"Mission: Impossible -- Fallout"

The latest "Mission: Impossible" film, subtitled "Fallout," exemplifies some issues facing action-moviemmakers, and not necessarily to its credit.

First, the success of the "Fast and Furious" movies has made a case not only for big action, but for over-the-top, outrageous pieces so absurd that people cannot help but laugh. I've laughed at sequences in the last couple of "F and F" films, and a recent screening of "Fallout" found people laughing at the end of several crazy action sequences.

"Fallout" also underscores how some moviegoers will come only for a grandiose adventure, one suitable for IMAX and 3-D, both of which formats are available for "Fallout." I saw it on a big but not huge screen, in 2-D, and felt as if a couple of the action sequences had been imagined just for the special formats, with no concern about how they would play in less elaborate form.

Now, why do these ideas suggest a problem? Because "Fallout" too often sacrifices character and cleverness for the sake of the BIG SCENE and the wild twist. As one character asks another in one of the meta moments in the film, why does it all have to be so f---ing complicated?

Of course, complications make up part of the appeal of "M:I" going back to the original television series. And "Fallout," written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie as a direct follow-up to his work on "Rogue Nation," never forgets that people want a rubber-mask trick and shifty surprises along with the stunts. 

But sometimes there's just too much; the earliest IMF trick in the movie is no surprise at all, for instance, and a couple of the long action sequences could have been trimmed. It's not bad, at least by "M:I" standards, but it is pedestrian.

"Fallout" has Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) with a seemingly simple job for his team (Ving Rhames as Luther, Simon Pegg as Benji) -- recover plutonium before it can be turned over to bad guys. When that mission goes awry -- as you would expect so early in the movie -- it suggests that Ethan is losing his edge, at least when it comes to favoring his men instead of his mission. So he's sent off on another plutonium pursuit with a watcher, an agent named August Walker (Henry Cavill) who exhibits none of the conscience Ethan has. There's been talk about Cavill -- Superman in the current DC films -- as a new James Bond, and he certainly makes a case for that here, at least when it comes to showing off a license to kill.

With Walker in tow, Hunt tries to make a deal with a broker called the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby, so good as Princess Margaret in "The Crown" and a complete scene-stealer here). And that leads to Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), his opponent from "Rogue Nation," as well as Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), also from "Rogue Nation." Then the cats and mice are loose, along with chases, explosions and -- wait for it -- the threat of a nuclear disaster.

McQuarrie tries to give this some emotional heft, as Ethan is having frightening dreams about his wife Julia (Michelle Monaghan) as well as facing more tests of his loyalty to his team. Not to mention learning how to fly a helicopter for the movie's last big chase.

But the emotional parts add time rather than quality to a movie that is far more committed to filling its 2 1/2 hours with action. 

As I've said before, I have no objection to commercial movies, and "Fallout" is designed purely to get people in the seats. I was amused at times here, although I've enjoyed better some of the crazy stuff in previous "M:I" films. (The underwater scenes in "Rogue Nation" worked well, and there's one fight in "Ghost Protocol" that just thinking about makes me shake my head and chuckle.)
Even if "Fallout" has some entertaining moments, it feels like a step back from the inventiveness of other recent movies in the series. (How many times have we seen Ethan dealing with great heights?)
Earlier movies' hints that Ethan is getting too old for this business are put aside here; it may even be that Cruise looks younger. Too bad the movie as a whole feels old.