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This is very much a review of two halves so I have split it into two parts. The first is a more general review of Mission Impossible: Fallout, and the second is me raving about the fight choreography in the film.
The plot of the film is significantly baroque, with lots of frills and twists and twiddly-bits. I think they realised that they had a lot of set pieces and not a lot of plot and back-filled from that to try to link them together.
The bit with Wolf Blitzer is very like the series in a way the films often aren't, but it's an example of how the film is very bitty. There's a cool bit, tenuous link, another cool bit and so on. Every bit works, but I'm not sure they all hang together.
One thing I liked was the sense of place. Yes, there is no way there is that little traffic in that part of Paris at any time of day or night but it's still recognisably Paris and not just tourist Paris. It's something they did well in the last one too. Although I know you can't actually run that quickly along the route in London (or drive across part of the race through Paris), I acknowledge their attempts at realism with joy, especially as they choose some of the less obvious bits of London and Paris (and Vienna in Rogue Nation).
What I also liked about the Paris bit is how many of Ethan Hunt's problems were brought about by aspects of his character that were established all the way back in Mission Impossible 2.
The acting was uniformly solid, even if Wes Bentley playing nice but dull husbands makes me feel old. Very old. The film-makers make good use of their solid cast. I think having Tom Cruise helps, if you've got him, you know the anchor of your film will be sorted so you can concentrate on giving other people stuff to do. When those other people include Sean Harris, good things ensue.
( SPOILERS START HERE AND ARE VERY, VERY SPOILERY )
In short, most of Mission Impossible: Fallout is enjoyable and solid.
But the fight scenes are exceptional.
The plot of the film is significantly baroque, with lots of frills and twists and twiddly-bits. I think they realised that they had a lot of set pieces and not a lot of plot and back-filled from that to try to link them together.
The bit with Wolf Blitzer is very like the series in a way the films often aren't, but it's an example of how the film is very bitty. There's a cool bit, tenuous link, another cool bit and so on. Every bit works, but I'm not sure they all hang together.
One thing I liked was the sense of place. Yes, there is no way there is that little traffic in that part of Paris at any time of day or night but it's still recognisably Paris and not just tourist Paris. It's something they did well in the last one too. Although I know you can't actually run that quickly along the route in London (or drive across part of the race through Paris), I acknowledge their attempts at realism with joy, especially as they choose some of the less obvious bits of London and Paris (and Vienna in Rogue Nation).
What I also liked about the Paris bit is how many of Ethan Hunt's problems were brought about by aspects of his character that were established all the way back in Mission Impossible 2.
The acting was uniformly solid, even if Wes Bentley playing nice but dull husbands makes me feel old. Very old. The film-makers make good use of their solid cast. I think having Tom Cruise helps, if you've got him, you know the anchor of your film will be sorted so you can concentrate on giving other people stuff to do. When those other people include Sean Harris, good things ensue.
( SPOILERS START HERE AND ARE VERY, VERY SPOILERY )
In short, most of Mission Impossible: Fallout is enjoyable and solid.
But the fight scenes are exceptional.
