October 2, 2018
By Narek Sahakian
This past summer’s blockbuster season was filled predominantly with sequels. Usually sequels are associated with a lack of originality. However, one film stood above the rest and dominated the blockbuster box office, successfully bringing back beloved characters and memorable moments that are unique to the franchise alone. Mission: Impossible-Fallout is the best movie of this summer, achieving everything a sequel should, and then some. Not only did it create a new mission with nail-biting action sequences and choreographed stunts, but it also managed to expand upon the series as a whole by both strengthening and questioning the characters’ relationships with each other and the world they inhabit.
Christopher McQuarrie returns as the director of his second film in the franchise. His previous film, Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation, already managed to take the franchise to the next level. And now, he continues the story from the previous film, reprising the main heroes and villains while introducing more complexity to each of their narratives. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) returns for a new mission, accompanied again by the core Impossible Mission Force team, including Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin). Their mission is to track down lost plutonium cores and to prevent them from being detonated as nuclear bombs by the terrorist organization known as the Apostles.
At one point, the main antagonist, Solomon Lane, challenges the team’s mission, forcing the audience to question the entire existence of the hero team and what they stand for. The challenge not only provides a physical threat to the hero, but also a threat to Ethan’s entire ideology. Even the meaning of the word “fallout” is hinted at in this confrontation with Solomon Lane, when he refers to an effect or consequence of a certain action, specifically the team’s intervention in terrorist organizations. It shows the delicate balance in the hero and villain dynamic, and the consequences of intervening with the opposite side.
Throughout the film, the hero is forced to make a decision between saving a life or saving the mission. This theme of sacrifice is shown as a foundation to the whole film. We first see it in one of the opening sequences, where Ethan is faced with the choice of saving his teammate or the mission of gathering the plutonium cores. Then Ethan has to save either an innocent French police officer who gets tangled up in their complicated mission while on duty, or the mission of detaining Solomon Lane. Lastly, Ethan has to either escape with the love of his life or leave her behind while he saves the world.
By the time the exciting theme song rolls in with the final credits, the audience has been fully immersed in the world of Ethan Hunt and the Impossible Mission Force. Perhaps that is why it’s named the Impossible; because unlike many film franchises or sequels, it effectively creates an original story that enhances its series with every new mission. As the title suggests, even the impossible is possible.
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