Mission Impossible: Fallout

In the new Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018) film there’s noise, action, and a lot of running, most of it by Tom Cruise.  He runs all over the place—down sidewalks, hallways, over rooftops. He’s obviously a person who makes it a point to stay in shape, but even with this 56-year old actor who makes a point of doing his own stunts, there must have been some creative editing. I really couldn’t tell you the plot.  It has something to do with stolen nuclear cores which terrorists want to use to build nuclear bombs which they will use to blow up various cities and kill thousands of people.  Everyone wants to stop him, of course.  There’s also a love plot that includes the former wife of Cruise’s character, who’s gone incognito with his full agreement to avoid assassination or kidnapping by the various nefarious individuals whom Cruise has offended in earlier films.  She shows up in the final scenes. One knows from the start that there will be suspense and terror in this film, that until the end we will not know whether Cruise’s character will survive, the bombs will blow up, and key characters will die. Yet we do know, from the beginning, because we’ve seen too many of these films, that Cruise’s character will survive, that the bombs will not blow up, and that although one or two key characters may die, their demise will not be crucial.  And yes, In this film in which a super evil and nefarious villain who survived an earlier film reappears, we know the villain will finally meet his maker, or at least the individuals who paid for, produced, directed, and wrote the film.  Not to mention Cruise himself.

Cruise’s team of MI members don’t really have much chemistry, but for the duration of the film they work well together. Ving Rhames plays the token African-American member of the team.  He wears a chunky hat throughout the film. He doesn’t die.