Night at the Orpheum

2018 has truly become the year of the action movie with several successful films capitalizing on the genre, including Mission: Impossible- Fallout. Tom Cruise returns to the silent, brooding role of Ethan Hunt, who teams up with his IMF team to stop a series of disasters from happening. A new villain steps up to the stage to challenge Hunt. John Lark and a group of terrorists who call themselves the Apostles attempt numerous nuclear attacks on religious symbols across the world, such as the Vatican, Jerusalem and Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

The plot alone is a heart pounding tour de force with a simple straightforwardness action movies have moved away from. Hunt and his fellow IMF agents are single minded, which would make for a boring movie if it weren’t for the intense action sequences throughout the film. As someone who sees action movies as similar to each other, Mission: Impossible-Fallout can break from the receptiveness of the genre. Not by doing anything specifically unique, but going back to the basics of the genre (action, plot and characters) and doing them well. Most action movies make the plot seem tedious and use it as a way to show off the action, but Mission: Impossible-Fallout pays attention to the details of the story, showing off character development and also utilizing plot twists that make it surprising on top of being entertaining. It takes its time, however, making the audience work through some of the issues along with the characters themselves.

Mission: Impossible- Fallout also knows how to use action sequences to move the plot along rather than using it as the sole entertainment value. One thing that makes action movies is that either its hard to watch fight scenes, car chases, or running scenes, but the film doesn’t have any of these problems. All the fight scenes are well choreographed and action-packed, and Cruise still has the skill to go through with many of the stunts. Henry Cavill also shows that he can take on an action role without donning a cape. Cavill almost outshines Cruise in the action department, showing off in a couple of scenes that almost edges along the ridiculous, but truly embodies the action genre well. Plus it really capitalizes on the spy genre, showing off neat gadgets, such as face masks, which gives the film an edge that makes it fun to watch Hunt and his teammates trying to save the world.

The plot and the action will draw the audience in but its the characters that get you invested. I found myself captivated with a moral battle Hunt was faced with throughout the film - whether to save one person or millions. Mission: Impossible-Fallout follows in the footsteps of the Equalizer it isn’t just about action or violence, though that part is entertaining, but it has a moral theme that makes people contemplate the complexity of Hunt’s character. It’s his interactions with his team that make his moral compass standout. Without Luther or Benji, Hunt would not be such a successful character. The relationships with his team and their respect of Hunt evolve him from a weapon of action to a humanized character that even results in a few humorous moments.

The only downside to the film is how the plot begins to drag at the end. It seems like more action sequences were packed into the last 15 minutes of the film than the entire movie combined, resulting in its middle of the road score of 3.5 Os out of 5.