A triumph of action movie filmmaking, Mission: Impossible – Fallout builds upon its well-established formula of first-class entertainment, to make for a high stakes, high quality, and character rich, sure to be action classic.

Since its inception in 1996, the Mission: Impossible film series has gone from strength to strength. Fuelled by Tom Cruise’s star power and fearless approach to action performance, this once faltering franchise found its groove and its popularity after the excellent Mission: Impossible 3, and with it the addition of JJ Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) to the fore. Now the sixth entry, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, has taken that winning formula of high-grade, high-stakes action scenarios, and Cruise’s all-in intensity, to breathtaking new heights. Exactly how Cruise and company will follow up this one will be an impossible mission in itself.

Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie (Jack Reacher), Mission: Impossible – Fallout finds IMF agent Etan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg), on the hunt for missing nuclear weapons that have fallen in the hands of mysterious terrorist group “The Apostles”, led by Hunt’s arch-nemesis Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). To make things complicated, also on the chase for Lane is Hunt’s one-time love interest, MI6 agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), and CIA agent August Walker (Henry Cavill.)

The addition of Cavill brings a very interesting new element to proceedings. Where previously the Mission: Impossible franchise attempted to bring a new level of star power (and perhaps even a new leading man) in the form of Jeremy Renner (who is curiously absent here), the Oscar nominee just could not overcome Cruise’s dominant shadow. The physically striking and compelling Cavill does not have that problem, bringing that Man of Steel magnetism and now legendary moustache to a film that demands its performers to go that extra-mile.  

An incredibly choreographed fight scene inside a gentleman’s bathroom features Cavill at his fist swinging, bone-crunching best, trading barbs and sharing action beats with Cruise, who no doubt relished having Superman himself in his franchise. Great too is Rebecca Ferguson, who continues to bring that scene-stealing mix of disarming beauty and action performance smarts to a role that very much deserves its own spin-off.

McQuarrie has delivered an action movie that is as serious as a heart attack, yet which knows how to entertain as well. Where the likes of The Dark Knight, Skyfall and Mad Max: Fury Road have evolved the genre to new heights, McQuarrie has successfully taken …Fallout to the top of the action movie food-chain. Its action scenes are crisp, clean and incredibly well choreographed and executed. Motor bikes, helicopters, guns, firsts, nuclear bombs…McQuarrie brings out all the action goodies for his actors to play with. Where the whole “fate of the world” trump card has been played before, here McQuarrie makes those sky-high stakes feel palpable.

Having Cruise do his maverick, daredevil, action-man shtick makes it all feel even more palpable. Outside of Jackie Chan, it’s hard to think of a megastar actor who has placed life and limb on the line with the same skill and intensity as Cruise. That he is also a fine actor brings more dimensions to his Ethan Hunt, who since Mission: Impossible III has been given an arch that’s evolved from one successive film to another, and hits pay dirt here.

Action films are great eye-candy, this is true. But they can also emote with the same power as your average Oscar drama. Mission: Impossible – Fallout is another prime example of that. Here is a film of spectacle and personality, thrills and feeling, great technical skill and fine storytelling. It just also may be film of the year. Now that is mission accomplished!