In ‘Fallout,’ Tom Cruise takes back summer, one stunt at a time

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Find a better action movie this summer, with Tom Cruise running like a speeding bullet down his line of sight.

Directed by Christopher McQuarrie (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Jack Reacher), Mission: Impossible – Fallout stars Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Michelle Monaghan, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Kirby, Sean Harris and Alec Baldwin.

After a failed mission that made him choose his friend’s life over some radioactive plutonium, Ethan Hunt and his team, and some other familiar faces, need to track down the unknown people who have the dangerous material before they kill thousands of people.

If there’s one thing I know about Cruise, I can count on him to carry a movie. But when a movie with a stellar cast and impressive stunts shine just as bright, if not brighter, than its top star, I get goosebumps.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout is 2018’s best summer blockbuster.

Ever since the Mission: Impossible film franchise took a turn by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions in 2011 with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Hunt and his adventures have been killing it with twists, real-life danger and characters we care about.

We all know Cruise is known for giving it his all, even if his movies do fall flat — yes, I’m talking about you, The Mummy. However, as Hunt, Cruise has placed his trust in the crew and director McQuarrie because they can deliver him an ideal, cinematically well-done platform.

In these Mission: Impossible movies, one gargantuan stunt is always life-risking. The big one in Fallout is no joke.

Cruise needed to learn to fly a helicopter — by himself — in just a short amount of time. Controlling a dive bomb and flying through a valley, close to the ground with multiple other copters capturing footage is not the smartest idea, in terms of life and death. But dammit, Cruise just doesn’t give up. If my respect for Cruise could go any higher, I would have to get him to skydive off that point.

Stunts galore dazzle in Fallout. Even some where Cruise couldn’t predict something bad would happen. Although some CG moments were included, if you’re a fan of cinema, of the old school methods, of entertainment that packs a punch, so far, Fallout beats all other movies this year with its stunt work.

With Cruise jumping from place to place, it can be easy to forget that there is a movie going on. It’s not only stunt work that is so awesome, McQuarrie knows how to blend action with a simple yet original story about good vs evil.

At just under two and a half hours, Fallout does not waste a second on mindless action or exposition scenes. There are moments where characters do explain their plans but it’s believable. I wasn’t taken back from anything and felt as though this was real.

I think this is what Bad Robot Productions has changed about the Mission: Impossible series: the attachment to the characters and the real emotions that they feel.

Some plot twists, though, I could see from a mile away. The difference between Fallout and other predictable films is the flow Fallout brings, an artistic aura not seen in many action films or summer blockbusters.

The people working on this movie are passionate about it. The love, blood, sweat and tears exude on screen.

Fallout’s characters each have their time in the limelight; all have a purpose. Ferguson is probably my favorite of the Mission: Impossible crew. She cares about Hunt and his team, but still has the power to take absolutely anyone out, if need be. She dominates on the field and in my heart, says my innermost thoughts.

Both Pegg as Benji Dunn and Rhames as Luther Stickell feel badass in their own ways, as well. Watch out for one particular scene involving Benji’s cosmetic work. It’ll knock your face off (quite literally).

There will be more of Hunt and the Impossible Missions Force (IMF), don’t get me wrong. Still, I get excited by the stunts and am enamored with the characters. Each Mission: Impossible entry manages to keep the obvious twists and turns fresh.

There has been a thought on my mind, If Bad Robot Productions can clean up franchises like Mission: Impossible and Star Trek and make them amazing, could they do this with the Transformers franchise? The Bumblebee trailer has me hopeful, but there is always J.J. Abrams, king of reboots and refreshes.