Review of Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) by Pipec — 17 Oct 2018

Tom Cruise will never die. By their own efforts, force-sensitive scavenging Jedis; vengeful ladies with psychokinetic skills and enhanced mental abilities or lethal combat prowess from ancient Chinese martial arts; drivers with good values ready for any racing madness involving high speed; young people experiencing memory or hearing problems thirsty for the adrenaline of a car, a motorbike, a yacht or a punch; supermen, superwomen, villains and anti-heroes who fight for stability defending their beliefs about peace, hope, justice, "law" and chaos staunchly; top-secret agents/spies wearing elegant attire that, most of the time, emerge victorious from their missions; retired assassins who forcibly return to 'the Continental Hotel' by a puppy incident and characters and/or animated heroes who save continents, countries, cities, friends and families deserve their due respect and recognition both in the industry and in the history of film. However, suddenly, the sassy boldness and unstoppable charm of the IMF agent who leads, legally or illegally, impossible agency missions have helped to shape one of the best action/adventure films of the 21st century and, sans nul doute, the best actioner since George Miller's 2015 multi-Oscar-winning post-apocalyptic masterpiece. Hence, critics, cinephiles and moviegoers alike are greeting it with raves, comparing the latest and most barbaric adventure of Hunt and his team — save William Brandt played by Jeremy Renner, who was committed heart and soul to Marvel Studios — to modern-classic "Mad Max: Fury Road" for its mastery assembling and disassembling heart-stopping sequences and to the Christopher Nolan DC trilogy, especially with Warner's 2008 classic "The Dark Knight," for its courage to deal with sore, meaningful purposes with a firm hand and mind-blowing ideas, piling layer after layer on the characters and the plot.

An A-1 mainstream film must represent each feature of the script to the screen in the best way possible, however, an A-1 mainstream actioner must articulate smoothly the above with, of course, emblematic sequences. Every new movie in the 22-year franchise provides substantial added value coming in the form of legendary Tom Cruise, a true super-man who categorically rejects the use of stunt performers for his high-risk scenes. Modesty apart, Cruise is an actor who, literally and figuratively, gets under Ethan Hunt's skin, he's Hunt, thus becoming one of the few stars who perform their own action scenes today in Hollywood. This time, forget scratches and bruises, an on-set ankle injury has called him, an accident that halted the movie's shooting until his health improved. Drawing upon some landscapes and townscapes of India, UK, France and New Zealand, Rob Hardy, a modern cinematography maestro who has built artistic sci-fi gems such as "Annihilation" and "Ex Machina," places his exquisite style in a setting far from fantasy, getting artfully neat visuals on its objectives with high levels of elegance, sobriety and magnetism on costume and production design, in the old-fashioned Parisian streets or the crushing European dreamscapes. Commitment by each and every one of the members of the huge technical and artistic team is awe-inspiring, they esteem a big budget, and, moreover, prioritize film's artistic purpose over the ever-lurking avidity for extravagant grosses.

There are few cases where a commercial advertisement transcends beyond its purpose, here one of the best examples. The creators of the trailer released during Super Bowl LII must not only headline the year-end best trailers lists by critics and movie reviewers, but receive a true award for their exceptional, exceptional work. Although few talk about this kind of stuff in their reviews, the perfectly matched 2-minute stunner made by highly skilled trailer makers deserves it; one of the best trailers of this decade.

"Mission: Impossible-Fallout" by Christopher McQuarrie smashes, on several occasions and ways, big-budget action movie tropes much like contemporary classics do, moving away from the artificiality of danger to get fully into building a true-blue adrenaline rush. In these times, making high-quality action films in Hollywood has become an impossible feat, putting the blame on plotting emptiness and tech breakthroughs that bury a good narrative. However, with an overlong period of time in between, mainstream gems serendipitily flourishes trying to propose through risks. That is what makes this "MI" entry to take part in the select, coveted must-see top of the last eighteen years. Film doesn't falsify reality, imitates it, for this reason, those breathtaking set-pieces are an out-of-this-world experience, where suspense and enjoyment are involuntary reactions to a cinematic cocktail everyone should see. A spectacular, unforgettable roller-coaster ride that vitalizes a billion-dolar spy franchise, a triumph that must be experienced in the largest IMAX screen.