Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

The sixth Mission: Impossible film sees Ethan and his gang are tasked with locating some plutonium but when the deal goes wrong and places like the Vatican are attacked. The plots of these films are never built around complexity although they try to make them seem complex with people working for other governments or secret organisations. As ever, Hunt has Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg). It’s still weird to me that Shaun from Shaun of the Dead is in a franchise with Tom Cruise.

Henry Cavill appears in this film as Agent Walker who is the minion of Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett) and I do like how there is a sense of distrust between Hunt and Walker. It made the film feel quite big when Ethan Hunt takes on Superman. It was clear that there was something other than lackey to Walker because it's Superman and you don't just give him a straight forward role and it turns out to be but the obvious deception is worth it when we get an epic final battle between the two on the side of a mountain.

The Mission: Impossible films usually have an international and dare I say it, glamorous feel to it. This story takes place largely in Paris and London. I don't know whether the budget was cut because the locations are in countries where tax breaks seem to dictate where they go. This does limit what they can do because it means that all we get are bike/car chases through the streets of Paris and Tom Cruise running around the streets of London including one shot of him breaking his ankle which is kept in the final movie. I suppose if you're going to break something in your body then you want to make it worth it by including it in the movie.

Tom Cruise is very much a part of this franchise. It’s hard to believe that it's been 22 years since the first Mission film and it's a very different franchise compared to what it was perceived to be in 1996. Cruise’s willingness to do insane stunts including flying in a helicopter and running across buildings are the single biggest selling point of these films and long may they continue because I don't think they will ever get boring but I suppose time will tell. Rhames and Pegg are very good as Hunt’s sidekicks and Pegg provides the comic relief when the situation calls for it.

As much as I enjoyed this film, I dont think it's the best in the franchise. Yes there are some enjoyable fight scenes and it feels very much like a Mission: Impossible film but it doesn't seem to have quite the same glamour that Rogue Nation or Ghost Protocol had. Fallout does what it does and does it very well but it's a very minor step down in terms of quality for the franchise.