Making the impossible possible, again

The history of the ‘Mission Impossible’ film franchise bears an uncanny resemblance to that of ‘Fast & Furious.’  Like F&F, it started out decently enough (for MI it was 22 years ago) but by all accounts lost steam by the third movie.  Then, just when people left the series for dead it’s suddenly not only revived but reinvigorated, getting a new lease on life and becoming even more popular with each successive release.  So it was that after MI3 reached a low point in the series, MI got a much needed makeover á la James Bond and Tom Clancy video game-esque subtitles like ‘Ghost Protocol,’ ‘Rogue Nation’ and ‘Fallout.’ 

Thanks to the franchise’s surprising longevity, 56-year old Tom Cruise (though admittedly he doesn’t look a day over 40) reprises his role in this sixth entry as Ethan Hunt, de facto leader of the super-secret black-ops outfit known as Impossible Mission Force (because they go on “impossible” missions should they choose to undertake them, duh!).  Taking place two years after MI5 aka ‘Rogue Nation,’ ‘Fallout’ sees the IMF attempting to recover stolen nukes and save the world again, globe-trotting across Europe and crossing paths with the ex-British spymaster-turned-terrorist from the previous installment, Solomon Lane (Sean Harris).

My expectations for ‘Fallout’ were impossibly high.  While I didn’t consider it worthy of its stellar 97 percent “fresh” rating on the aggregate review website Rotten Tomatoes, ‘Fallout’ is nonetheless another solid if somewhat safe and familiar entry in the action-espionage thriller subgenre.  The action in 'Fallout' comes typically “fast and furious” as we might expect, but its many perfectly timed and preternaturally coincidental set-piece action sequences (another characteristic it shares with ‘Fast & Furious’) have become a bit tired and overcooked.

Grade: B+