Mission: Imposible - Fallout. The best of the franchise?

This is one of those films that seems more concerned with the viewer enjoying its brilliant action sequences than with understanding its own plot. And, far from seeing this as a negative, I think this is precisely what elevates the Mission: Impossible franchise as one of the best exponents of blockbuster cinema in recent decades, and this is perfectly represented by "Fallout," the film released in 2018 under the direction of Christopher McQuarrie.

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Considering that Dead Reckoning has just been released (thus closing out the Mission: Impossible film series), I don't think there's a better time to revisit Ethan Hunt's adventures than now, and Fallout is a pretty solid starting point.

But what makes it such a good film? In short, it's a combination of several hits, starting with Tom Cruise's brilliant performance alongside an excellent Henry Cavill in the antagonist role (something I feel I should try more often, by the way), as well as the presence of several of the most iconic and daring action sequences in the entire franchise, all while flowing with a solid script that, without any major pretensions, knows how to find excuses to organically place our protagonists in complicated situations.

All of this, combined with a conservative but quite powerful use of IMAX cameras, results in a brilliant iteration within the franchise, which takes its most characteristic elements and elevates them to another level, creating an exciting, fun story that will captivate us from beginning to end, even if it's not always clear what's happening on screen. I wouldn't call its plot complicated; in fact, I think it's quite the opposite. The point is that it's easy to get lost in the brilliant direction and artistic nature of each of its sequences, letting style shine over substance—not because there isn't any substance, but because the execution of that style is simply masterful.

I'm very happy to see that a film series like this has managed to maintain its relevance over several decades. Ultimately, it represents a paradigm shift within the current blockbuster landscape, proving that action in its most primitive and realistic form can often rise above CGI and the tedious intellectual properties that are being milked to the bone in cinematic universes.

Score taken from my Letterboxd account.