Mission Impossible: Fallout is by far my favorite movie of this summer! I've been excited about this film since I saw the first trailer, and I'm glad that excitement paid off! Mission Impossible: Fallout (MI:F from here on out) is the sixth film in the Mission Impossible franchise, directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Angela Bassett, Alec Baldwin, Michelle Monaghan, Rebecca Ferguson, and Sean Harris.

In this latest installment, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his allies must stop The Apostles, a terrorist organization, from obtaining plutonium cores for their portable nuclear weapons. After a mission to retrieve the plutonium goes sideways the IMF are then monitored by agent August Walker (Cavill), from the CIA's Special Activities Division. The premise itself may seem unoriginal at first glance, but the narrative becomes much more complex and intriguing as the run-time progresses. You think some situation will go one way, but the movie goes 180 on you!

In that time, the audience is treated to several impressive action set-pieces that never let up, an immersive soundtrack provided by Lorne Balfe, and excellent cinematography, where the camera tells the story. While watching this movie, I couldn't believe that the majority of the stunts were practical! Most movies today rely on Computer Generated Imagery when they want to "wow" their audience, but I gotta give props to Tom Cruise for providing genuine stunts in his performance! Henry Cavill gave a great performance, as well! The movie becomes much more interesting once you understand his point of view. And, as always, Simon Pegg provides the laughs!

When it comes to negatives, I really have to scrape at the bottom of the barrel. As I said earlier, MI:F is the sixth film in the franchise. A 22-year-old franchise, at that. You can watch, understand, and enjoy MI:F without seeing any of the previous films but you might miss out on some backstory, especially regarding a couple of characters. A few one-liners were cringe-worthy, but that's to be expected from action movies.

I think Mission Impossible: Fallout sets the bar for what to expect from an action movie. It's intense, engaging, I was invested in the narrative, I appreciated the genuine stunt-work and practical effects, and I was sweating throughout the movie, especially toward the end! You know a movie's good when it triggers those types of responses. I sincerely hope other action movies take note!

9.5/10