Review of Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) by Davidwashere — 09 Aug 2018

Six movies in and the Mission: Impossible train continues to hit big with yet another high octane thrill ride that is entertaining and highly re-watchable. While it is commendable that the action scenes are done largely practical, what truly does make them work is the understanding the directors have with knowing how to make great action scenes. The set pieces are fun, the choreography is great, and you are not questioning how any of this could happen in real life. They just do! It's a secret rhythm of tension and escapism that truly make this franchise one of the greats! However the thing that truly sets this movie back from being as amazing as the hype makes it out to be, at least for me, is the script. Now I am well aware that in terms of storytelling, the Mission: Impossible films are not all that great, and I am okay with that because I never felt like the previous films tried to be something that it's not, nor do the scripts detract from the overall enjoyment (the exception to that rule being the second film, obviously). However, the writing for this movie really does hamper a lot of the fun. For one, the dialogue can be really bad at times and often comes off as cheesy without any self-awareness for how cornball they truly are. Not to mention how many times the movie tries to be clever with it's multiple plot twists that just gets more obnoxious as the film goes on. Especially when it comes with the big reveal of who this mole agent is, which is so painfully obvious the movie never tried to hide it. There is even a scene which blatantly shows its cards to the audience. I won't spoil it but if you have seen it, you know what I am talking about. The acting is a bit hit or miss as well. While there are not truly amazing performances in this movie, for the most part the actors do a good job and are totally invested, with Tom Cruse, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, and Sean Harris doing solid work. However, the weakest link of the main cast is Henry Cavil. I do not mind him as an actor as so many people do that I know of, however here he is quite terrible. So much of his delivery is wooden and stiff, he does not look like he is having any fun at all with his role, and his accent is phony at best, as he sounds like he is doing an impression of Spottswoode from Team America. His mustache is pretty good, I must say. Angela Bassett and, surprisingly, Alec Baldwin are also pretty bad here too.

Fallout is certainly overrated in parts, but it is still another great film in the franchise. Should they stop making them while they are ahead? Yeah probably.