Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt in the sixth installment of the Mission Impossible movie franchise. Could this be this summer’s biggest blockbuster yet? Check out this spoiler free review of Mission Impossible Fallout before you see the film.

Watch Our Mission Impossible Fallout Review:

Mission Impossible Fallout Trailer:

The Good:

Let’s just start off with Tom Cruise. This man just solidified the throne as the king of action movies in this era. (Sorry Dwayne The Rock Johnson.) Cruise is practically on Cruise Control (sorry, couldn’t help it) when it comes to executing all the right points of this film. One key factor that works so well in this film is the fact that he’s doing most (if not all) of his own stunts. I know that Tom Cruise’s running has been a long standing running joke. (ugh, I did it again.) However, in Mission Impossible Fallout, his running actually made me care. Despite the fact that this movie makes Cruise an Olympic track star that could smoke Usain Bolt, his running scene was perfectly synced with the situation of the film that justified literally every step he took.

Kudos to director and writer Christopher McQuarrie are well deserved here. There’s a lot going in this film from a production standpoint that comes together extremely well. The cinematography during many of the stunt scenes were almost perfect. One scene that I especially appreciated was the helicopter sequence with Cruise. As the action is happening, the camera puts you right smack dab in the middle of it all with a second person point of view. It’s almost as if you were in the actual helicopter itself despite sitting in your chair. Not only that, but there are little key moments where the film will continue to connect directly with your emotional reactions. For example, you’ll have a shocking moment occur, and all the sound cuts abruptly off which will match the moment you also gasp in disbelief. Moreover, the bathroom fight scene that you’ve seen in the trailers is nothing short but amazing. The fight choreography was almost seamless and nicely done. Oh, and I don’t know why Tom Cruise doesn’t care about oncoming traffic in this film, but it sure does make for some good chase scenes.

Another interesting point that should be mentioned is that this film didn’t fall victim to being too unbelievable when it came to the crazy actions scenes. Don’t get me wrong though. Ethan Hunt (Cruise’s character) is probably the LUCKIEST person on Earth. Yet, this film didn’t shy away from giving him some bumps, bruises, falls, and more. I think a bit more of that was needed to show he’s still a human being, but we got just enough to cringe or hold our breath especially when he doesn’t happen to stick a perfect landing all the time.

One thing this film did much better than the rest is simplify the plot. Maybe it’s just me, but many of the previous Mission Impossible plots seemed unnecessarily complex and forgettable. This one was a lot easier to follow, and stay invested in. One of the strengths about the plot was that it was able to amplify many of the dramatic scenes in the film given the intense stakes at hand. Of course, with any Mission Impossible film, we also get some nice misdirection too.

The Bad:

Despite having a much more grounded story with this movie, I was so disappointed with the predictable twist. Keep in mind that the writer of Mission Impossible Fallout, is the same person who wrote The Usual Suspects. In case you didn’t know, The Usual Suspects is one of the best movies known for its twist ending. So it was a bit of a letdown when the supposed twist was so easy to figure out. I just felt as though it could’ve been revealed a little more creatively if more time or attention was given to it.

The Verdict:

Look, Mission Impossible Fallout is the action-packed, summer blockbuster you’ve been waiting for. If I had to describe, this movie is like if James Bond had couple of martinis and had a baby with the Fast and the Furious franchise. This movie is nuts! It’s also a whole lot of fun to watch.

I don’t know about many of you out there, but if you’re a comic fan, then it’s incredibly hard not to see so many comic parallels in this movie. Angela Bassett played the best Amanda Waller I’ve seen yet. Henry Cavill was Superman undercover pretending to be a CIA agent. White Widow was clearly trained in the Red Room with Black Widow.

Don’t feel pressured into having to watch all of the previous Mission Impossible films before watching Fallout either. If you really feel compelled, just watch Mission Impossible Rogue Nation and that will help you appreciate the film just a little more. Feel free to go watch Mission Impossible Fallout in theaters. I got the chance to see this film in IMAX and it was completely worth it.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Writers: Christopher McQuarrie, Bruce Geller
Stars: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames

Mission: Impossible – Fallout is in theaters now. Be sure to follow E-Man’s Movie Reviews on Facebook, Subscribe on YouTube, or follow me on Twitter/IG @EmansReviews for even more movie news and reviews!