Whenever we talk about franchise movies, the first thing we think about are the actors who made those protagonists memorable. More of than not, such characters becomes the USP of the actor & he is known for that role irrespective of the plethora of other movies he must have acted in. We have been witness to numerous franchise movies such as Stallone's "Rocky & Rambo", Arnold's "Terminator", Harrison Ford's "Indiana Jones", Johnny Depp's "Pirates of the Caribbean" to name a few. Another hugely popular franchise & one of my personal favourite apart from "Rocky" is Tom Cruise's "Mission Impossible" series. This weekend we had the sixth edition of MI, "Mission: Impossible-Fallout" hitting the screens & as always, the trailer was just awesome. So can Cruise still pull off Ethan Hunt convincingly or is it the desperation of the star to remain relevant on the back of his past MI glory???
A couple of years has passed after the capture of Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), but his organisation "The Syndicate" was still very much functional & had transformed itself into a terrorist group known as "The Apostles". Their latest mission was to acquire three plutonium cores for a client named John Lark, who intended to blow it up in religious sites such as Rome, Jerusalem & Mecca. This was where Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) came into the picture as he was entrusted with the task of ensuring that the plutonium didnt go into the wrong hands. However, the Apostles were a couple of steps ahead of him & outsmarted him by forcing him to choose his friend's life over the plutonium procurement. As one would expect, Ethan & his team were back in their elements in quick time, but how high were the stakes if they had to save the world yet again???
The MI series began in 1996 & the first five movies were helmed by five different directors. However, this time around they decided to persist with Christopher McQuarrie who had done a decent job with the previous installment "Rogue Nation". Scripted by McQuarrie himself, the story is pretty much standard affair though unlike the previous editions there was a certain degree of continuity from the previous movie. As always, the highlight of the series are the breath taking action sequences & it is no different this time as well. The fist fight in the restroom, the rooftop chase in London, the bike chase in Paris, the helicopter stunt in supposed to be Kashmir (though it is New Zealand) etc., each of them were brilliantly choreographed by stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood. All of them were exquisitely captured by Rob Hardy & the the impact of the scenes were elevated by Lorne Balfe's apt choice of music.
What do I say about Tom Cruise??? He is absolutely brilliant & the backbone as to why this series is relevant even after 22 years. His utmost dedication to his craft & insistence to perform those unbelievable stunts that we have witnessed over the years be it the one in Burj Khalifa, Tarzan swing in Shanghai or dangling outside Air A400M, by himself without the use of CGI is what makes this series all the more endearing & thrilling to us. As far for the rest of the cast, all of them have done their parts well be it Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson etc.
Verdict: Without doubt, one of the finest action movies to have ever released & definitely one of the best MI movies to date. What is all the more incredible is the fact that Cruise is 56 years old. Oh yes, you dont have to think twice, I didnt get his age wrong . His dedication to daredevilry & the ease with which he pulls off stunts would make anyone develop an inferiority complex, not to mention his iconic straight backed running (my personal favourite) is something you just cant afford to miss. In short, rush to a theatre near you!!!
Rating: 4.25/5
Regards...Ben
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