct organization known as "The Syndicate." The intelligence community believes the terrorists can create a usable bomb in 72 hours. When Hunt's first attempt to retrieve the cores fails, he and his team, now accompanied by a CIA chaperone named August Walker (Henry Cavill), move in to intercept a man known as "John Lark" (Liang Yang) who is scheduled to meet with a woman known as "The White Widow" (Vanessa Kirby), a black market arms dealer believed to know the whereabouts of the missing cores. Hunt is ultimately forced to impersonate Lark without the use of a mask, plunging himself into a dark and dangerous world that will test his mettle, push him to his limits, and force him into the fight of his life where all he holds dear -- and the fate of the world -- hangs in the balance.

In Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Ethan Hunt finds himself in familiar predicaments but forced to navigate a dangerous world that is not only on the brink of nuclear disaster but also face the very real possibility that to prevent a nightmare apocalypse could mean sacrificing his own code and soul. Hunt is forced into the middle of dark dealings, bad people, and situations that would literally and figuratively grind a lesser man down. Hunt has no time to weigh his choices. Fallout is another globetrotting adventure that pits him against deadly enemies, time, and villains lurking in his own inner circle. Hunt must again rely on guile, technology, physical skill, and some good old-fashioned role play, without a disguising mask, to set things straight. He may not be a superhero or a super man (even if he plays opposite one in this film), but he is determined, capable, and more than a little lucky, characteristics that are going to have to be his cornerstones if he is maneuver through his most complex and challenging mission yet.

The film doesn't reinvent the proverbial wheel in terms of dramatic content and core action elements but there seems to be no limit on Cruise's desire to push the physical envelope, inserting himself into countlessly and increasingly turbulent (literally!) and tricky situations for the betterment of the movie and for his audience's entertainment. His dedication to the craft, willingness to put himself on the line, and his natural talent and charisma drive the movie from the lead position; this, nor any of the other M:I films, would not be the same film without Cruise playing Ethan Hunt. Without giving away the film's four of five large-scale action pieces, suffice it to say that Cruise places himself in harm's way at several points, obviously with plenty of money and time spent on safety measures, but the film is much better for keeping the camera squarely on him -- particularly in the IMAX scenes -- which adds a level of realism and immersion for the audience. The movie does not shy away from scale or intimacy, depth and breadth of action; every scene is extraordinary, and the balance between big action set pieces, intimate drama, and narrative twists and turns keeps the film moving at a brisk pace that makes almost 150 minutes of cinematic greatness feel half that.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout is great entertainment. It's smart, exciting, and doesn't compromise on story, visuals, or performances. Even if some of the action scenes, such car chases through dense city streets, or plot mechanics, like the frantic attempt to defuse a bomb (or a pair of bombs in this case) before time runs out, are not at all novel, the film nevertheless plays remarkably fresh and invigorates a genre it has already mastered years ago. The evolution of story and increase in delivery continues to keep the franchise at the top, and that Cruise, who seems to only grow more confident and capable with each new film, remains willing to pull off the impossible for the sake of the movie ensures a level of intensity and immersion other films cannot match. Cruise and McQuarrie have nailed down what it means, and what it takes, to make an A-list Action movie. Fallout isn't just the best in the series, it's one of the best Action films out there. Paramount's Blu-ray release delivers a complete package: great movie, complimentary 1080p video, a terrific Atmos soundtrack, and tons of extra content. This is one of the better releases of the year. Very highly recommended.

[CSW] -3.6- Not a five star movie. A solid four stars. Going in, having heard of the "positive reviews" from film critics, I took those reviews with a grain of salt when watching this. I don't think those reviews represent this film well and overhyped it. The film was good but still has its flaws. The action in this movie is stellar and well directed, I must admit I loved every one of those fight scenes. It carried the movie throughout its hopelessly long running time of 2.5 hours. The acting was good, although the vibe with Henry Cavill and Tom Cruise was a bit lacking. Where the four stars come in: The plot twists were mainly good but some were predictable. I feel like the supporting cast was completely underutilized, and with the exception of Tom Cruise's character, lacked the character driven plot I expected with Henry Cavill's character. Also, the running time as I mentioned before is at 2.5 hours, which is hard to sit through at times. But the action kept it flowing. Comparing this film to the rest before it, I would say this is up there with the better ones. The action alone is a selling point.
[V4.0-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box really enhanced this movie.


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