I watched Rogue Nation and Fallout back to back. The story is made to continue quite seamlessly between the two, and the viewer experiences in the latter the unsettling possibility of releasing a prisoner that the team worked so hard to capture in the former. I think that is key in justifying the first 2+ hours of this film. Once again, the action and espionage blend very well, albeit this one leans just a touch heavier on the action. I think the quality that I enjoyed in Rogue Nation is maintained here, and character decisions and action remain majorly justifiable. Perhaps the detractor, which almost downgraded my vote to an 8, is the later half of the helicopter sequence in the final chapter. The chase was thrilling, and knowing that Cruise flew the helo himself after hundreds of hours of training adds immense value to it. They just should have stayed a touch more grounded and plausible in the post-crash scenes. There are too many instances of subsequent slides and crashes that the human body would just not survive... Not even if you're Ethan Hunt! Yes, I am aware the character gets away with entirely too much, but the subtle suspension of disbelief will mask it until it no longer can, and my hypothetical line was crossed in this one.
Nevertheless, the movie is capable of gluing one's eyes to the screen, and the plot remains interesting all the way through. A significant part of that success is the fact that, in both of the movies mentioned here, the antagonist's motivation is actually reasonable, just not his methods. One of my pet peeves is when a story presents a villain whose cause makes no sense or is not explained well. Thankfully, Rogue Nation and Fallout do not fall into that pitfall.
Overall, well done! Fallout and Rogue Nation take their place among my all-time favourite action movies, which makes me look forward to the upcoming Dead Reckoning sequels which are made by the same director and writers.
Nevertheless, the movie is capable of gluing one's eyes to the screen, and the plot remains interesting all the way through. A significant part of that success is the fact that, in both of the movies mentioned here, the antagonist's motivation is actually reasonable, just not his methods. One of my pet peeves is when a story presents a villain whose cause makes no sense or is not explained well. Thankfully, Rogue Nation and Fallout do not fall into that pitfall.
Overall, well done! Fallout and Rogue Nation take their place among my all-time favourite action movies, which makes me look forward to the upcoming Dead Reckoning sequels which are made by the same director and writers.