MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT

THREE STARS Ethan Hunt's IMF team are on the trail of a nuclear bomb wielding maniac. Familiar?

Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg

ACTION DRAMA #MI6 #MISSIONIMPOSSIBLEFALLOUT

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has got the band back together for another chase around beautiful cities and impossible skylines as they track down a crazed psycho intent on destroying the world. So far, just another day in the office at IMF. And in many ways, so is MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT which ticks all the boxes expected by its audience. High octane car chase (tick), high octane motorcycle chase (tick), high-octane helicopter chase (tick). You get the picture.

To be fair, MI:F has more going for it than a number of instalments in this spectacularly successful franchise. Tom’s on form, the support case are engaging, his beautiful nemesis-turned-associate (THE CROWN’s Vanessa Kirby) captures the screen and the stunts are truly, well, high-octane. What it lacks in originality (face it, we’ve been here since the first James Bond film in 1962), it rewards by way of edge-of-the-seat stunt work. Not that you haven’t seen car / bike / helicopter / etc chases but it’s unlikely you’ve seen them with such authenticity and precision as you see them here.

Eschewing the pitfalls of CGI action has become a trade mark of MI films, with a preference to keep things as real as they can possibly be. If you’re watching Tom dangling from a helicopter, chances are it is Tom dangling from a helicopter. As with MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, it adds a visceral thrill to proceedings knowing that the people risking their lives are putting a lot at risk. Unfortunately, proceedings go on a little too long and at two-and-a-half-something hours, by the time the team from IMF unravel the plot, rip off a series of rubber masks to finally stop the bomb(s) you’re much more interested in your own ticking watch than the one attached to a countdown clock.

Nonetheless, for pure popcorn entertainment you can got considerably further to get considerably less than by tuning out for a couple of hours with MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT.

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