FILM: Mission Impossible- Fallout

photo: MissionImpossible.com

“Welcome to Katz Reviews. This is Ed Katz of Katnip Marketing- marketing consultant by day; theater and film critic by night- bringing my weekly review segment, Katz Reviews, here for you on WICC 600.

 

What was the last good movie that starred Tom Cruise- and was a hit at the box office?

If you are having trouble recalling one you are not alone. So I looked- I guess it would be ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ which was kind of a futuristic sci-fi version of ‘Groundhog Day’- and it was pretty good. But that was over 4 years ago. So Cruise was due.

And this new ‘Mission Impossible- Fallout’ is his hit! It delivers plenty of thrilling stunts- several of which Cruise did himself- lots of plot twists and has many fun scenic locations shot all over the world (give an award to the location scouting team- they deserve it!).

Tom Cruise; Vox and Paramount

The story has Cruise- as Ethan Hunt- working again with his Impossible Mission Force, under the guidance of Alec Baldwin- and it is fun to see Baldwin playing a good guy for a change- and featuring Ethan’s IMF teammates played by Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg and- at times- Rebecca Ferguson and Michele Monaghan, who plays Ethan Hunt’s ex-wife.

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie who, notably, wrote the screenplay for ‘The Usual Suspects’- if you never saw that one, go see it-  and this might be the best Mission Impossible movie yet. As was the case with several films in the series, it was written again by Bruce Geller – here at the top of his form with a plot where an anarchist terrorist (played by Sean Harris)- whom Ethan knows far too well- has a plan to detonate three nuclear weapons simultaneously in key religious locations around the globe.

While it is about as plausible and realistic as a James Bond movie- which it does resemble- it ratchets the action and suspense way up high.

Henry Cavill with Angela Bassett; Digital Spy

It isn’t really a spoiler if I tell you that Henry Cavill plays a double agent who has won the confidence of the CIA Director- played no-nonsense style by Angela Bassett- which, of course, later leads to make the IMF’s mission that much more impossible at a crucial time with everything on the line.

The fast-moving plot manages to fill in some of Ethan’s back story with the reintroduction of Michele Monaghan, as Ethan’s ex-wife, Julia. As Ving Rhames explains to another woman, Ethan and Julia divorced because Ethan didn’t want to risk his wife being used by bad guys to get to him- so they divorced for her own protection.

The IMF team; Rotten Tomatoes

I’ve always found Rhames  fun to watch- and his role here certainly affirms that. Simon Pegg plays the other key member of the IMF team- and he provides some comic relief- even during a fight scene.

Even if it isn’t realistic, this mission is a fun non-stop roller coaster ride and I give ‘Mission Impossible- Fallout’ 4 stars out of 5- it really might be the best Mission Impossible film out of the 6 in the series so far.

Catch my reviews right here this time each week and on my Facebook page and website, Katz Reviews dot com, where you will find all my WICC 600 reviews. This is Ed Katz talking movies for WICC 600!”