IN A way, this is a review for those people who have never given the “Mission: Impossible” movies a chance. I won’t say that Tom Cruise is one of my favourite actors, nor will I say that the “Mission: Impossible” franchise which has spawned so many action movies is one that I have been particularly drawn to in the past. In fact, besides “Fallout” the only other movie in the series that I can actually remember seeing is the one where Thandie Newton and Tom Cruise are standing on a cliff and she injects some sort of serum that is valuable and important to the plot of the film into her arm. I don’t even remember the full title of the film. Of course, this could be because I was quite young (still a child) when these movies first emerged, but, truthfully, it also has to do with the whole spy trope portrayed in the films being something I was never really into. I feel the same way about the Bourne films and quite a lot of the James Bond films. Maybe spy-action-thriller is really not my genre. However, I decided to give “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” a chance because I saw notices from the media that compared it to “Mad Max: Fury Road” – which, in my opinion, is not only one of the best action movies of the new Millenium, but also one of the best movies in general. So, I went to watch “Fallout” just to see if these comparisons were warranted. It turned out that while “Fallout” lacks the artistry of “Mad Max: Fury Road,” it is still a surprisingly, astoundingly, exhilaratingly well-done action movie. I went into the movie-theatre with expectations that were not so high and I came out with my mind fully blown.

The film is written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who gives us a plot that is complicated enough for a spy film, but not so complicated so as to confuse the audience (even those who have not seen the previous films). No, McQuarrie gives us a story that unfolds within the Exposition-Rising Action-Climax-Denouement formula, even as each of those areas is layered in such a way so as to give us depth and wonderful narrative heft. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) loses three plutonium cores to the bad guys known as The Apostles. Hunt and his team go to Paris in order to track down the plutonium. Once there, he meets the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby) who asks Hunt to release Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), a captured anarchist as proof of fidelity to her and as a way of securing the plutonium. Hunt completes the task, but matters only get more complicated when the importance of Solomon Lane to several people, working both with and against Hunt, is revealed.

As an action film, visuals and fight scenes are as essential as dance sequences are to a film about the ballet. With the fight and action scenes in this film being particularly top-notch, it is safe to say then that there lies the proof that “Fallout” is a blast of fun and a thoroughly good action movie. There are so many brilliantly executed scenes to highlight: from Hunt and Walker (Henry Cavill) jumping out of an aircraft into a lightning-strewn storm, to Hunt leaping across rooftops and running through streets and across bridges as if his life depended on it, to the brutal and beautiful fight scene in the bathroom – complete with a stunningly-choreographed fist-fight, shards of glass and loads of tension, and finally, to Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) and Benji (Simon Pegg) rescuing and saving each other in the climax of the film in a showdown with Solomon Lane himself. The film is a myriad of delights that any action movie buff would thoroughly enjoy.

That being said, action alone does not make a good action movie. There is heart and emotion to be found also. Take for example, a heartbreaking scene when Hunt has to decide whether to shoot an unwitting cop who was just doing her job and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time or any other scene where Hunt has to make a choice between his friends and the greater good, or even the reunion between Hunt and his ex-wife, Julia (Michelle Monaghan), who has now remarried, or the tender moment when Ilsa whispers something to Julia and even though the audience never hears what it is, it doesn’t really matter at this point because it is enough that the moment highlights a connection between the two women who care the most for Hunt.

The acting is also really quite good, and “Fallout” served as a reminder of why Cruise has been an enduring presence in Hollywood. The man seems to never run out of energy, and this only amplifies the ease of his performance, showcasing a hero who is flawed and is now struggling with surpassing those flaws. I think Cruise is beautifully nuanced in this film and truly a joy to watch. Vanessa Kirby (Princess Margaret from “The Crown”) is sexy, ambiguous, and fierce – everything a femme fatale should be. Rebecca Ferguson is growing on me as an actress and I’m starting to see her presence building in films and I’ve begun to be more appreciative of her work. In “Fallout” she is on par with Cruise both in terms of acting and action – as is Henry Cavill who one might even regard as a younger version of Tom Cruise. Finally, Simon Pegg brought his comic timing and charm to the movie which tempered the rough shooting and punching everyone in the team was doing.

“Fallout” has invigorated my interest in both the franchise as well as the whole spy action thriller genre as a whole. It is a masterfully entertaining film – one that ensured that I am left eagerly awaiting the sequel.